Brande Looks Back: Kilimanjaro Day 5 (Summit Day – Epiphany)

February 26, 2016March 12, 2018 / runningforthegate / Leave a comment

Well I subjected you to the run down of my roller coast emotions on the day we reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, so its only fair I also subject you to my summit epiphany as well.

(If you missed my emotional recap, click Brande Looks Back: Kilimanjaro Day 5 (Summit Day – Emotions). Its pretty raw, you have been warned.)

Any who, back to my epiphany. Drum roll please….

Getting to the summit is only half way!

Let me explain before you are all wondering what I am going on about.

Every conversation you have before you even depart for Tanzania, before you even pack your bags, get your travel insurance and start any training (if you plan on training) is about if you will summit Mount Kilimanjaro. When you finally arrive in Arushu or Moshi, whichever destination you pick as your ‘base camp’ all questions from the Lodge or Hotel staff, from your fellow trekkers and in your own mind are about if or if not you will summit. Then the day comes and you meet your Guide and climbing company and every conversation is about how they will make sure you summit. Summit, summit, summit!

Makes some sense. You travel all the way to Tanzania, you labour up that mountain one painfully slow step at a time, to do one thing: summit. Summit, summit, summit!

This ‘all about the summit adage’ once made sense to me but is now totally nonsensical. The summit is not the finish line, it is not the end of the road, or the end of your journey – it is only half way. Half bloody way!

Of course it is half way, duh – what kind of hiker, trekker, and mountain climber am I anyway? What goes up must come down, and last I checked there is no Gondola on Mount Kilimanjaro. But wait. You honestly do not think much about anything but getting to the summit, until one day the possibility of the summit is really real and then it hits you that holy crap you have to get back down. People need to know and I am serious about that – if you are debating that mountain embrace my epiphany. lol

The summit is not a finish line. It is not a marathon where my husband is standing at the finish line to hug me up, walk with me though the post-race snack line up to grab some chocolate milk, half banana and some cookies, and then get in the comfy car to head home for a long, well deserved shower. {oh wow that would have been amazing}

The summit is only half way. You have to turn your arse around and do exactly what you did for the past 6+ hours one more time but this time your legs are already burning, your lungs are on fire and feeling like the are fully on strike, your head is pounding, and you are willing yourself to go even 100 more steps without puking again.Did I mention the toes jamming in the front of your boots or the knees on strike? Every step you took on the way up already, you take again but this time fully exhausted not just kind of exhausted. Sometimes the cruelty of the mountain is such that you can even see your own footsteps in the opposite direction left in the scree field that you humped up just hours before and now you need to slide unbalanced down again.

Getting to the summit is a feat, and anyone who has done it or even attempts it gets a big, awesome, amazing kudos from me. The ultimate trick is if you can get up and down the highest free standing mountain in the same positive head space both ways. A few on my crew were happy go lucky the whole up and down time, I wanted to be but don’t recall having the energy to be. I for sure had moments in my happy place and also in my get me the hell down head space over the course of summit day. Trust me, like many others before me, I was so focused on the summit, just like everyone with me and before me on that mountain, that I almost and very nearly missed an opportunity to appreciate the ‘coming back down’ as much as the ‘going to the top’.

I was happy to be on Mount Kilimanjaro, wow I was ecstatic to be honest. But there is nothing I wanted more than to leave that bucket list mountain top and get down and never see that thing again. Well now that I am down, recovered and looking back on the experience I maybe have a more reasonable opinion of the roof of Africa….

If you asked me if I would I climb it again? You bet! I would do it again in one heartbeat.

Brande

PS: Blog post with the step by step details coming soon. It would seem I needed to see more pictures from my fellow trekkers to piece together the day. Who knew altitude stole your breath and your memories! Pics and step details coming soon.

