by Paty | Oct 15, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Last summer, we went on a vacation out to visit Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to get some fresh mountain air. As my son and I climbed up to the summit of an 11,000 foot peak, I felt awesome. Sure, I was winded a little bit easier, but otherwise it was a...
by Paty | Oct 10, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
I got a really solid night of sleep last night after pushing myself so hard the past day an a half. When I woke up around 6:30 am, two of the porters were jokingly calling me “the lion.” Apparently, I was sleeping so hard I was snoring up a storm like a...
by Paty | Oct 9, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
I couldn’t fall asleep for the first two hours after dinner. The really loud South African group was celebrating they’re summit this afternoon. Yes, this is the same group who guides and porters wanted to abandon them for being such jerks. It appears their...
by Paty | Oct 9, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
After a brief nap of only about 25 minutes, we were back up for bunch at Barafu Camp. Everyone was clearly exhausted from the prior evening and morning adventure. We didn’t have the energy to celebrate or even engage in much chatter. Ken and Diane seem to be...
by Paty | Oct 8, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
Last night was a very interesting evening in camp. The South African crew we encountered on the Barranco Wall continued to be rowdy and obnoxious into the evening. When we got up this morning all the various guides were talking about them. It seems the South African...
by Paty | Oct 7, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
Today is the day we climbed the infamous Barranco Wall. Other than the summit, it would be the most challenging day of the trek because of the 845 foot high steep rock face that you have to climb/scramble up. Not only would this day require the most technical skills,...
by Paty | Oct 6, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
If you just looked at our beginning and ending elevation for the day, it seems like we didn’t make any progress today. That’s not very accurate though. Today we actually climbed up over 15,000 feet, but then returned to lower elevation for our next camp....
by Paty | Oct 5, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
Today started out simply, but it soon turned into my favorite day of this journey thus far. At breakfast, I choked down some porridge (with some peanut butter mixed in for some fat) even though I didn’t have an appetite. Then I got ready for today’s 7-mile...
by Paty | Oct 4, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
I fell asleep quickly last night, then awoke around 11pm with the most urgent need to pee. Clearly the Diamox is working its wonders. Yesterday was the first day I took it, and the main side effect is a diuretic effect. I’ll admit I felt a lot of impatience...
by Paty | Oct 3, 2016 | Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Trail Journals
The morning came sooner than I’d hoped. With precious little sleep and plenty of jet lag, I dragged myself out of bed with the alarm at 6:30 am and headed to the bathroom. Knowing this would be my last real shower or chance to use a flush toilet for the next 8...
