So I didn’t sleep at all during the
nap time yesterday and only about an hour total after dinner. We packed our day packs, got dressed (six top
layers, four bottom layers!), had some porridge, and then started up under
headlamps at 11:30pm. It was a bit
chilly but not too bad. Then, a half
hour in, it started to snow! Pole, pole,
slowly, slowly was our pace. Soon we had
to scramble over some rocks in several places.
Tough work at 16,000ft! Up some
switchbacks, steeper and steeper.
Impossible to see the terrain in the pitch black but we could make out a
couple groups of headlamps above us and many more down below on the endless
slope. Definitely a steep section of the
mountain.
The snow continued on and off for most
of the summit push – hey, better than rain, snow just bounces off you! For a while, we got stuck behind a struggling
climber. She had two porters escorting
her but the rest of her group was way ahead.
It was too steep and snowy to pass.
Sometimes I was glad it was dark so we couldn’t see the exposure! Finally, they took a break by some rocks and
we were able to pass, moving from an EXTREA slow pace to our comfortably slow
pace. I felt good, warm and
confident. A very slight headache and,
as usual on these long hikes, my back started to feel a little achy. I powered through and about six hours after
starting we hit Stella Point on the volcanic crater rim. From there, it was an hour hike up around the
crater to Uhuru Peak.
Dawn broke with
the sun popping out from behind the clouds a bit after. The morning light revealed a wintery
wonderland. Several inches of new snow
covered the entire landscape. We passed
the glacier walls and seracs as we approached the summit. At 6:45am we reached the peak – the highest
point in Africa, the world’s tallest free standing mountain!
Through the clouds we
could see Moshi 16,500 feet below. Into
the crater was a surreal, snow covered cinder cone. In the distance we could see Mawenzi, an
adjacent volcanic peak. A few victory
pics and it was time to descend. A few
members of the group were feeling the altitude – Emma, one of our strongest,
especially so. I found out later she
decided against the Diamox pills and so did Steve – guess they do make a
difference.
Back at Stella Point it was now light
so we took some more photos and had a quick snack and water, then started the
three hour down climb to base camp. A
slightly different route back – zigzagging down the snow covered volcanic soil
which we churned into what looked like a pile of cookies and cream ice
cream! We were granted 30 minutes of
rest time in our tents, had lunch and as the rain began so did our four hour
hike down through the alpine desert and back into the moorlands. The rocky trail soon turned into a flowing
creek. No point in trying to avoid the
water as after a couple hours we were all soaked to the bone. The trail seemed never-ending but we
eventually made it to our final camp.
Soggy from all the rain, we never really dried out that night but we
were too exhausted to care. I think we
all had the soundest sleep of the trip (I know I did!).
2025-02-07