Brande Looks Back: Kilimanjaro Day 5 (Summit Day – Emotions)

January 21, 2016January 25, 2016 / runningforthegate / 6 Comments

Uruhu Peak, the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro

Here we go, Kilimanjaro summit, day 5 of the hike …

(If you missed it – here is my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 4)

I figure I need at least a few posts and maybe a book to tell you about the day we went up and down the summit of the amazing Mount Kilimanjaro. Lets start with this post at least and see where it takes us.

Funny or sad or surreal or crazy enough, when I think of standing on top of Mount Kilimanjaro I get emotional and am now writing this very sentence through salty tears in my eyes and on my cheeks. I want to try and tell you why that is, if I can even put to words the emotion of such a moment. I can’t even call it a moment as the experience was more than even moments; it was the accumulation of emotional, physical and really quite spiritual challenges and ah-ha experiences that in the end become your “Kilimanjaro memory’ if you will.

So really, stay with me, as I try to explain how it felt, how I actually think it has changed me, and through that hope it encourages you to challenge Kilimanjaro Mountain itself or your own ‘Kilimanjaro challenge’ whatever that might be in your life. In my next Summit Day – Hiking post, I will give you more of the factual, step by step of summit day stuff and lots of pictures. I felt I had to get this emotional stuff of my chest first before I could get into hike-y stuff and wanted to paint the picture of how it felt before dazzling you with summit pictures of glaciers and volcanic craters and such…

Some of you are probably still stuck on the Brande is crying while writing – what the heck? When you hear I have tears, please don’t be sad for me! These are tears of pride, of amazement, of feeling blessed, of being awed by our amazing planet and its Creator, and of being speechlessly reminded of how much the human body and mind are actually capable of. Of course, I will be honest with you and admit they are not all happy tears some are sad but that’s ok too so please still don’t feel sad for me. Some of the salt water in these eyes as I write are in memory of the fear of heights during the climb, the dread I felt when I honestly believed the next cough would leave blood in my palm, the next puking fit would leave me too exhausted and unable to continue.

A little caveat before we start, I am hoping beyond hope that none of my fellow hikers actually knew I was feeling all this. I was trying to keep it in so they could focus on their own hikes and not me all working my crap out up and down a mountain summit. I am not sure if I was able to dupe my hubby, bestie or sister but a girl can hope.

My memory of that day has gaps for sure. But as usual, the next morning I woke (light headed and coughing) and sat in the tent scribbling down every detail I could recall… here is how I remember feeling (think roller coaster) …

I remember feeling guilt. Yup, guilt. The guilt I have for making my wonderful husband stand by and watch his wife suffer though nothing shy of a wee dose of pulmonary edema purely for the thrill of knocking something of MY “must do” list in life, not his or ours – but my list. I think it is nothing shy of total and complete love that he, with full support and love, saw me through it, and even climbed it with me. You have probably read before that my husband hates hiking. Well his love is more for me than his hate is for hiking, so he does strap on his hiking boots once in a while just me and that includes to hike Kilimanjaro. I feel looking back I was very selfish asking him to hike for 7 days straight because I wanted to and then topped that off with me getting sick on the summit and scaring the crap out of him in thanks. So lets admit here, I know some of my emotion is caused by this overwhelming display of his love for me and just how far and high, literally, he is willing to go to demonstrate it. Wow! Right? So not just guilt, but also fall-in-love love all over again too.

Any who – carrying on.

I remember feeling stupid, yes you read that right – stupid. When we started out at 5am in the morning. I had all the right gear, the right training, my body felt mostly right that morning but yet I had a voice in my head that said ‘who do you think you are stupid girl, you were the chubby kid in school, the every diet out there I tried it gal, the just shy of being really good at sports but never amazing girl, the etc etc etc (insert all kinds of nasty self talk here). Stupid! I felt stupid cause of my self talk and I felt even more stupid for letting this self talk even enter my mountain-climbing, kick-ass mind.

I remember, on the very opposite spectrum, some very awesome self talk. Giving myself a mental high five for training so hard and feeling so good in my muscles and joints as a result. There was some definite you are bad-ass and hear me roar self talk moments happening!

