Mweka Camp (3,100m) to Mweka Gate (1,500m)

Day Six is the last day on Kilimanjaro, and is generally the easiest of all. The trail leads out of Mweka Camp and descends fairly rapidly through the Cloud Forest on the slower slopes of Kili. It's basically a simple hike out of camp and off the mountain, but since this route is used by everyone on their descent, no matter which route the took to the top, it can be busy and crowded at times.

In total, it will only take about three to four hours to hike down to Mweka Gate. The first half of that time will be on well groomed, but narrower trails that have a few steep points that you'll have to navigate with caution. It can be quite wet in the Cloud Forest, especially in the rainy season when I was there, so the rocks and trail can be slick in points. The further you descend though, the more the trail levels out and eventually you'll find yourself hiking on what can best be described as a road. It's wide, easy to navigate, and you'll make good time. Before you know it, you'll reack Mweka Gate, and your Kilimanjaro adventure will be over.

From Mweka Gate you'll sign the guest book one more time, then take a break while the guides and porters organzie the vehicles for your return to Moshi or Arusha. There will be a number of locals trying to sell you everything from T-shirts and soft drinks, to cheap jewelry and "tinga tinga", which is local art work. At this point, the climb is over, and the one thing on your mind is a hot shower.

For me personally, the last day was a fairly easy hike out. Your legs are tired from several days on the mountain, so in the steep portions of the descent you'll feel some exertion, but other than that, this is just a few hours walk down and off the mountain. After the days spent going up, it'll feel pretty easy. It also helped that for the first time in eight days I had finally gotten a good night sleep, so I was rested and ready to go.

I did learn a few lessons while on Kilimanjaro that I'd recommend to anyone who was going for the climb. First, schedule yourself a rest day between the travel and the start of the climb. It'll help you to get adjusted to the new time zone and you'll feel more refreshed and relaxed before heading out. This is something I wished I had done looking back on it. The next thing I would tell someone who was headed off to Kili is to be prepared for a challenging climb from the first day. I had been expecting it to be a bit easier on the lower portions of the mountain than it turned out to be, at least on the Machame Route. There are no switchbacks and few gradual climbs. The trail goes up. Straight up. It's only the degree of the incline that varies.

I will say that the gear that I took with me was, for the most part great. I was happy with the performance of everything. However, I could have used a larger daypack. Mine was stuffed to the brim most of the time, and in fact, I would say that you really don't want to take a "daypack" at all. You're better off taking a larger 2-3 day pack. Something that falls between a daypack and an expedition pack. A Kili climb is fairly gear intensive since you need cooler clothes on the lower slopes, and yet plenty of warm stuff for higher on the mountain. In your pack, at various times, you'll have an extra layer or two of clothes, rain gear, including jacket and pants, your supply of water for the day, snacks and lunch, and camera equipment. As you move higher, your layers will get thicker, you'll add a warmer jacket, hats, gloves and so on. The extra space of a weekend pack will be well worth it. Also, when it comes to rain gear, many climbers preferred a poncho to a rain jacket so they could keep their pack dry as well. Personally, I prefer the close fit of the jacket myself, and my pack was good enough that it never got wet inside, even in the rain, but the poncho was easier for others to pull on quickly without having to take their packs off.

So that's it. A basic six day climb on Kilimanjaro. I'll probably make a link off to the side so that all the articles of the climb can be easily accessed and read in order. But if anyone out there has any specific questions about Kilimanjaro, feel free to drop me a note. I'm happy to answer them and pass on my thoughts and advice. A Kili climb is a grand adventure, and anyone who has the desire to see the mountain really should go for it. It's certainly worth the effort and is a unique experience.

Next up, I'll post some thoughts on the five day camping safari.

Machame Camp (3000m) to Shira Camp (3840m)

On Day 2 of the Kili climb you leave the heat and humidity of the cloud forest behind and move into the moorlands of Kilimanjaro. The trees fall away behind you today and are replaced with a number of interesting and unique plants, many with beautiful flowers. During Day 1, there were times when the forest was a bit opressive with it's humidity, but on Day 2 things are much better. The wide open spaces allow for cool breezes to help make the climb more comfortable although when the sun is out, it can still be quite intense.

The views are far more interesting on Day 2 as well. While we hiked through the forest, we didn't see anything aside from thick, dense jungle, and aside from insects, there was no animal life. But on Day 2 you can get some great views, both down the mountain to the forest and plains below and up towards Kibo and Mawenzi peaks above. On top of that, you'll actually see some birds on the mountain, including HUGE black crows, and tiny chipmunk like rodents.

