Kilimanjaro Day Four: The Moment Of Truth
Kilimanjaro Day Three: Love In The Air?
October 4, 2016
Where Can The Brokenhearted Go For Healing?
October 18, 2016
On the road again
Kilimanjaro Day Four: The First Half
As I woke up on the morning of Kilimanjaro day four, I knew that I was just 24 hours away from looking down upon the entire African continent. The nausea and apprehensions of the previous night were replaced with a renewed sense of determination. As I stared up at the steepest part of the climb, Baranco Wall, I suddenly entered a resolute state of flow.
Climbing up Baranco Wall
The morning journey began with several hours of climbing. Upon reaching the top of Baranco Wall, a brief rest was followed by going down to Karanga valley for lunch and then continuing on to Barafu Camp. Although the entire expedition took several hours, it was as if no time had passed. After an early afternoon dinner, I went into my tent, threw on my headphones, and zoned out in preparation for the final push—scheduled for midnight.
Feeling good at the top of Baranco Wall
Still enough energy for the mandatory jump pic!
Me Against The Summit: Thoughts Along The Way
23:30: Pre-Summit. “You got this E. Eat a few biscuits, drink some tea, and get your mind ready for the climb!”
00:00: “No turning back now. You’re well rested. You’re warm. Shake off that anxiety, start strong and keep moving.”
01:00: The glow of the glacier under the full moon looks unreal. Deep blue. Iridescent—such natural beauty. I try to capture a still photo. I try to capture a video. Neither compare, but the beauty of the current moment fuels my ascent as I continue on.
All smiles at the outset!
01:30: “Pssst. I thought this was gonna be a challenge.”
“Hard…HA!”
“I got this. 100%.”
02:30: Deep breath….
………….
“It was all good just an hour ago.”
03:30: “HALFWAY! You mean I’m only halfway there!!!”
“And there goes another person turning back.”
Deep breath…
“It’s getting real out here.”
04:00: “Remember that movie What About Bob?…Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps…baby steps up Kilimanjaro.”
04:30: TM, my guide: “Eddie, how do you feeling?”
Deep breath…
Baby steps…
“I’m tired.”
TM: “I don’t care about tiredness. I care sickness.”
“I’m not sick.”
TM: “Good. Let’s go. Resting too long is not good.”
Baby steps continue.
05:30: “Maybe I should just fall out so it looks like I fainted and I get a little break…”
“Screw that! You got this. You’re committed now. 1 step, 2 steps. 1 step, 2 steps. 1 step, 2 steps. Just keep moving forward.”
06:00: “I made it! Stella Point!”
“Wait…Uhuru peak is still over 100 meters away?!?”
“Okay. Just 100 meters…I got this!”
Big Man Steps…
06:45: “You did it. On the eve of your birthday…you did it!”
“Uhuru Peak, I have arrived!”
See you at the next summit!
44 Comments
Congratulations for your accomplishments as it’s not everyone’s cup of tea! Your pictures are breathtaking!
I’ll admit, by the time day 4 rolled around it wasn’t easy to muster up the strength to take good pictures!
It should have been such a great effort to climb for so many hours!!! I could understand you would like to faint ? But MAN you made it!!! Great!!
Yup, and it was all worth it in the end 🙂
Whoa the picture from at the top of Baranco Wall is breathtaking! I can just imagine the sense of achievement you must have got when you reached the top.
Yes, reaching the top of Baranco was nice but it was a tease. Uhuru peak; however, was the ultimate feeling of fulfillment!
amazing, I always thought people who climb it cool. I want to try to climb but my stamina is not good. I will probably get tired quickly. 🙁
Well, I’m happy to know that you think of me as cool 🙂
Wow, what a feat to achieve! I totally agree with the “Resting loo tong is not good” when doing strenuous hikes. You sit long enough and you never want to get up again and continue! You must be super proud reaching the end, and rightly so! 🙂
You’re absolutely right, especially if you sit too long in extreme temperatures.
Firstly, climbing up the summit is commendable and I genuinely look upto you for that, it’s got me motivated to do a trek in the Himalayas some day. And the view would’ve been mesmerising! Congratulations 🙂
I’m glad you feel inspired…maybe I’ll see you in the Himalayas one day!