I remember feeling thankful. Thanking myself for all the hours and hours of research I did so there were no surprises along that way that can trip up my brain into an anxiety / obsessive worrying. Thanking God for my body and the opportunity to be able to experience something so amazing on this globe of ours. Thanking all the family, friends, and support I have who were so excited for me to do this and so willing to jump in and make sure it was possible to get here and get up the mountain.

I remember looking around at my fellow climbers and feeling so blessed to have such amazing friends and family. I was on a mountain with my wonderful husband, with my so tough and so funny sister and her awesome husband, my hilarious and inspiring best friend, and the two closest friends my husband and I could ask for in the Carmen brothers. How did the universe align for such a rock star group of loving, darn funny and supportive people to come together? To accomplish this feat together? For all of us to be successful together? I will never know but it was a great reminder of the power of the universe (not to sound cheesy).

I remember feeling lonely. I had to leave behind the group on our descent as I was told to link arms and scree ski down with our Assistant Guide Felix and get down to a lower altitude where my breathing would get easier. I remember feeling lonely that my husband was not with me and yet rather glad he would not be next to me to see how much I was suffering, to hear that popcorn crackle in my lungs, or to see the liquid coming with each coughing fit. If I saw concern in his eyes for me it would be my undoing I think. I was channeling all of my ‘you are strong’ woman feelings I could. So best we could not make eye contact really.

I remember being frustrated. Getting back to the tents and being so glad that they came so quickly upon on us and yet so mad that they seemed to take forever to materialize. I was walking with my husband again shortly after scree skiing and glad for it. I have gaps in my memory here but know he was always asking how I was and was not impressed when I went to my knees in a coughing fit or puking fit. For both of us, for different reasons, we wanted to turn the next corner and see our tents.

I remember being scared. I think my hubby knew I was struggling with breathing already but really getting back into our tent tent was when quiet the crackly/pop of my lungs hit home for us (BUT I was still breathing and exhausted smiling to have made it).

I remember being happy. When we arrived back at the tents my oxygen saturation was 60% and heart rate low (not a great combo) when we first got to the tent but I recovered to 62% with some focused breathing in just minutes. So I figured it would climb right up in 2% increments with more good breathing and I would be golden in no time. Yahoo I am breathing better already and I climbed a mountain!

I remember feeling ashamed. The moment when I saw the not impressed, incredulous, what-the-hell-are-we-even-climbing-a-mountain-for look on the husband’s face made me feel bad for my selfish bucket list. I knew he was worried for how I was feeling and more than anything my response to how I was feeling. But I actually think this helped me. I went into focus on getting oxygen in, getting the vision back to clear and without little fire fly bugs, and get the fear / mad out of my husbands eyes. Not to sound like a generalist, but I think the fear / mad thing is a total guy thing – they are scared for you but mad at whatever made you sick or hurt in the first place.

I remember feeling so taken care of. Shortly after the not impressed-husband look he was lovingly (and romantically in my opinion) unlacing and pulling off my dusty boots for me as I laid on my sleeping bag focusing on not passing out. Then shortly after, that amazing sister I mentioned early, who is also Asthmatic sadly but bless her cotton socks for it, came by with her inhaler thingies for me and I was soon feeling better and better as the night progressed. Moments again after that my husband was teaching me how to use an inhaler for the first time between coughing fits. Finally, him him chuckling at me as I wrapped myself in an emergency blanket like a baked potato and fell back to sleep like a rock.

I told you … roller coaster!

Oh Kilimanjaro, I may not have left any toenails on your mountain side .. but I sure did leave a blazing trail of emotions up and down your summit!

Next post I will honour the beauty of the mountain with pics of the summit day and a hiking account. They will be so much more meaningful now that you have the emotional foundation to lend some passion to the images.