This is the shortest day of climbing on the Machame Route. Your hike on Day 2 will last about four hours as you climb to the Shira Plateau. However, there are several long, vertical climbs that will result in an elevation gain of 840 meters by the time you reach camp. You'll also have to do a bit of non-technical rock climbing/scrambling near the end of the day, which wasn't all that difficult, but could be a bit intimidating if you aren't use to that kind of activity. At one point, while scrambling up the rocks, there was a 200+ foot drop into the mist just off to the side. If being close to an edge like that gives you vertigo, you may not want to look down here. ;)

After the rock climbing, the trail will continue downward for a bit until you reach Shira Camp, which rests on the rocky plateau covered in volcanic rock left over from the last time Kili blew it's top. By the time you reach this point, you'll begin to feel the drop in temperatures associated with climbing higher. A slight mist in the air will bring a bit of a chill as well.

For me, Day 2 was a nice, brisk hike. There were sections that were certainly challenging, but nothing too difficult, and I actually enjoyed the sections of rock climbing/scrambling. The path has gone from the well groomed, clearly defined trail from Day 1, to someting more like I expected. It's still easily followed, but clearly this section isn't as well maintained, and it's more challenging to hike. You'll have to watch your footing a bit more as well, and your trekking poles become much more useful. I also appreciated the change in temperature as well. While in the cloud forest, I was sweating up a storm, but the wide open spaces of the moorlands helped a lot. The lovely scenery and change of flora were fun to watch as well.

At this point in my climb, I had about two hours of sleep on the mountain. Leading up to the climb I had traveled 28 hours from the States, and head about five hours of sleep the night before we started, and while camped at Machame Camp, I did manage to get a little shut-eye. I was hoping that by the time I got to Shira Camp, I would be tired enough to actually get some sleep, but while I was physically tired, sleep would not come.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm home, safe and sound, from Africa. I had a wonderful time and have a lot to share. I appreciate all the kind words and thoughts while I was away and I intend to crank things back up here soon once I get over the jetlag and climb out from all the work waiting for me.

Just so I don't keep everyone in suspense, I'll let everyone know right now that I did not summit on Kili, but not because I wasn't ready physically. My training was good, and I was strong on the mountain. I had the right gear and equipment, and the altitude had nearly no effect on me. So what kept me from reaching the summit? The altitude did have one effect on me that I hadn't thought of nor could have preapred for, and that was the complete lack of sleep while on the mountain.

The first night we camped at about 10,200 feet or so, and I was able to get about 1 1/2 to maybe 2 hours of sleep. This was following 28 hours of travel to Tanzania the days before and about four hours of sleep before we started the climb. As the days progressed, I got less and less sleep, generally only in the 1/2 hour per night area, and the day before summit day, I got none at all. The result, was that after five days of trekking the mountain, and probably a combined 7 or 8 hours of sleep over a week, I was literally exhausted when I reached basecamp the night before the summit attempt.

At that point, I made the decision to not go for the summit, as it was 6 to 7 hours up, plust another 2 to 3 back down, followed by a short rest, and another 4 hours further down after that. In the condition I was in, that didn't seem like a smart option to me at the time. While I was disappointed, I still feel like I made the right choice, as I feared that I would become even more exhausted should I push myself to the limit, and with a whole week of Safari ahead, I didn't want to end up sick or worse.

Fortunately, upon returning to lower altitudes, I began to sleep fine once more, and soon caught up on my sleep, but of course by then, my chances for the summit were gone and I had to settle for being satisfied with the wonderful trekking on the mountain, without the summit. Colm, my climbing partner from Ireland, did go for the summit, and was successful in his attempt. He said it was the hardest thing he had ever done, and this is coming from a person who runs three and a half hour marathons. He knew what kind of shape I was in due to my lack of sleep, and thought that I had made the right choice as well.

In the days ahead, I'll be blogging on the whole experience in more detail, offering my thoughts on the climb and the lessons I learned while on the mountain. The first lesson is an easy one though. Were I to do things over, I think I would have scheduled a free day between my travels and the start of the cliimb. It would have helped me to rest up a bit, and work on the jetlag some, before starting up Kilimanjaro. Looking back, that may have helped some, although it's unlikely it would have made a difference in my ability to sleep on the mountain. The only thing that would have helped would have been more acclimatization and possibly a slower route to the top.

