Day 8: Climb to Summit Uhuru Peak

MOUNTAIN ROUTE OVERVIEW

Summit is an 11 to 16 hour day. Climbers go to sleep after an early dinner the night before and are woken up around midnight to being their summit attempt. After a light snack, they ascent into darkness, cold, and wind. Temperatures usually range from -4° to 5° fahrenheit. This is where climbers feel the altitude, so they’ll carry as little as possible, hike slowly, and take many rests to ease the symptoms. They’ll make their way up a trail that is flanked by the Ratzel and Rebman Glaciers. After climbing for around six hours, they’ll reach the edge of Kilimanjaro’s crater between Stella and Hans Meyer Points. They’re just an hour from the summit when they get here! After a hot cup of tea and rest, they’ll begin climbing on a rocky and icy trail to the summit, Uhuru Peak, at 19,344 feet which is the highest point on the continent of Africa. Once they reach the summit, they’ll spend a few minutes making sure they touch the sign, celebrating with the group, and taking pictures before descending to Kosovo Camp. Once they reach camp, they’ll eat lunch and take a short nap before continuing their descent to Mweka Camp. Once they arrive at camp, they’ll have dinner and go to bed early after a 13 to 19 hour day of hiking!

MOUNTAIN ROUTE STATS

ASCENT

Starting elevation 15,400 feet

Ending elevation 19,344 feet

Elevation gain 3,944 feet

Distance hiked 4 miles

Average hiking time 8 to 10 hours

DESCENT

Starting elevation 19,344 feet

Ending elevation 10,200 feet

Elevation loss 9,144 feet

Distance hiked 8 miles

Average hiking time 7 to 9 hours

UPDATE: All made it to the summit!

It is 7:00 pm on Summit day and I am thinking back on the events that occurred within the last 20 hours. We started our climb from 16,000 feet at 12:00 am. Our hopes were high but our bodies were cold as we hiked in the dark in the freezing weather. A few hours into the climb, the altitude reared its ugly head and took a few victims (me included). I held out and kept making my way in the darkness, to the top of a mountain I could not yet see. Once we approached Stella Point, I stared at the switch backs that ascended at a vertical angle. There is no way I can do this, I thought. Just when thoughts of giving up entered my end, one of our guides came to my rescue - Gabriel. He held my arm as we took one switchback at a time, allowing me to rest on a rock when I needed. When we reached Stella Point, we had almost another hour to go until we were at the peak. I didn’t want to do it. I wanted to give up and call it good but Gabriel and my husband reminded me that I am here to accomplish something and I wasn’t at the end yet. Once again, Gabriel and another porter, Abraham, took my arms and lead me along the crater. I stopped and rested every 10-15 steps to make sure the elevation didn’t win. Once we reached the peak, I sat down with my husband and cried. Cried for finding my strength when I thought I had none left, cried for the experience that lead me here, and cried to be experiencing this with my husband. We were here. We did it. The whole team did it. At the top, we found Matt and Frank who had already conquered the mountain. As we waited for our turn to take a picture, Emily joined us! It was a fantastic feeling that the entire team made it to summit. We had all watched each other work so hard for this over the past 5 days.

At dinner tonight, Drew reminded us that the events of the past week and today will sit with us for a long time. We were all looking for something different on that mountain and it didn’t necessary come once we come to us At Summit. It was reassuring to hear that whatever realizations there may be, it is okay for them to take time…

~ Harleigh Jones