Brande

Brande Looks Back: Kilimanjaro Day 4

January 5, 2016March 12, 2018 / runningforthegate / 9 Comments

Date: Oct 3 2015 Saturday
Route: Unique Rongai Route
Destination: Mawenzi Tarn to School Huts
Duration: 3hours walking (+ 1hour acclimatization hike)
Distance: 8km
Elevation Gained: 420m (1,378ft)
FitBit Steps: 23,392
FitBit Calories Burnt: 3,931

(If y’all missed it – here is my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 3)

Mount Kilimanjaro, just over there on the other side of the saddle …

Day 4 was the start of a twist on our original itinerary and one of my favourite days on the trail…. the original plan was to leave Mawenzi Tarn and make our way up and then down again into Third Caves Camp on day 4, then walk to School Huts Camp on Day 5, and make our attempt for the summit at 1am on Day 6. This original route really put in place the climb high and sleep low theory that is meant to be the key to avoiding altitude sickness to give us the best chance at the summit. However, the day prior, our Guides suggested we consider another unique twist to our already ‘Unique Rongai’ route.

The new, suggested Unique-Unique Rongai route had us skip Third Caves Camp all together and instead make our way straight to and up to School Huts Camp on Day 4 and then make our summit assault on Day 5 during the day. Our Guides strongly suggested this would give all 7 of us the best chance at reaching the summit.We chatted about it as a team and everyone was on board – oh my goodness we are going to summit Mount Kilimanjaro tomorrow! eeeeeeek butterflies!

The decision for me was not too tough. I was a little bit sad that we would be cutting a few kilometers off the trail (yes I know get over it, do I really need more than 84km?) but I was also ecstatic that we would make our summit attempt during the day (I hate walking in the pitch black with a headlamp when you cannot even enjoy and/or be distracted by the sights!). I also liked that we would get to stay in School Huts Camp a second night right after our summit success. This shaved a full 10km off of our post summit hike and I had a feeling I would appreciate getting back into my already set up tent 10km closer!

So our new, unique Day 4 of 7 was to School Huts not Third Caves Camp.

Our day started like any other. Lance and I were up about 5am for his usual lay in sleeping bag and chat with me while I jotted in my journal the details from the day prior. Then around 6am we were up and out of our tents. Either from desperate need to relieve the diuretic pressure, if you know what I mean, or because the sun was coming up and you do NOT miss a sunset on Kilimanjaro – they are a definite highlight of the experience.

7am we were eating our yummy breakfast spread of scrambled eggs, pancakes which are really crepes, millet porridge (which our Guide Leo said is a staple in local breakfasts), sausages which are really hot dogs, toast, jam and peanut butter, mango and pineapple, and all the hot mix drinks you can want. Rough eh?

820am we were on our way. The day was meant to be about 3-4 hours, approximately 8km in distance, sun baking us like crazy, and as usual 98.5 percent chance of rain (as per our Guide Leo who always made sure that even if it looked impossible that there would be any chance of rain, we had our rain gear in our packs).

The first 40mins was a bit tough, it was largely up hill, a little down hill which felt great but don’t get excited, and then back up hill again – repeat. We were walking slow this day. At over the 14,000 foot marker of altitude the air in the lungs was not feeling quite as fulfilling as it was the days prior. Pole, pole (slowly, slowly) was the mantra!

Before walking through the saddle you had to walk up and over a few summits – these felt huge!

After our up hills, we spent the last 3+ hours walking through the “saddle”. The saddle is a desert like area on Mount Kilimanjaro. The sun was shining and there were hours of not a cloud in the sky. The uninterrupted views of the blue sky were something to remember. I have to tell you there is a different blue to the skies above Kilimanjaro then there is here at home in Canada – more crisp, more blue, more something. Now do not get me wrong; we have some awesome skies here in Canada but wow there is just something different about those in Tanzania. Trust me, check out these photos.

Day 4/7 The Saddle – me and hubby Lance.

Day 4 of 7 a pic here of our almost complete crew as we get started on our decent down and across the saddle.

Just like a desert though, your destination looks so close and yet you never seem to get any closer. We knew were were making good time as rocks in the distance would be upon us soon enough. We treated these rocks like break markers. Lance or Paul would crack their backs, the rest of us would load on the sunscreen and lip chap, Lance would hand out hard candies, and then we were on our way again. But the path in front of us always seemed as long as it was before the last break and the camp you could just make out seemed to stay that teeny, weeny size it was when we started.