Fortunately, I don't feel like I have "unfinished business" with Kili. The trekking was still wonderful, I had a great time, made several new friends, and still count the trip as a success, even without the summit. Hopefully in my future blog posts on the subject I can convey that, and more about the experience.

Finally, I'd like to thank Duma Explorer for such a great experience both on Kili and on Safari. They were very professional, well organized, and prepared us well for what to expect. If you're thinking of visiting Tanzania for a climb or safari of your own, I can't recommend them enough. Plus, they are a locally owned company, meaning that when you use them, you're not only employing Tanzanians, the money is actually staying in the country itself and not going back to the U.S. or U.K. Something to think about in todays competitive travel environment.

More soon...

Barafu Camp (4,550m) to Uhuru Peak (5,891m) to Mweka Camp (3,100m)

Let me start out this posting by once again apologizing for how long it's taken to get this up. It's been a combination of being very busy myself, and asking my climbing partner to write out some details on the climb up to the summit. Regular readers will know that I personally didn't go up to the summit, as the lack of sleep on the mountain finally caught up with me the day before summit day. I'm still waiting for Colm's thought on the summit, but I wanted to get some details down none the less. Once he's had a chance to send me his thoughts, I'll add them to this post.



Day 5, as most of you know, is summit day on Kilimanjaro via the Machame Route. You'll depart camp around mid-night or 1 AM as you head up to Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa. The climb up takes approximately six to seven hours, and nearly all of it is in darkness, so be sure you have a good headlamp and a fresh set of batteries. Keep extra batteries inside your jacket so they'll stay warm in case you need them.

The climb up is very steep, and slow, and can be quite slick with snow lining the upper portions of the mountain, at least until you reach Stella Point. From there, the terrain continues to rise, but is not nearly as steep, and it's the altitude that becomes the main concern. Once you reach Stella Point, its approximately 45 minutes or so until you get to Uhuru Peak, the Summit of Kilimanjaro and the Roof of Africa. If everything goes according to plan, you'll arrive right around sunrise.

After a brief period on the summit, you'll begin the slow descent back to Barafu Camp. It'll take about another 3 to 4 hours to descend, but it'll be in daylight so the views will have improved. Your legs will be exhausted however, so going over the slick rocks and snow can still be quite difficult and taxing. Once ou arrive back in Barafu, you'll take a short one to two hour rest, and have some breakfast before continuing down to Mweka Camp, the final destination for Summit Day no matter which route you took up the mountain.

The descent to Mweka Camp takes approximately another three to four hours, making the total length of Summit Day in the neighborhood of 12 - 14 hours total. Certainly a long day. The descent is once again over rock scree and can be rather steep in certain areas. You'll even have to scramble over some large rocks, which would typically be quite easy, but on tired legs, it can be quite challenging. However, as you head down, you'll make good time, and the air will begin to thicken again, making it easier to breathe. By the time you stop for the day, you'll have returned to the Cloud Forest climate zone. Mweka Camp is also quite lively, loud, and active, as it is the last camp for everyone on Kili no matter which route they take to the top.

Unfortunately for me, I never had the chance to experience the summit climb. When my partern Colm left for the summit at mid-night, I had already been in the tent, WIDE AWAKE, for about five hours. I continued to lay there until his return, and all told, I was in the tent for about 12 to 13 hours that night, without a wink of sleep. That made for a very long night, but also reaffirmed that I had probably made the right decision to not go up.

Upon his return, Colm told me that it was the hardest thing he had ever done, and this is coming from a man who runs a three and a half hour marathon. While he was chatting with me about the climb and descent, he fell asleep in the doorway of our tent, and stayed there until we had breakfast. He was literally exhausted, and the descent was going to be a challenge for him, as he had already had a long day.

For me, the descent to Mweka Camp wasn't too bad. My legs were rested, and aside from being tired from not sleeping, I was feeling pretty good. The loose rock scree didn't make the descent easy, but it was more about watching my footing than anything else. By the time we were done for the day, we were making camp at approximately 10,170 feet, and finally, at long last, I would sleep. Descending back to a more resonable altitude did wonders for me, and that night I got a good solid six or seven hours of rest. Believe me, I needed it.

The following day was our last on the mountain. The final descent to the park exit. I'll post my thoughts on that either tonight or tomorrow, with a few parting comments on the climb. Again, I apologize for taking so long to get this up, and I'll add Colm's thought when he gets a chance to share them.