That capture from the top of the Baranco Wall looks surreal. Such an amazing view. How was the weather there? It looks much barren with almost no snow. Agree it isn’t as simple as can be seen but Kudos to you for having done it 🙂
The climb up Baranco was probably one of the more challenging parts of the climb because it involved climbing up over large boulders/rocks (sometimes requiring two hands for added security). There was pretty much no vegetation there, no snow, pretty much just dry, dusty and rocky.
well done. Tiring it was but in the end, worth it. Must have been such an exhilarating and fun and memorable experience. I don’t know if I can do it but I sure would like to attempt it.
Go for it!
Wow what an achievement! Props for starting at midnight and pushing through. Looks freezing but well worth it!
Love the style of this post, it was awesome to read through your thoughts as you faced this difficult hike with perseverance and determination. Go you! Totally should cherish that obligatory jumping photo because you did it!
I think I need lots of water and sunscreen lotion, and good reliable footwear in order to survive to this kind of Kilimanjaro hiking 😀 Thank you for your wonderful post!
I admire that you didn’t let go. You were there on a missing and the sickness didn’t stop you to conquer it. I was on a similar journey in Peru but I wasn’t sick, I just twisted my knee and walked 2 days with an extremely painful leg. But it was all worth it when I reached Machu Picchu and seen it’s amazing beauty in front of my eyes.
Wowwwww. That is so so great. It must be an amazing feeling. I can feel the excitement while reading the post. That’s an achievement truly. All the best 🙂
My friend did this a couple of years ago and I’ve since been in awe!!
It’s incredible!
Well done!!! The excitement is all there in your post, but I’m sure its only a fraction of what you must have felt, right there, right then. More power to you…scale greater heights!
Yay you made and on the eve of your birthday ! Such a great achievement.Happy Birthday 🙂 now you have bragging rights.
I love the “eat a few biscuits.” You are seriously so amazing for getting to the top! And on the eve of your birthday no less! Hope you celebrated!
Congratulations on making the climb! This is something I would absolutely love to do. As much as this isn’t the most technical mountain, it’s by no means easy and getting to the top must have been a pretty incredible feeling.
You’re right, it’s actually one of the easier of the 7 summits but still a challenge nonetheless. Go for it!
I must say hats off to you cause it is not very easy to do a mountain summit and you are already achieving lots on it . It takes courage and determination to withstand all climates and other challenges to reach the top. Congratulations.
Thank you…it was quite the adrenaline rush!
How incredible! Just saw a life dream in pictures! Super congrats on getting to the summit of Kilimanjaro. Looks like it wasn’t an easy feat, but one that took energy, courage, and faith to complete. Tanzania is on my bucket list and I hope to head there in the near future.
It’s a truly amazing country. Even if you don’t climb Kilimanjaro you will still find a wealth of natural beauty.
Well done ! Scalaing heights has always been passion for many. Great to see that you were determined to get to the top and made it. Reminds be of the movie Everest and several documentaries I had watched on climbing and how unpredictable things can get
Yes, Everest was quite a good film and it’s on my climbing list as well. Thankfully, weather prediction and technology are helping us prepare a lot better than that 1996 Everest team.
Oh, wow, congratulations! This sounds like an extremely difficult climb and you made it! The photos are absolutely gorgeous, and while your joy and enthusiasm are inspiring, I don’t think I’d be able to pull this off 😀
Haha, it was definitely a challenge and I consider myself in fairly decent shape…but I saw people of all shapes and sizes successfully summit so perhaps you could as well!
Wow, you can be proud of yourself! It looks like you pushed yourself to succeed, I admire that! I want to try something like that too. Maybe one day I’ll climb the Kilimanjaro too, who knows? The pictures are amazing!
My climbing buddy was actually 60 and he made it to the top as well. I hope you can also!
…by the way, I just LOVE the name of your blog.
Determination is something I’ve always admired in people. Good job, excellent self-coaching skills that will come in handy in other situations in life I guess. Lovely pictures too! Congratulations, lovely post and awesome quest!!
Thank you Gabi and thank you for virtually coming along with me on the journey 🙂
The surroundings look so surreal. I admire your determination. I envy those who have the time to travel. I wish I could do what you do someday.
I wish you the same. I actually met a Korean office worker during the climb that used his entire year’s allotment of vacation days to go up Kilimanjaro.
What an amazing achievement! If that were me I’d probably be dead tired by the last day. Haha! Congratulations! That second to last photo really sums up your journey!!! ?
Oh trust me, I was…but being at the top did bring me back to life a bit!