Hanging on by a Thread
Still not feeling very good, I struggled on the hike to Barranco Camp and poured myself into the sleeping bag as soon as we arrived. Late in the evening I began feeling some relief.
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The Tables Turn
Overnight, my altitude-related issues disappeared but Heidi came down with severe gastro-intestinal distress — conveniently on the day we had to hike the steepest section, and she's afraid of heights. What could go wrong?
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Limping Into Basecamp
With Heidi feeling slightly better and myself well on the way to recovery, but still nervous about altitude issues, we took our sweet time on the short hike to basecamp. With the summit attempt beginning only seven hours later, my mind was filled with doubts.
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The Summit Push
The air was crisp and still. Ice crystals formed over our packs and outer layers. The digital thermometer died in the cold and I was too miserable to pull my analog one out. It felt like it was in the single digits—which is actually quite good weather for this section of the climb. Our team of climbers, the guides and two summit porters slowly made their way through the night toward the summit another four-thousand feet above.
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A Long Goodbye
With the summit in the bag, and having descended an additional several thousand feet, the group had a bitter-sweet, but gentle hike out to civilization, Followed by a feast at a Moshi restaurant.
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In Februrary 2016, Heidi and I set off for Tanzania. Our goal: Climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, and tallest free-standing mountain in the world. This was a super-adventure for us. Read our story, peruse the photos, or learn from the resources gathered in this section.
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