The saddle and that there is our trail, across the plain and to the right is our next camp School Huts

The temperature was interesting too. The sun was baking us – sun screen applications were happening every break and sometimes while moving, especially on the lips. Yet the wind would whip up to the point of having to hold your hat on your head and chill you right down again. I was doing more wardrobe layer changes than steps it felt like at some points. Water was a big deal this day, from the heat and the dusty wind. I ran out and had to use Lance’s water as back up for the last 40mins. How any of my fellow trekkers had any water left I will never understand – I was so thirsty! Pole, pole and drinky, drinky peeps!

Thank goodness for the conversation as we slogged along. At one point we had a zombie apocalypse conversation. This was serious stuff. Our friendships were solidified this day and if ever the zombies come for us our trusty Kilimanjaro band would know exactly how to support each other to avoid being eaten or worse yet turned into zombies! Basically, we all decided that zombies would not be impacted by altitude sickness as they don’t have red blood cells that can be impacted by altitude. Well they do have blood but its black so we didn’t think altitude would impact black blood. So really we would not be fully safe on Mount Kilimanjaro but because there are so few of us on the mountain its likely we would not be the first target in the Zombie War so we could hang out for a while with our crew, we had a great cook on the trip with us, still needed to summit, and probably had enough protein bars collectively to live 10 years up here!

Also thank goodness for distractions along the trail that brought us out of the ridiculous yet entertaining zombie conversation. Along the path we passed the wreckage of a small plane crash from 2008. The four tourists were killed sadly and the pilot seriously injured in the accident. This is in fact not the only plane crash on Kilimanjaro, seems a few small and large planes have had a horrible fate either getting to close for a great look or coming upon the mountain out of the clouds with no warning. Sad.

Day 4 of 7 Rongai Route walking through the saddle past what is left of a plane crash from years ago.

12:15pm we came into School Huts Camp finally. I arrived with a nice headache and pesky cough. OK I will be honest the cough was not as pesky as the “grandma” comments my fellow hikers were making every time I went into a wee fit which seemed to be every time I laughed or talked to much. So yes, they happened often as I do talk a lot and laugh even more.

School Huts Camp, Rongai Route our base camp for two nights and our summit attempt

After signing in at the Camp Hut, we made our way to our tents to set up. Lunch was again massive and amazing and sadly all of us thought we were hungry but had no appetite when we actually went to eat something – thank you altitude. Most of us forced what we could down because we knew the calories would be so important to our summit attempt the next day but there was not a lot of enjoyment.

Lunch time at the School Huts Camp and all of us know we should eat but no one had an appetite.

Following lunch was a short break where we all sat in our separate tents listening to a weather system come in that was promising rain, hail and maybe even some snow while waiting for the Guides to tell us its time for our acclimatization hike. Today’s acclimatization hike was important. A few of us were experiencing headaches, I had a cough, and we needed to give ourselves the best possible chance of a good sleep before our big summit day the next morning. So feeling as good as we could was important for all of us.

Back down, we met for dinner and repeated our not hungry but try and eat any calories you can stomach routine. I was feeling much better and ate more for dinner than lunch. The headache I showed up at camp with was gone after our acclimatization hike so all I had left was the annoying cough but with all the dust in the saddle and at camp it was not surprising. I think most of us felt good, and all of us were excited for the next day.

Lance and I retired to our tents early after our briefing with Guide Leo and got all of our gear ready for the next day. We had a 4am wake up call coming our way and the crew wanted to be on the trail by 5am. Getting to sleep was tough with how excited and nervous I was but we both felt ready and looking forward to the summit. The chill in the air and the snow in the night made sure you stayed cuddled in your tent which prompted sleep – thank goodness.

Eeeeeek more butterflies and tummy flips!

