The Global Guy

Max El: 15247 ft. Total ascent 2056 ft. Camp el: 13080 ft. Distance 10.46k.

I woke up to 34F temperatures inside my tent, and quickly realized that it was colder than that outside when I opened up the tent flap and found there was ice formed on it. Most of the rain from the previous night had frozen, but the sky was clear providing a magnificent view of both Kili and Mt. Meru. I got a few good pictures, and we had breakfast. Apparently the cook can’t handle the concept of one of us ordering their eggs scrambled, and one ordering fried. Yesterday we both had scrambled, and today we both had fried. It seems easier to eat whatever we’re served than to try to communicate what we really want.

We started walking at about 8:25 am and headed straight toward Kili. The mountain really seemed to make its presence felt as it loomed larger and larger. It really doesn’t seem possible that we’ll be on top of it in less than 48 hours! After a couple of hours, the fog rolled in right on time. A little bit later, and the word for the day was “bleak”. The vegetation had nearly disappeared, leaving nothing much to look at except for lots of exposed lava formations. At the 15,000 foot mark we began to see snow on the ground for the fist time. Lunch was a bit chilly, but I was fine in just my rain jacket. There were a bunch of little mouse/gerbil creatures the kept poking their heads out of the rock hoping for a bit of food left over from our lunch packs. They were incredibly skittish, and it took quite a few bribes of cupcake before they’d come out into the open for even a couple of seconds.

After lunch we descended down a steep wet rocky river and began to circle the mountain toward the face that we’d make our ascent from. The vegetation started to return as we descended, and after another couple of hours we reached the campsite. Right on schedule, it started raining just as we got to camp. It wasn’t as intense as yesterday, but it did have a good bit of pea sized hail in it.

Today we camped with one of the most spoiled groups I’ve ever seen! They’ve actually gotten their porters to carry up portable toilets all the way up the mountain. They’ve got canvas sides, western seats, and fluffy toilet paper. We’re told that these guys paid about $7000.00 each for their trek, and Imed and I are thinking that if they have that much money, they can afford a little charity toward us poor basic climbers!

5.62km (3.49mi) distance. Total ascent 778m (2550ft). Camp Elevation 3845m (12620 ft)

Last night was pretty chilly, dropping down to 42 degrees Fahrenheit. The skies cleared overnight leaving a sky full of the typically amazing African stars. In the morning, the summit was clearly visible from camp, looking as if it was daring us puny people to climb up to the top. Breakfast was at 7:30, consisting of eggs, fruit, porridge, sausage and toast. We left camp at about 8:00 for a short but intense day. I’m writing this at 12:30 in the afternoon, and we’re already in camp. There was lots of steep uphill climbing before lunch, and then an easy stretch of mostly horizontal trails after.

We’ve completely left the rain forest and the temperatures have been dropping. it’s still very pleasant while we are moving, but stopping for a rest quickly leads to a chill. We’re traveling thru what the guides call the moorlands. It’s short, scrubby brush reminding me a lot of the mountains of New Mexico, without the cactus. There are lots of caves on the neighboring ridges that at one time it was possible to camp in, but the park rangers now forbid that kind of activity. At our campsite where we are to spend the night the hills across the valley from us remind me of photos I’ve seen of the Inca trail leading to Machu Picchu in Peru. I can’t wait till next year to see that for real! Other highlights include great views of Mt. Meru before the clouds rolled in, and some very pretty new variety of impatient type flowers, including one that was shaped exactly like a saxophone.

Physically, I’m feeling quite good. I’ve got my usual hiking case of the sniffles which I’m sure is due to an allergy to some kind of pollen in the area. I’ve noticed that I tend to do this anytime I’m in the outdoors. It’s annoying, but it sure won’t stop me from doing stuff like this! Going uphill is much tougher today than it was yesterday. I’m feeling the first Diamox tingles in my fingertips…it’s a weird sensation that I’ve never had before.

Camp is a flat rocky area that I think would make someone from the Scottish highlands feel right at home. We got into our tents just before the skies opened up with a pretty big downpour that lasted for about two and a half hours. I really felt sorry for those hikers who got stuck hiking thru the rain. Some of the rocks near our campsite look like they’ll get pretty slippery when moist!

4.5 hours walking. 10.91km (6.78 miles) Final elevation 3016m (9896 ft) total gain 1122m (4689 feet).

Day one has been surprisingly easy. I’d expected (and would have been happy) to have gone another two or three hours. My climbing partner is a good guy named Imed, a model agent from New York City. He’s a few years older than I am, but we’re both in better than average shape for this mountain. We kept up a fairly fast pace despite being told by the porters and guides to slow down constantly. The Swahili word for slowly is pole, pronounced “POL-ee”, and we’re hearing it all together too much. I’ve been told that the people who have the worst time adjusting to the altitude are those who try to take the mountain too quickly, but I don’t think we’re going nearly fast enough to worry about that particular scenario.

We did slow down naturally as the altitude increased, so there seems to be a built in speed regulator to this mountain…as the oxygen decreases so does your speed! I’m feeling pretty good about this elevation though. At the South Pole, we’re nearly always at least a good thousand feet higher than we are today.

One thing that I haven’t gotten used to is the fact that we’ve got people to do just about everything for us. Besides our porters and guides, we’ve got an entire camp crew doing everything for us, from erecting and taking down our tents to having hot water waiting for us when we arrive in camp so we can have a cup of tea. I’m quite used to doing my share of camp chores and am feeling a bit decadent being waited on like this.

Today’s hike was beautiful. The first 10 kilometers went thru heavy rain forest. It was very humid with the occasional rain shower, but nothing too bad. The temperature was really pleasant, perfect short and t-shirt weather. I’m a bit concerned about a spot on my right ankle that could become a blister, but tightening up my laces seems to have solved the problem for now. I am glad that I brought my Tevas to wear in camp though.

The summit has been clouded over except for about a minutes visibility on the drive from our hotel to the trail head, and then again in camp itself. Looking up at it, it doesn’t seem another 10,000 feet above us!