As announced yesterday the night ended right on time at 23:30h. I was already awake for some time because some groups started earlier. One group did even sing while getting up and starting. No need to guess which group that was…
First obstacles right before starting
For breakfast I had some cookies and tea. When my guide entered he measured my blood oxygen level. The result: 68%. Wow, this was way too low and a real bummer. It should have been something around 80%. We measured again but no chance: my blood oxygen level seemed to be too low. He asked me how I felt. Just fine I said. No breathing problems whatsoever. So we agreed to start the ascent and measure again later. The blood oxygen level is measured using a finger so my guide told me that cold hands could lead to a lower result.
At 00:30h we left the tent and started our ascent in the darkest night. My guide and I were accompanied by a summit porter who carried the daypack. It became clear once again: the heroes on Mount Kilimanjaro are the porters. Without them and without the rest of the team a safe ascents would hardly be possible. Unfortunately I didn’t recall the summit porter‘s name. Well, bottom line was: I just had to carry my own body up to 5.985m. But that was challenging enough. As I already wrote in the section Kilimanjaro preparation I wore everything I had because of the cold:
- 1 headlamp
- 2 pair of socks
- 1 pair of trekking trousers
- long underwear
- 2 breathable shirts (short)
- 1 breathable shirt (long)
- 2 jackets (1x down, 1x windbreaker)
- gloves, scarf and cap.
Walking in the freezing night
After a short period of time I knew that I made a mistake gear-wise: my gloves didn’t last. I bought windbreaker gloves hoping if they kept the wind outside they keep the cold outside. They didn’t. By moving my fingers constantly I tried to avoid frostbite. Just when I didn’t feel my fingers anymore my guide magically unpacked nice warm gloves. That’s the moment you really start to appreciate warm fingers. So much better. Even my toes started getting cold. Although I wore 2 pairs of merino wool socks. I began to change my way of walking: Trying to purposely use my toes and ball of the foot to keep the blood circulating. It helped a little but my feet were still cold so I just continued walking.
The path was very steep. In a huge distance in front of us I saw numerous light beams from the headlamps. I asked myself why they were in such great distance? They didn’t start much earlier so they seem to climb much faster than us? I caught myself getting jealous: from what I saw they will summit soon. To suppress the thoughts I needed to concentrate on myself. Drinking very much, walking pole pole and doing one step at a time. Step after step, meter after meter difference in altitude. After some time I seemed to have found a velocity which could result in summiting. While the sign at Kibo Hut anncounced
UHURU PEAK: 6KM (6HRS)
I thought to myself that this was definitely not going to happen in 6 hours. But the speed was good so I continued walking.
Vomit everywhere
In the light beam of my headlamp I recognized many dark spots on the rocks. It’s vomit. Wow… So much vomit. Hopefully I won’t add anything to this picture. As we reached the steepest part of the ascent we weren’t able to see the other climbers anymore. But some people came our way. Everybody who came back had his or her head down. They didn’t make it and had to give up. As expected I met the guy who build up his tent at Mawenzi Tarn Hut right next to mine and coughed the whole night. He didn’t acclimatize and apparently had to give up now during summit night.
After what felt like an eternity we reached – according to my guide – a milestone. 5.000m! What? We only climbed 300m? I was demotivated instantly. Nevertheless I took a huge swallow from my water bladder and continued walking. After another eternity we reached Hans Meyer Cave at 5.200m – named after the first ascent in 1889. We took a brake, drank and ate something and my guide measured my blood oxygen level. Everything ok (that’s what he said – to be honest I didn’t see the result)! And shortly after we continued we overtook the first group. A woman was wrapped in one of those golden-silver-thermo-blankets. I was doubtful whether she is going to make it like this to the top? I couldn’t think long about this because I was busy getting along with myself. Shortly after that we reach another group. The path is getting steeper with every step I take. I almost had to use my hands and crawl on all fours.
As I turned around I was able to see Kibo Hut and the sunrise. The view was just breathtaking: the rising sun and the illuminated Mawenzi on the horizon. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos. After a short break to enjoy this fabulous view I continued. As it got steeper and steeper I wasn’t able to see much of the path while looking up. This suggested (I hoped) that we were about to reach the crater’s edge.
Reaching Gilman’s Point
At 07:03h we finally reached Gilmann’s Point! It was foggy as hell – we couldn’t see into the crater and we couldn’t see Mawenzi anymore either. From this point on we officially summited Mount Kilimanjaro. We took a break, ate and drank hot tea. I felt so much relief. But mild headaches started to appear. The longer we sat the more I thought about descending because I officially did what I came to do.
My guide and I talked a bit and as usual he found the right words. Just 1,5 more hours until we would reach Uhuru Peak. We both took a painkiller and started walking again. Although the path from was now way more easy to walk I still had to deal with over 5.600m. Step by step we continued and shortly after passed by a point which I only recognized later during our descent: Stella’s Point at 5.750m.
Uhuru Peak – finally!
The further we got the more people we overtook. Those were the groups we saw earlier this night far, far ahead of us! I suddenly started to feel really good and my motivation increased. So we continued: another hill, another step. It took like forever until we reached the famous Uhuru Peak at 08:40h.
We didn’t stay long. Unfortunately the foggy weather ruined any possible landscape photos. So I took a moment to realize what I had just achieved and after that we started our way down. Until we reached Gilman’s Point again, everything was fine. But after that my energy started disappearing. I ate some snacks and drank a lot. Nevertheless I walked supported by the summit porter for a bit. The way down was surprisingly fast. As we came closer to Kibo Hut I felt that I was on my last legs. I even started to feel dizzy while walking. I asked my guide to measure my blood level oxygen in camp again because I knew that dizziness is a major sign of high altitude sickness.
As we reached Kibo Hut again we thanked each other and took a large break. I took my shoes off and fell into my sleeping bag where I held one of the best naps I ever had. After that heavenly nap we descended further to Horombo Camp at 3.700m – so another 1.000m descent. After ascending on Rongai Route we chose the famous Marangu Route (also known as Coca Cola Route) for descent. To me this further descent was like torture. Although every descending step gave me more and more oxygen I had huge motivation problems. I kind of mentally made my piece with the day after reaching Kibo Hut. But we had to walk 12 more kilometers and descent another 1.000m. After finally reaching Horombo Camp I was able to sit down and start to realize: I did it!
Descending Mount Kilimanjaro
The next morning we descended the rest of the mountain after the well-deserved tipping ceremony and some singing and dancing. The last day wasn’t difficult. Only the length, the steady physical stress on the knees due to descending and the lack of motivation made it hard. After summit night I felt it to be rather hard to motivate myself for any further episodes. Nonetheless we reached Marangu Gate where tons of tourist were waiting for their ascent to start. Such a difference to what we experienced at Rongai Gate where I felt like the only group to ascent. My guide checked us out of Kilimanjaro National Park and I received my official certificate. Thank God my guide convinced me to continue to Uhuru Peak!
After receiving the certificate we went to a typical African restaurant. The food was delicious. We even ordered a Kilimanjaro beer which – after one week of pure exhaustion – did it’s job really fast.
After finishing our meal we drove back to Moshi where I stayed a night at a hotel and finally took a hot shower. The next morning my guide picked me up and we drove to the office. We had some time to kill so I went shopping for some souvenirs with another staff member. After we met one of the porters – with whom I drank another Kilimanjaro beer as a farewell – we drove to the airport and said goodbye. The journey back home passed by uneventfully. So after flying during the night I arrived the next morning after 11 days and via Tanzania, Ethiopia, Frankfurt and Berlin at home and have now successfully climbed the first of the famous Seven Summits.