Tag Archives: Kilimanjaro

High Camp to THE SUMMIT and then down to Millineum Camp

Day 6 Climb, , , , ,

Oh boy….Today is an early one.  We will start before sunrise (1-2am)  that’s 4:00pm your time on 7/8.  We do this because the walk today will take 10-14hrs +.  Trying to avoid the mist that sets in later in the day.  Also the scree and snow will still be safely frozen.  Burrrr

The 1,000m (3,600 ft) advent in just over 3km (1.86 miles) will take us about 6-8 hours.  I will be summiting at around 2:00am your time, hence the timing of this post.  If any of you are up partying on this Wednesday please have a drink for me!

After a brief stay at the summit of the highest point in Africa, Uhuru Peak, at over 5,898 meters (19,304 ft), we defend via the Barafu Route roughly 2,500 meters (8,200 ft) in 12km (7.44 miles) in about 5-7 hours to Mellennium Camp.  The rumor is they have booze waiting for us!!!

UP:

Estimated summit time 7 hrs  Elevation change +1300m (4,265 ft)  Estimated distance 5km (3.1 miles) Final Elevation: 5,895 Meters (19,304 ft)

DOWN:

Descent time 5 hours  Elevation change -2,800m (9,186 ft) Estimated distance 12km (7.4 miles) Camp Elevation 3100m (10,170 ft)

 

Barranco Camp to Karanga Valley

Day 4 Climb, , ,

From Barranco Camp we climb up through the edge of the Great Barranco Wall.  Rough Stuff….  The majority of the day walking will fluctuate around the elevation of 4250m (14,000 ft).  Breathing is noticeably harder, and the outline for the day reads easy but I can assure you it’s not.

Hike time 3.5 hrs  Elevation Change: +100m (328 feet)  Estimated Distance 4km (2.5 miles)  Camp Elevation 4000m (13,100 ft)

Karanga Valley

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Shira Camp to Barranco Camp

Day 3, , , ,

Okay this is getting a bit much.  Why didn’t I sign up for the beach vacation, or typical trip to Vegas?

From Shira Hut we hiked to Lava Tower.  This almost killed me. It was 3 hours up. After a night of partying. Yep that’s right we had a rave tent going last night. It was a great birthday!!! Our porters even came in and surprised me with 3 bottles of wine. Amazing!!! So back to Lava rock….after all this is not just a mountain it’s a active volcano.  It hasn’t irrupted in 360,000 years, but hey it’s still active.  This route offers panoramic views of Kibo through Karanga Valley as we hike high and sleep low.  For all of you non-hikers out there that means we will walk further and higher then we have too and then turn around and come back down a little bit to sleep.  This helps our bodies to adjust to the altitude.  It’s also a pain in the ass.  We will drop back down to Barranco after lunch.  The air is getting really thin…kinda like mile 8 of the broad street run for a non-runner like myself.  Happy Birthday to Theresa Heitter!  Let’s celebrate when I get back!

Hike time 5 hrs  Elevation change +100 M (328 ft) Estimated distance 5km (3 miles)          Camp Elevation  3900m (12,795 ft)

Here is a shot of the Great Barranco Wall

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Reference Map

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OMG I’m 30

Day 2, , , ,

Well the big day is here, yes I am now 30.  WOW.  So to take my mind off of getting yet another year older, heres what i’ll be up to.

Early wake up (which I hate) from the Machame Hut we cross the stream onto it’s west bank and follow the path up the steep rocky ridge.  If only the builders of the 495 bridge could see this crossing.  They would open that bridge back up in a second.  We will crises-cross a few times before reaching Shira Hut at the base of a semi-circular wall of rocks.  We will have ascended 900 Meters (2,952 ft) in 5-7 hours and about 6km (3.72 miles) of walking.  Suck it 30.

Hike time 7 hrs   Elevation change  +800 M (2,624 ft) Estimated distance 6km (3.72 miles) Camp elevation 3800 M (12,467 ft)

30th-birthday-ideas

 

Reference Map

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Happy Birthday ‘Merica

Day 1 Climb, , , ,

Today marks the start of our climb.  We are getting picked up here early to head to the Machame Gate ( altitude about 5,400′ or 1 mile high).  We will begin our trek following an easy track for the first hour through dense forest.  Our path will continue to follow the ridge, rising steadily with several steep sections.  The gradient eases slightly as the forest merges in the heather covered ground.  We will reach the Machame Hut in 6.2  miles after a 1,200 meter ascent ( 3,937 ft ascent).  I hope you all enjoy your day off, lol.

Total hike time: 7.5 hours  Elevation change +3,937 feet  Estimated distance 6.2 miles  Camp Elevation 10,170 ft

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Map of the route we are about to take…..yeah we are taking the long way!!!

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African Arrival, , ,

Today we will rest and try to let our bodies acclimatize to Africa. Recommended by Jeff I won’t be posting the scripted version of our itinerary. Instead shit is about to get real. Seriously. This morning after a breakfast of baked beans and eggs we started a walk through talk with Jeff about the climb. I won’t bore you with all the details instead just give you the two things that stuck in my mind the most.
The bathroom conversation came up in regards to the mountain. He said if at all possible pee before you take a dump. Pee outside the toilet tent. We all kind of looked at each other like why. Well our porters will have to carry our shit from camp to camp an all the way down the mountain. What?!?!? Yes. Fact. I am beginning to have a new respect for theses guys.

Also Jeff ran by us a new option for the route to summit. He wants to attempt the western breach. This route is harder but more rewarding as we can say we did it the hard way. It’s higher and steeper but we will get to fully traverse the mountain, meaning we will come up one side and go down the other. A few years ago some climbers died due to rock fall in the area but Jeff assured us it is open again and safe if we climb smart.

So for now I am looking forward to the shopping and making my way around town.  Should be getting some good gifts for all you followers today!  I will post pictures of my treasures if I can!  Not looking forward to the gear check tonight… Jeff will be going through all of our bags and pulling out all our over packing items.  Down to the bear necessities for the climb.

Here is half the group waiting for the bus in our lobby:

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Factory Reset

Travel Day 1, , ,

These would be two words any traveler would hate to hear about an hour and a half before take off to a third world country. Well that’s exactly what happened to this girl today. It was going so well too.

I was enjoying a cup of tea and some pancakes when I decided “hey, I’ll get the new apple software”. Bad idea. Next thing I knew I was factory restarting my phone. Contacts gone. iMessage gone. Apps gone. And guess who didn’t back their iPhone up the the cloud. That’s right, me. I was able to get contacts back via my main iCloud and my photo stream photos. Had to rush to put my music back on and a few necessary apps like this one. So much for being prepared. Let’s just hope that was my cluster f@ck for this trip.

I am actually typing this as my plane takes off in Philly. They let you use airport mode now during take off. Heading to JFK about a 20min flight. This is all starting to become real. In about 8 hours I will meet up with Katy, Ryan and Steve in Amsterdam. Then the fun trek to Tanzania begins.

Not to mention I was able to put all of this in one duffle.

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Check. Double Check. Triple Check…

Pre-trip, ,

It’s usually about 3 weeks out from a expedition like this that my OCD begins to kick into high gear.  The nightmares about arriving to the airport without my gear, or missing my flight all together start to play on repeat.  These are the times when I wish I was a master at meditation.  But i’m not… so to ease my mind I will sit up for hours on end, packing and unpacking, trying on, rolling and unrolling, folding and counting.  My usual theory of, “If I forget it i’ll just buy it there” isn’t really going to cut it on this trip.  Any suggestions outside of being committed would be welcome!

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