Climbing Kilimanjaro: Day 5 to the Summit of Kilimanjaro

     The night was cold, the air crisp with a bit of wind coming out of the east as we slowly started up the mountain from Barafu Camp.  I occasionally took the opportunity to look up the mountain when there was a pause in our progress.  There was a string of headlamps from other trekkers, and the night sky was once again clear and beautiful.  The constellation Cassiopeia looked like the letter "M" right above the mountain, partially illuminated by a half moon that rose sometime after 1am with an initial reddish hue.  The trail was a bit rocky in places, but it primarily consisted of volcanic ash and scree.

      The cold slowly soaked its way into my clothes as the hours passed towards dawn and I almost stopped to pull out my thicker gloves, but I knew that the sunrise was not far off and would help warm me up.  Listening to music helped me pass the hours as my world became a small spot of illuminated trail in front of my dusty boots. During a short break, I was able to look south and see the city of Moshi illuminated in the valley below us, while to the north east, I was able to see some scattered lights across the border into the country of Kenya. 

     With the moon high overhead, the sky eventually started getting lighter to the east and the sun finally broke over the horizon, directly over Mawenzi (Kilimanjaro's second highest point) and brought some warmth and optimism that we were getting close to the top. This moment was worth taking a break and getting a picture.

Sunrise over Africa as the rays illuminate the top of Mawenzi

     Looking up the slope, I could see the top as the trail got steeper.  Our single trekking group had spaced out into several smaller groups during the night, and I was in the first group until fading a bit in the thin air as I struggled to catch my breath.  I took a couple of minutes to catch my breath and then started slowly making my way up the last several hundred feet to Stella Point, right on crater rim, and made it there at 7:30am.

The author casting his shadow into the crater from Stella Point

     My legs were tired and I was still struggling a bit to completely catch my breath, but I didn't hesitate in continuing on despite the summit sign looking tiny in the distance.  One of the guides was staying at Stella Point, so I left my rucksack with him and took just my water bottle and camera.  With another 500 feet of elevation to climb, and some distance to go around the crater rim to the west, I simply leaned on my trekking poles and went really slow (a movement called the "Kili Shuffle") towards the summit.  I stopped a couple of times to rest, but finally made it to the top of Kilimanjaro at 8:20am.

Uhuru Peak - the highest point in Africa at 19,341ft

      Several of my faster trekking mates were already at the summit and we celebrated with some hugs, high fives and photos.  It was crowded and it took some time to get a picture alone at the iconic summit sign.  We didn't hang around too long, and started down after about 20 minutes of enjoying the views of the dazzling blue-white glaciers and the massive crater.

Massive crater at the top of Kilimanjaro

      Walking back down the trail towards Stella Point, I passed my tent mate Matt and encouraged him to keep going, as he wasn't too far from the summit.  After getting back to Stella Point a bit after 9am, I rested for about half an hour.  My water was half frozen (the insulating sock idea didn't work well) and I was feeling a bit dehydrated, but I drank water and forced myself to eat a small snack despite having no appetite (a common symptom of being at high altitude).

Glaciers at the summit - the 'Snows of Kilimanjaro'

     Some hikers like going downhill, but I'm not one of them because it is tough on the knees.  But it was time to descend back to Barafu Camp, so I threw on my rucksack and several of us started down the trail along with a couple of the guides.  The trail was very dusty, with lots of volcanic ash, scree and rocks.  It looked nothing like what I imagined we had walked up in the dark.  I often alternated walking slightly to the side so that it was easier on my knees and legs, and we took the occasional break along the way.  There were frequent sections with thick dust that we simply slid down, creating clouds of fine ash that soon coated us.  I didn't take many photos, but we saw Barafu Camp below from a distance and were glad to finally reach it at 12:15pm.

       The plan was to eat lunch, get a couple hours of rest, and then descend another two hours down to Millennium Camp.  After downing some sports drink and a couple of bites of food, I stumbled over to my tent on rubbery legs and simply collapsed onto my sleeping bag.  Breathing hard, both my feet and face were almost painfully tingly.  I knew that I was a bit dehydrated and lay there trying to think about the last time I had been this exhausted.  Between the hiking the previous day and the long summit hike, I estimated that I'd been hiking for 20 of the previous 29 hours, all of it above an elevation of 13,000ft.

      It rained a bit while I was waiting for my tent mate to return.  I did some personal hygiene, changed into some clean clothes and packed up my gear.  He arrived, successful in his summit attempt, and slept for a couple of hours.  One group left, but I waited for him and the two of us hiked with a couple of guides down to Millennium Camp, arriving there about 6:30pm.  We got a nice view of reddish Mawenzi in the fading light, but we were also fading, tired from the long day.

Mawenzi to the east, caressed by late afternoon clouds

     Coming into camp, we signed in at the ranger station and went right to the dining tent for a light dinner.  After the briefing, we went to the tent and simply crashed at about 8pm.  I knew that I would get my best night of sleep so far on the trek.  It was a very long day, but a very successful one for our team.  Despite an overall summit rate of 41% (includes all trekkers on all routes on the mountain), nine of us made it to the summit, while the other two made it to up to Stella Point.

Next up: Day 6 as we hike the final five (long) hours down to Mweka Gate to complete our Kilimanjaro trekking experience on tired legs and throbbing knees.