Day 7 - The hors d'oeuvre...

Third Caves Camp to School Hut Camp
Distance: 4.9 km; Altitude gained: 751 m
Third Caves Camp: 3936m (12,913 ft)
School Hut Camp: 4722m (15,492 ft)

Going to bed on Day 6, my nerves were peaking.  Day 7 is when it would start in earnest.  The climb to School Huts (our base camp for the summit) would take us just the morning, but gaining 751m in altitude in less than 5 km meant for a steep morning.  A morning of tough hiking, at high altitudes, followed by a light lunch, acclimatization hike and early dinner and bedtime.  Although "Day 8" is the day of the summit bid, it really starts today, as we wake up at 11 PM to get ready.  So, I was nervous.

Morning sun on the face of Kilimanjaro

But before we get to all that, let's start from the beginning.  Today's "program", as Joshua refers to it, begins at 7:30 AM.  He clearly doesn't include getting ready and breakfast as part of the "program" because in reality we are up at 6:00 for a 6:40 breakfast.  One might think that 40 minutes is plenty of time to get ready, when we aren't showering or doing any significant packing, but it goes pretty quickly.  The servers come to the tent and bring us some watered down tea (at this point we had run out of tea bags...with two Brits in the group, it was inevitable...so we were being rationed).  I sip tea from the warmth of my sleeping bag (at this point, it's probably about 30 or 35 degrees) and try to will myself to crawl out into the brisk air and get changed into my layers for the day's hike.  As the time approaches 6:20, I figure I better start getting ready and wiggle my way out of my warm and toasty cocoon bag.  After a quick wipe down with some baby wipes, I'm dressed and packing my duffel bag for the porters to carry up to 15,000+ ft. 

Catherine, the tea master, pouring everyone's morning cuppa

At breakfast, Imogen and I now start taking a full dose of diamox (250 mg BID).  Since Day 3 on the mountain, we had been taking just a half-dose, but with the altitudes from here on out, we'd likely need the full dose to stave off any significant symptoms of AMS (acute mountain sickness).

Catherine, Ed and Olivia getting ready for the morning hike

Team Kilimanjaro porters, packing up camp
with beautiful views of clouds over Kenya

On the Road Again

Me, before the rage-inducing false summits

At 7:30, we were "heels up" and were reminded to take things "pole pole" (slowly, slowly).  Minimal talking and no laughing.  Stopping for drinks along the way.  This was no time to be wasting energy or breath that should be put towards climbing. I have to say, we followed the rules pretty well overall.  It was pretty quiet on the trail, at least it was until I was overcome with frustration by the number of "false summits".  Every time I thought we were approaching the top of a ridge, from where I'd be able to see the School Hut Camp, we'd make it to the top only to discover a seemingly interminable trail leading to another ridge.  Exhausted, and wanting to break the silence with laughter, at the top of the next ridge, I shouted, "Oh c'mon!!! You've GOT to be kidding me!"  My exclamation was met with silence.  Everyone thought I was seriously pissed.  Admittedly, I was frustrated, but also thought it was almost comical the way you hope upon all hopes to see camp, only to come face-to-face with yet another trail leading up yet another ridge. 


Eventually though, we did make it to the top of a ridge from where we could spot our camp.  It wasn't far, but there was a pretty steep climb to make it to the camp.  It would probably be another 20 minutes of tough hiking, so we stopped for a welcome break. 

Imogen, Olivia and Catherine enjoying a quick break
before arriving at School Hut camp

You can actually see the green School Hut just under a rock face
in the middle of this photo, about 1/3 of the way from the left edge

Patrick, Bridget, Imogen, Olivia and Ed approaching School Hut camp

School Hut camp (4722m)

This camp rocks!  Literally.

School Hut Camp
We pulled in to camp around 11 AM and registered our arrival at School Hut, a little building at the camp, in time for a short break before lunch.  Walking around the campsite was tough.  You could definitely feel the altitude here, and walking from the sleeping tent to the mess tent was laborious (you felt like you climbed a couple flights of stairs, when in reality, it was only maybe 20 feet away).  It didn't help that this camp was incredible steep and rocky.  We had to watch our footing every time we left our tent because there was only about a foot or so of level ground before a steep drop down some scree.  Thankfully, we wouldn't be asleep long enough that night to have to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and risk sliding down scree. 


Acclimatization Hike - to 1000m within the summit!

Catherine, Olivia, Imogen, Bridget and Felix
making our way to 4900m. Pole pole!

Our acclimatization hike today was intended to 1) help our bodies adjust to the altitude (climb high, sleep low) and 2) give us an idea of what the trail that we'd be taking to the summit in less than 12 hours was like in daylight. We made our way through camp, around some fairly large boulders before zig zagging back and forth across the scree.  About 45 minutes into our hike, it started to snow and sleet.  And we all agreed that summit night was going to be miserable if this kind of weather continued all night.  But Joshua later assured us that the weather is typically very clear at night and not to worry.  At this point, we had made it to 4900m and took a break to stay at this altitude for about 30 minutes to acclimate to the altitude before heading back down (again, "climb high, sleep low").  The hike was tough, but still manageable and actually enjoyable, despite the cold.  It gave me some degree of confidence that I just might have a shot at making it to the top! 

Olivia, Imogen, Bridget and Felix chillaxing at 4900m

It does still snow on Kilimanjaro! (Felix & Ed)

I'm still smiling. That's a good sign, right?

What to Expect & Our Last Bit of R&R
We made it back down to camp once we had had enough of the cold, wet weather and settled in to prepare for dinner.  We carb-loaded with pasta and talked about our disbelief that the big night was finally here.  Joshua explained to us that we would be climbing with 5 Team Kilimanjaro staff - Joshua (our chief guide), Felix (assistant guide), Patrick (assistant guide) and 2 "Summit Porters".  The Summit Porters were porters that had summit experience, but I guess not enough to be actual guides.  We were told that they would be carrying tea, snacks, red bull (which we would get at Stella Point - for the final push to Uruhu), etc...  We'd be stopping fairly regularly for breaks and Joshua would indicate what kind of break it was: 1) water break (not allowed to sit down), 2) 2 minute break, 3) 5-minute break, 4) 10-minute break.  At the 10-minute breaks (there were only 3 or 4 before the summit), we would be given hot tea and a chance to rest a little.  We were warned not to lay down or close our eyes though. We were also instructed to continuously inform the guides as to our condition and not to argue with them if they made the decision to carry our daypacks for us.  Just let them help.  Fine with me!

Around 7 PM, we made our way back to our tents for a few hours of rest before our assault on the summit (though really it's more like the mountain assaulting us!).  We would be woken up at 11 PM and our final push would begin at midnight.  As nervous and excited as I was, I fell asleep pretty quickly, knowing that the next day would be a very long one and I'd need to as much rest as I could get in order to have the best shot at making it to the Roof of Africa!

Our excited faces:

Olivia and Catherine

Imogen and Olivia

Ed

Two thumbs up and super psyched!