Brande

(If you are keen – check out my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 5, the Summit)

Brande Looks Back: Kilimanjaro Day 3

December 11, 2015March 12, 2018 / runningforthegate / 2 Comments

Date: Oct 2 2015 Friday
Route: Unique Rongai Route
Destination: Kikilewa Camp to Mawenzi Tarn Camp
Duration: 3hours walking (+ 1hour acclimatization hike)
Distance: 4km
Elevation Gained: 627m (2,057ft)
FitBit Steps: 26,655
FitBit Calories Burnt: 3,850

(If you missed it – here is my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 2)

Kikilewa Camp Sunrise – Wow!

Wow, how did I ever get so lucky as to wake up on an adventure with my husband in Tanzania, Africa on none other than Mount Kilimanjaro itself AND get to see this sunset that was so amazing it is beyond words. This was our favourite sunrise of the trip, and we got one every morning!

Kikilewa Camp – amazing day 3 sunrise!

The sunrise was so great and the day looking so nice, instead of serving us breakfast inside the dining tent the Team Kilimanjaro crew pulled the tables and chairs out into the middle of our camp and we ate under the warm sun. I have had breaky in some pretty cool places, but sitting outside soaking up the Africa sun looking out ABOVE the clouds was just so awesome! Seriously if you attempt Mount Kilimanjaro for nothing other than the sunsets and breaky above the clouds, I would totally support you!

Kikilew Camp, Breakfast above the Clouds

Kikilewa Camp – breakfast above the clouds!

Day 3 Breakfast Spread!

After we wrapped up breakfast, brushed our teeth, used our lovely toilet tents, poor Lana completed her 30 mins of heel blister prep, and we all had day packs ready with water/snacks/rain gear; we started out from camp with a bounce in our sunny step at 8:15 am.

Kikilewa Camp – 8:15am ready to start hiking!

Today was a short day on the Rongai Route but it was an uphill slog. The Kili sentiment “pole, pole” (meaning slowly, slowly in Swahili) was particularly welcome today. At one point I muttered to our slogging crew that “this sh@t just got real”. It felt like we were actually climbing a mountain today. There was no break in the up and up and up and up …

Almost all vegetation was left behind today and I could finally understand what other climbers had described as ‘it feels as if you are walking on the moon.’ All grey with big chunks of rock, no green and barely even any a scrubby bush or moss to be seen. Grey, rock, dust = moon.

Mount Kilimanjaro, Rongai Route on the moon!

Our Assistant Guide Felix lead our troop today and that meant with every step all I cold hear was the sound of his much too large corduroy pants scraping thigh against thigh and his hiking boots, also about 3 sizes too big, scuffing along the trail. Swish, Swish. Scuff, Scuff. While that likely sounds as if it would be totally annoying, and trust me it normally would be to me too, on the mountain it was actually just the sound of our pace in my head. I followed the swish and scuff like it was a drum or the beat of some mountain music. Album called Corduroy Burn by the famous Felix MacBigBoot. (ha ha)

Today is also the day I discovered that Felix rarely steps down or up from or over things. No matter the trail, rocks, or terrain he will step on the tiniest little point of rock if it keeps his body and legs at the same height. So unless absolutely impossible to avoid he never steps up, down and over rocks in search of the most secure step possible like I do. I realize this likely saved him so much energy. Most of mine was being wasted in going up and over things or stepping down off things just to step back up on to the next high rock.

To entertain myself I followed right behind him and decided I would step exactly as he and where he stepped to see if it was as slick as it looked. I was not slick at all. In fact I was just wobbly, off balance, and wearing myself out trying to keep up. So I returned to my trusty old slightly hesitant, cautious (not timid) step up and over rocks as has served me so well every other hike I have taken.

Rongai Route – trekker made trail markers!

On the trail today there were lots of these rock piles – where other hikers had precariously balanced rock on rock like small towers all along the trail. Basically the equivalent of an Inukshuk. These piles of rock, that Leo called something like ‘canyon’ but with a cool Swahili accent, are meant to mark the trail when the path itself can no longer be seen under the snow.