Update: Colm, my climbing partner on Kili, sent me his thoughts on Summit Day and his climb from Barafu Camp up to Uhuru Peak. That's him in the picture by the way. What follows is his experience in his own words, and marks the first time I've had a guest blogger on The Adventure Blog. I can't think of a better person to turn over the reigns to. So, with out further ado, here is what Colm had to say:

"On the six day Machame climb, the ascent comes at the end of the toughest day of hiking so the evening of the ascent was when I felt the most tired.

After dinner, which was almost impossible to eat, I just ate dry pasta, you return to your tent to sleep but it was impossible. There was a raging wind, a thunderstorm underneath us and sleet and hail belting into the tent. It didn’t inspire confidence for the upcoming climb.

I also took some Diamox at this point which may not have been the best idea; hard as it was to sleep with the weather, it was impossible when you have to pee every 15 seconds.

The ascent starts about midnight. I started off with two thermals and two fleeces and felt pretty comfortable, not too cold. My plan was just to follow the foot steps of my guide and not look around, this was probably a good idea as the next morning on the descent there was definitely some steep falls which I hadn’t noticed the previous night. From about midnight to 2am , I felt pretty good, I don’t think we even had a break. Weather was fine, not windy and everything was going well. It was steep but you just can’t see anything except the odd other headlight so all I focused on was the feet of my guide. I definitely started to feel bad about 3 am. It also got windy and cold at this point. I managed to take in an energy gel, it was hard to keep down but it definitely helped and the hike from 3 to 5 went ok, not easy and you really just focus on the feet in the light of your headlamp I also remember Zawadi , my guide, was polite enough to ask if it was ok to smoke whenever we had a break which was quite funny.

I don’t even recall reaching Stella point or Gilmans Point. My guide didn’t even acknowledge these points, he just kept forcing the pace. My guide was a great guy but he was tough and didn’t allow any chance for hesitation or doubt. The summit was the priority and by God, he was getting up there.

The last hour is over the ice and snow. Obviously it gets colder and gets quite slippery. I remember feeling just so exhausted but just kept going. The last 45 minutes got even harder as you had to focus on not slipping and not breaking your ass in the process.

We eventually reached the peak at 6.10am or so, I think we were the third group to reach the peak that morning. The sun was starting to rise and it really was amazingly beautiful, the colours were amazing but I have to admit it is hard to fully process everything as you are just so tired.

A you descend, I really noticed how slippery it was, I had to follow the footsteps of my guide in Indian file. You can see the ghosts of other climbers coming towards you from all routes and you do see some people in pretty bad shape.

The descent to Barafu camp is a bit nuts really, it is just this steep path of scree and you almost have to run down. It was at this point I got some AMS, I lost all co-ordination in my legs and despite feeling not too bad, I just couldn’t keep my legs moving in a co-ordinated way and kept falling over. I was like Bambi trying to ice skate. My guide had to take me under the arm so we looked like two newly weds going down the aisle as we descended. As I got lower, things did get a bit better and I was able to descent the last hour to camp without help.

As I passed out with half my body outside the tent I remember telling Kraig, something along the lines that a lot of people who do Killi do not realize the difficulty involved. I didn’t sleep very well during the climb which didn’t help and I am a reasonably strong marathon runner but Killi was definitely harder than expected.

I did a short trek in Ladakh recently but this was my first real climbing experience and as the memories of how hard Killi was begin to fade, I am already thinking of the next climb….

I would also like to acknowledge how lucky I was with my climbing partner, a great guy with huge patience. I don’t know if it was just me but altitude caused me to break wind every 10 seconds and pee at least 5 times a night which can not have been easy for my tent partner and definitely didn’t help sleep."

A huge thanks goes out to Colm for taking the time to write this up and give us his thoughts on the climb. And I can honestly say that I couldn't ask for a better person to share the experience with as well. Colm and I shared a similar sense of humor and we got along great pretty much from the moment we met. Colm, if you need someone to share the tent with you on another mountain, I'm happy to be there. I'll even bring a bigger beaker. ;)

Machame Gate (1,800m) to Machame Camp (3,000m)

The first day of the climb on Kilimanjaro via the Machame route begins at the Machme Gate at about 1800m. The area just inside the gate is a staging area for everyone preparing for the climb. You'll see backpacks, boxes, and duffel bags for each group all over the parking lot. All climbers have to check in at the ranger station by signing in with their name, age, country, passport number, etc. After signing in, each guide checks their climbing permit, and you're off, at long last.

