Follow Paul, Rich and Lois as they embark on an incredible journey, 15 years in the making, and hike to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa while raising money for Multiple Sclerosis research.
"He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures."Psalm 147:8
Day four was an interesting day in that it was actually easier than we thought it was going to be. So much of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, or any mountain for that matter, is mental. Day 4 was truly the mental psych-out of our trek simply due to the fact that the day begins with a highly intimidating ascent up Barranco Wall. The wall looms over you as you make your way to the base of it and all you can see looking up are jagged rocks and steep inclines. Fortunately for us, the wall wasn't as bad as it looked. In fact, we all found the endless line of hikers and porters, occasional scrambling in single file, and overall slow pace refreshing as they allowed us to carry on a conversation and stop to pose for several pictures.
A traffic jam on Barranco wall.
With that said, Barranco wall is not to be taken lightly--in fact, just a week prior to our trek up the wall, a porter was trying to hurry to camp to ensure his duties were fulfilled prior to his party arriving when he lost his footing on the wall. He fell over 100 feet and was killed. While this is a brutal reminder, it is also a reality on the mountain. One momentary lack of focus or one misstep by an inexperienced guide can be lethal. Thankfully, we invested in some of the most well-known and experienced guides on the mountain to lead our journey and did not have a single incident the entire time. I'll elaborate on just how crucial choosing the right guide is in my next post, as I had the opportunity to interview our head guide, Lyimo, for this blog.
But for now, back to day four. After Barranco wall the hike for the rest of the day was quite easy really. What's interesting is that I assumed the higher we went, the steeper the hikes would get. That simply wasn't the case. After cresting the wall in the morning, our journey was more a meander through rolling hills than a steep incline. Perhaps the reason for this was that we had reached the base of the summit climb and now had to walk laterally around the mountain to get to base camp. Whatever the reason, it was a beautiful hike and offered us some of the most spectacular views of the mountain yet. We took full advantage of these as we realized we probably wouldn't get too many more opportunities to capture the mountain from below on our trip, as the next time we saw her face would be from the summit!
Rich and I with Kili in the background on Day 4
As we came into camp that afternoon, we were met with a warm meal and some down time. Rich, Dad and I took advantage of the down time and decided to place a little wager on who was carrying the most weight up the mountain between the three of us. Now granted, my Dad is 63, so I'll give him a 10 lb advantage for age, but other than that, I figured we should all be hauling about the same weight. And, of course always being the competitive one, I really wanted to show Rich that I was carrying just as much weight as him. Anyway, I'll let you be the judge of who won the contest!
Day 3 was one of my favorite days on the mountain mainly because we got to see a lot of the rocks and terrain that formed the beautiful mountain that is Kilimanjaro. It was great to have my Dad (a geologist) along with us on the mountain to tell us the "stories of the rocks". The first part of day three saw us leave Shira Camp at 12,500 feet to head to Lava tower, which stands at just under 16,000 feet. This was quite an incline for us compared to other days, but overall, it was just a long, steady hike.
Lava tower as the clouds came in
Lunch was taken at Lava tower and we were definitely all hungry by the time we got there. One interesting observation on Day 3 was the dramatic change in weather. We started off the morning in light layers and quickly worked up a sweat. As we got higher, we slowly had to add layers back as the temperature cooled. By lunch, I found myself breaking out my jacket for the first time to stay warm while we ate. At that point, the clouds had really pushed in on us (granted we were at 16, 000 feet!) and the wind felt much more brisk. Just as quickly as it cooled, however, it warmed again once we started descending.
The motto of the day for day 3 was "climb high, sleep low". This strategy is used to combat the side effects of altitude sickness in that it brings you up to a height where you oxygen is depleted for a few hours, but then allows you to recuperate overnight and adjust before climbing higher again the next day. For us, I think this was a great method. Despite the fact that none of us felt the true side-effects of altitude sickness, I will say that midway through day 3, we were all draggin a bit until after we stopped for lunch and then started descending to a lower altitude.
Crossing 14,500 feet...higher than Mt. Whitney!
Day 3 was also a historic day for Rich and I as we crossed up and over 14, 500 feet...why is this particular altitude important to us? Mainly because our one training hike was to climb the highest peak in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney, which stands at 14, 563 feet. We both felt great crossing over this point and even remember to pose for a picture when both Dad and Rich's watches told them we were at the correct altitude. Gotta love those Suunto watches!
One other "milestone" for day 3 was my sunburn. I can not tell you how many times friends, guides, my Dad and Rich, other hikers and even the porters reminded me to re-apply sunscreen. And yet--day 3 ended with a brutal sunburn midway down my forehead from where I had my bandana situated all day. Yes--it was bad. Yes-- I regretted it the rest of the trip. But hey, I sacrificed myself so others could learn from my mistakes. So, just for you, here's the money shot of my horrible sunburn:
You can't pay for tan lines like that!
And, of course, we finished the day with our cheesy, but motivating group shot. Day 4 guaranteed to be a tough one as Barrancu wall loomed over us from camp. Next blog post I'll tell you whether or not the intimidation factor of the wall lived up to the reality!
Proud husband to Beth and Father of Mark, Claire and Lois. Paul has a Masters degree in Geology from the University of Toronto and spent the majority of his life working as an oil executive before retiring in 2004. Since then, he's started three successful small public oil companies, and enjoys traveling the world with his wife. When he is in Canada, he can be found at the family home in Calgary or at the cabin in British Columbia. Paul started the dream of climbing to the summit of Kilimanjaro when he took his 10-year-old daughter Lois (me!) to an Imax in 1994.
Rich "The Husband"
Rich hails from Stittville, NY and has been happily married to Lois for nearly five years. He has a degree in Biology from St. John Fisher University in Rochester, NY and is a USMC Ch-53E helicopter pilot in his spare time (haha). Rich first began dreaming about climbing Kili when he heard Lois talk so passionately about making the journey herself during their dating days. Since then, he's deployed twice to Iraq and Afghanistan and once to Japan in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami. Rich is excited to have the chance to return to the Eastern Hemisphere as a tourist.
Lois "The Wife and Daughter"
That's me! I'm the author of this blog and the dreamer that has carried this crazy idea with me for the last 15 years. I'm equally proud to be happily married to Rich and also to be the daughter of Paul and Beth. I have a degree in Journalism from St.Bonaventure University in NY and an MBA from San Diego State University. I love living each precious day like the gift from God that it is, and can not wait to embark on the journey of a lifetime with my Husband and Dad!