We came into our next campsite at 11:20 am. While this is just three hours later we were glad to see it. The up and up and up trail today mixed with the increasing altitude is enough to wear a girl out. I needed me some popcorn and hot tea to recover Kili style.

Mawenzi Tarn Hut – we have arrived!

Mawenzi Tarn Hut Camp – our humble homes overnight Day 3!

We were welcome with a yummy warm lunch of ginger soup to start, followed by spaghetti with meat sauce and shredded cheese to sprinkle on top, and pineapple slices for dessert. While this was not quite as exciting as our surprising grilled cheese sandwiches and french fries on day 2 for lunch (mmm) it was quite delicious all the same.

For two of our troop the most exciting part about lunch was that this was a meal withOUT green peppers – apparently putting these in every meal as the Team Kilimanjaro crew seemed to do was the worse kind of torture for my husband and our friend Scott. You would think the 84 km up and over a mountain would be tough but that was peanuts compared to the peppers!

At mid afternoon, we were led up on an acclimatization hike. Basically that just means one of the guides takes us farther up the mountain, about 200m or so, where we hang out for about 20mins, then come down. While up there Paul and Lance usually have to pee again, and us girls take some pictures, or like me I scoop some scree into a little pile and use it like a backrest on my nature provided lazy boy (the ground). I was worn out from doing a garbage bag fashion show to entertain my fellow trekkers and needed to sit down to recover.

A fashion show you ask? Well you see, I didn’t want to risk wet clothes at that altitude, and it looked as if it might rain on our acclimatization hike which made me very grumpy, so at the loving advice of my hubby I wore a garbage bag under my not-at-all-“waterproof” jacket and at the top decided to ‘work it’ for some pics before I took it off when it actually didn’t rain at all. I will spare you the fashion show pics!

Acclimatization Hike from Mawenzi Tarn Hut Camp

Acclimatization hike above Mawenzi Tarn Hut Camp!

The idea of these acclimatization hikes was to have us climb higher than we sleep. The rule of hiking at high altitudes is to ‘climb high, and sleep low’ – take your body past where you will be resting so that your body feels better at the altitude you sleep in comparison to where you hiked to. Most hikers feel much better if they follow this simple rule and it has increased many, many people’s chances of making the summit. This same rule is deployed on Mt. Everest, K2, Annapurna, Mount Saint Elias, and all others just as it is on Kilimanjaro.

For those of us who came into camp with a bit of a headache, maybe some nausea or even just a generally feeling of ‘bla’ – these acclimatization hikes sucked to have to go through but were totally worth it. The climb up was tough, the time at the top was a pain, but as you came down that pesky headache magically cleared up. This day’s acclimatization hike cleared up my Mawenzi Tarn Hut Camp little headache quite wonderfully.If only climbing up a hill would solve a headache here at home!

For supper we had pumpkin soup, followed by chicken stew served with rice, and sweet bread of some kind for dessert. Along with, of course, all the hot water and powdered hot drink stuff you could ask for.

Another late night for us on Day 3 … ha ha ha who am I kidding?! We were in our sleeping bags by 7:00 pm again.

There are lots of books that tell you sleeping at altitude is really hard (the diuretic medication, poor breathing at lower oxygen pressure, headaches, nausea, etc.) so its best to spend as much time trying as you can in hopes of at least getting a few hours in. Oddly, Lance and I had no problems at all with sleeping. In fact, I think he had some of his best sleeps on the mountain and I would have too if my excitement to be there in the first place didn’t keep me awake!

Brande

(If you are into it – here is my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 4)

Brande Looks Back: Kilimanjaro Day 2

November 25, 2015March 12, 2018 / runningforthegate / 2 Comments

Date: Oct 1 2015 Thursday
Route: Unique Rongai Route
Destination: Simba Camp to Kikilewa Camp, via Second Cave
Duration: 7hours walking
Distance: 12km
Elevation Gained: 1,050m (3,444ft)
FitBit Steps: 31,149
FitBit Calories Burnt: 4,095

(If you missed it – here is my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 1)

Heading out Day 2 Rongai Route – I was quite excited about being on this trek, can you tell?