Throughout Day 1 you hike along a well developed and easy to follow trail surrounded by Kili's cloud forest. The path starts out as a gentle slope and it's easy to make good time, even though the guides will implore you to go "Pole! Pole!" (Slowly! Slowly!) even at this relatively low altitude. Reaching the summit is a marathon, not a sprint, and it's a good idea to pace yourself each day.

After about two hours of hiking, the trail changes from a gentle slope to a number of long, and steep, inclines. You'll find that the leisurely walk you started out on has now become a challenging cardio workout. The first day's hike takes about five to six hours in total, and by the time you reach Machame Camp, the cloud forest begins to give way to grasslands and wildflowers. You'll camp that night on the edge of the moorlands.

My experience with Day 1 is that it was far more vertical than I had expected. You do gain 1200 meters of altitude throughout the day, which is nothing to sneeze at to be sure. Still, I expected the gain to be a little more gradual, with more switchbacks, but honestly the trail is, for the most part, straight and true. And up!! While I was expecting a challenge, I have to admit, Day 1 was harder than what I thought it would be.

I chose the Machame route for my climb because it's considered one of the more scenic of the routes. Our guides also told us that it is considered one of the more challenging routes as well. By the time we signed in at the ranger station at Machame Camp that afternoon, I had a new respect for the adventure I had undertaken.

(The photo above is me with our assistant guide Peter. Courtesy of my climbing partner Colm Donohoe.)

Shira Camp (3840m) to Barranco Camp (3950m)

Day 3 on Kilimanjaro is all about acclimatization. You'll get a full taste of the old adage "climb high, sleep low" as you first gain 690 meters, and then descend 580 meters at the end of the day.

Much of Day 3 is spent in the alpine desert of Kilimanjaro. You'll leave the colorful bushes, scrub grasses, and interesting plant life behind, at least for the time being, for the rocky, barren, and dry expanses of the high desert areas. You'll continue to have amazing views throughout the day as well, and the summit will loom over you as you hike, as long as the mists clear long enough for you to see it.

You'll reach the high point of the climb around mid-day, as you approach the Lava Tower, a 300 foot tall formation jutting out of the mountain that ws created by cooling lava at some point in Kili's past. The morning is a steady climb up to this point, and you'll likely have lunch in the shadow of the Tower. After that, you'll turn down hill to make your way towards Barranco Camp. But make no mistake, just because you're going down doesn't mean that the trek is easy. On the contrary, you'll be scrambling over rocks and hiking through loose rock scree that will have you watching your step at every moment. On top of that, you're likely to have tired legs from the previous days climb and the exertion of the morning, making the descent more challenging than you'd like.

There is a reward for the day however, and that's the beautiful scenery as you descend. The alpine desert will once again fall away, and you'll return to the colorful moorlands. More beautiful plants will spring up around you, and as you hike down the valley to Barranco Camp, there are a number of beautiful waterfalls. Definitely take time to look around on this stage of the climb.

Barranco Camp is easily the most scenic on the Machame Route. You'll have some amazing views of Mount Meru, Heim Glacier, and Kibo's south face. When the mist clears at night, you'll also be able to see all the way down theh valley into Moshi Town. Of course, it's not all fun and games, as you won't be able to avoid eyeing up the Barranco Wall, a 1000+ foot rock face you'll be tackling first thing in the morning.

For me, this was a good day on the trail. The morning hike up was definitely challenging and I was ready for a break when we stopped for lunch at the lava tower. The descent was certainly more challenging than I expected, and you had to watch your footing constantly, as the scree was very loose in spots and if you weren't careful, you could easily twist an ankle, or trip and fall. But the views in Shira Garden, as the valley leading to Barranco Camp is known, are quite stunning. Certainly some of the best you'll see on the whole trek.

The night before this stage I probably slept a total of 20-30 minutes. Very light dozing at best, but I still felt good on the trail. My legs were feeling a bit of the strain, but generally still felt good. I remained hopeful that a good night's sleep was just around the corner, and that the acclimatization process was going according to plan. I hadn't suffered any head-aches or nausea, although other groups we encountered certainly were. I remained optimistic.

(Photo courtesy of Colm Donohoe. It's a shot of myself, and our guides, Peter and Zawadi, at the Lava Tower.

