2/10/2010 Kilimanjaro Climb Day 7, Africa Day 10
Mweka Camp 10,000 feet
We were woken up at 11pm with a small breakfast of Tea- thank goodness I brought oatmeal and hot chocolate. We hit the trail around midnight under the beautiful stars. For the first hour we were all pretty stoked- singing and chanting- up the VERY steep grade. During hour 2 it started to become quite cold and we quieted down significantly. By hour 3 I thought I was going to die. I was so cold I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes, there was no oxygen to breathe, I was so tired I wanted to lay down and fall asleep, my legs were exhausted, my stomach was turning, and we still had 5 – 6 more hours to climb. We took several breaks where Nate had to force feed me (literally, my hands didn’t work) and give me water. If it wasn’t for him taking care of me, I wouldn’t have made it.
After I got some water in me I felt a bit better. At that point I kept looking down at my feet focusing on one foot in front of the other. Every time I wanted to turn back I remembered why we were climbing. My mom will never get the chance to do something like this. And 11 hours of suffering is nothing compared to what all of the HD families have to go through.
At hour 4 many of the others started to fade as well. At one point Bruce announced we were only 45 minutes to Stella Point followed by only an hour to the peak. This gave me a new found energy. After a freezing cold bathroom stop (seriously, it was terrible) at Stella Point – we slowly hiked to Uhuru Peak. We were fooled several times thinking the peak was right ahead. I walked fast only to be disappointed. FINALLY we made it. At this point all I could think of was food and how cold I was. It took all we had to unroll the HDSA banner and pose for a photo. Nate and I didn’t even do our “random handstand” photo or even just a photo of the two of us. The whole thing is honestly a big fog. All we wanted to do was get back down to camp. Not only were we exhausted, we also had to walk STRAIGHT DOWN that the damn mountain.
I was shocked my new(ish) knee held up fantastically – despite how tired my muscles were. THANK YOU UW SPORTS MEDICINE PHYSICAL THERAPY! After 3-4 hours of sliding down the mountain, we had a short nap and lunch before another 4 hour hike down the mountain to our next camp.
Now, half asleep and proud of ourselves we are enjoying our dinner with wine and Kilimanjaro brand beer in our food tent. We are all feeling better but VERY sleepy.
As proud as I am of what we accomplished today, I will NEVER climb this mountain again.
Mweka Camp 10,000 feet
We did this for the thousands of families suffering with HD.
We were woken up at 11pm with a small breakfast of Tea- thank goodness I brought oatmeal and hot chocolate. We hit the trail around midnight under the beautiful stars. For the first hour we were all pretty stoked- singing and chanting- up the VERY steep grade. During hour 2 it started to become quite cold and we quieted down significantly. By hour 3 I thought I was going to die. I was so cold I couldn’t feel my fingers and toes, there was no oxygen to breathe, I was so tired I wanted to lay down and fall asleep, my legs were exhausted, my stomach was turning, and we still had 5 – 6 more hours to climb. We took several breaks where Nate had to force feed me (literally, my hands didn’t work) and give me water. If it wasn’t for him taking care of me, I wouldn’t have made it.
After I got some water in me I felt a bit better. At that point I kept looking down at my feet focusing on one foot in front of the other. Every time I wanted to turn back I remembered why we were climbing. My mom will never get the chance to do something like this. And 11 hours of suffering is nothing compared to what all of the HD families have to go through.
At hour 4 many of the others started to fade as well. At one point Bruce announced we were only 45 minutes to Stella Point followed by only an hour to the peak. This gave me a new found energy. After a freezing cold bathroom stop (seriously, it was terrible) at Stella Point – we slowly hiked to Uhuru Peak. We were fooled several times thinking the peak was right ahead. I walked fast only to be disappointed. FINALLY we made it. At this point all I could think of was food and how cold I was. It took all we had to unroll the HDSA banner and pose for a photo. Nate and I didn’t even do our “random handstand” photo or even just a photo of the two of us. The whole thing is honestly a big fog. All we wanted to do was get back down to camp. Not only were we exhausted, we also had to walk STRAIGHT DOWN that the damn mountain.
I was shocked my new(ish) knee held up fantastically – despite how tired my muscles were. THANK YOU UW SPORTS MEDICINE PHYSICAL THERAPY! After 3-4 hours of sliding down the mountain, we had a short nap and lunch before another 4 hour hike down the mountain to our next camp.
Now, half asleep and proud of ourselves we are enjoying our dinner with wine and Kilimanjaro brand beer in our food tent. We are all feeling better but VERY sleepy.
As proud as I am of what we accomplished today, I will NEVER climb this mountain again.
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