Barranco Camp (3950m) to Barafu Camp (4550m)

First off, apologies for not getting this posted sooner, but real life has prohibited me from doing updates as often as I would like over the past week or two. I'm hoping things will return to normal this week.

The theme for Day 4 is "Up!" as that's what you'll be doing all day. Climbing up. There are a series of long, continues climbs throughout the day, beginning with the Barranco Wall (seen in the picture above) which will be the focus of your first hour to hour and a half for the day. You'll break camp after breakfast and after a short walk across the valley, you'll begin tackling the wall, which is about 1500 feet tall. There is a fairly well defined path up the Wall, but you'll still find yourself doing some non-technical rock climbing/scarmbling at times. When you glance over your shoulder, you'll aslo have some amazing views, but it is also a long way down. It's best to just keep focused on the trail and continuing the cimb to the top. This is one of the tougher parts of the climb prior to Summit Day.

After you top out on the Barranco Wall you'll follow the path down a short descent into the Karanga Valley and the trail will wind about in a much easier fashion for a time. You'll still have to watch the rock scree and mind your balance on the descent, as you will begin to encounter some icy rocks and slick surfaces. The going is fairly easy for an hour or so until you'll run into another tough, challenging climb that is very vertical. While it's not as long, nor as challenging, as the Barranco Wall, it is pretty much straight up the side of the mountain, and it's certainly no walk in the park. At the top, you'll break for lunch however, and the break, along with the hot meal and tea will help to re-engergize the legs.

After lunch, it's another long, slow, steady climb to Barafu Camp. The trail up is fairly bleak and desolate, as you're well into the alpine desert once more, with little to see except for rocks and dry soil. Glancing up will give you a nice view of the summit, and you'll also have amazing views of both Kibo and Mawenzi peaks. The glaciers are also in full view and it's important to sneak a peek at the scenery from time to time, as you'll mostly be focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and following your guides up the trail.

The rest of the afternoon is a bit of a slow, challenging slog up the side of Kilimanjaro. You won't encounter the steep, vertical walls that you faced eariler in the day, but the trail will continue to climb for the next few hours, with little relief. Shortly before you reach Barafu Camp you'll have to scramble up and over more rocks and boulders before finally reaching the end of the march for the day.

Barafu is quite barren and rocky and is the last camp before your summit push, and while there is little to see around the camp itself, the views of the summit and the area around the mountain can be quite stunning. You won't get too much time to enjoy them however, as you'll have an early dinner, and then off to the tent for some much earned rest before departing at mid-night for the summit.

For me, Day 4 was the day that my lack of sleep finally caught up with me. The night before I probably had 20-30 minutes of light dozing, so at this point of the climb I was probably going on about 8 total hours of sleep in about six or seven days, dating back to when I left the States. Despite that, when I left the tent that morning, I felt strong and ready to go. Surprisingly so in fact. However, by the time we topped out on the Barranco Wall, I could tell that my energy levels were not where they needed to be. The second long climb, just before lunch, took it's toll on me as well, but lunch and the hour long break helped to get my legs back under me, but once again, I could tell that I wasn't bouncing back the way I had on the other days so far.

The final straw was the long, slow, afternoon climb. It was quite a challenge for me to continue up the mountain, and by the time I reached Barafu Camp, I knew that I wasn't going to be going up to the summit. That afternoon exhaustion set in and I'd never felt so weary as I did when I finally reached camp. I was running on reserves, and all I wanted to do was climb into my tent and sleep. Unfortunately, sleep was the one thing I couldn't do. Even as exhausted as I was, I couldn't sleep. Over dinner, I discussed the way I was feeling with the guides, and while they encouraged me to continue the climb, I knew that it was in my best interest to not push myself further. Getting to the top was only part of the equation, getting back down ws not going to be easy either, and I had a full week of safari ahead of me too, and running myself ragged or getting sick was not an option. I was certainly disappointed in the way I felt, but deep down inside, I knew it was the right choice.

While I was exhausted, that didn't mean that I wasn't aware of the beauty of our surroundings. The views were spectacular and the summit looked amazing. We were also treated to a strong snow storm for an hour or two, that was a nice change of pace from the damp mist and rain from the lower portions of the climb. The wind was quite strong and ruffled the tents, and while it was cold, it wasn't uncomfortably so. The gear I had brought along served it's purpose quite well, and were it not for the lack of sleep, I'd have been looking forward to the summit.