Well lets keep the memory recall going – better get them to paper (blog) before they start to fade!

With our first day’s walk and first night’s tent slumber under our technical belts we were starting to feel like ole pros at this Kilimanjaro trekking thing! OK not really, our Guide Leo provides a briefing every night after dinner on what the next day will hold for us and even gives us some insight into what gear to wear and what gear to stuff in our day packs. He consistently advised there was a 99.5% chance of rain – he told us this every night and every morning. His loving way of saying, pack your rain gear in your day pack!

So before I get into day 2, I better intro the briefing we got from Leo…on day 1, after we completed our first night’s dinner, Leo joined us in the dining tent and asked us all how we were feeling (everyone was all smiles and feeling good) and then advised tomorrow (day 2) we would be walking about 12km (roughly 6-7 hours) and there would be lunch at about the 3.5 hour mark where we could can refill our water. The route would be lots of up to start the day then easier as we come into our second night’s camp, put rain gear in your pack, dress about the same as day 1 but bring a fleece to stay warm on breaks. As always wear and bring lots of sunscreen and everyone should have a hat.

The evening briefings sure made getting ready for and on the next day so much easier – there was no guessing at what the weather would be, no looking about the stars and early sunset like Crocodile Dundee trying to read into what the weather would be like by the shape of the first cloud seen or direction of a bird or whatever.

I digress.

Day 2, up and at it at 6:30am .. ok lets be honest, Lance and I were usually up in our tents around 5:00am (Lance chilling in the warmth of his sleeping bag, and me putting to journal every detail from the day before. I was often chuckling to myself when I thought a sketched picture would be easier than writing all the words but my drawing is so bad it made no sense and I still had to use words. You should see my colobus monkey drawing – yikes!

So we were up and out of our tents at 6:30am and ready to hike at 8:00am after a hearty breakfast of porridge, toast, eggs and hot dogs (supposed to be sausages I think but not really). Here we go!

Rongai Route, Mount Kilimanjaro – the ups and downs of the path on Day 2, Rongai Route from Simba Camp to Kikilewa Camp.

One of many breaks on Day 2, Rongai Route from Simba Camp to Kikilewa Camp, Mount Kilimanjaro – the first half was uphill!

At about 11:45am we arrived at Second Cave Camp where we were had our lunch – the Team Kilimanjaro crew had raced ahead of us more pole, pole (slowly, slowly) trekkers and laid out an amazing spread for lunch complete with dining table and camp chairs. Wow eh! As would be usual for the entire trip, lunch included hot soup, a carb, some meat, and sliced oranges and watermelon.

second cave, rongai route, mount kilimanjaro

Second Cave, Day 2 Rongai Route Lunch Stop

After lunch, we departed Second Cave Camp at 12:45pm and made our way to Kilikewa Camp for 4:00pm.

After lunch the weather started to turn a little – sky getting darker and clouds rolling in fast. We made good time in the afternoon but not good enough time to avoid a crazy rain and hail storm. Boo!

During this grumpy-making rain and hail storm I discovered a few things about myself: 1) hail hurts when it hits your bare hands and face – like quite a bit, 2) all conversation ceases when the hail and hard rain comes down – we were a silent, slumped over, sad little troop, 3) the $200 Pantagonia Rain Jacket I bought in the UK while walking 16 days in Wales of which 11 were torrential downpours in 2008 is no longer waterproof at all – so technically I did have a “shower” on the mountain (I was soaked right thru to the unmentionables) 4) the rain gear my trek-mates rented from Team Kilimanjaro was also not in any way waterproof nor did much of it fit, and 5) if I had to hike the rest of the week in rain and hail I would be one big Grumpy Grouchy McGee maybe even a Ms. Rain McRage, 6) we were high enough up the mountain that our wet clothes under our wet not-rain proof gear would never fully dry for us ever, and finally 7) I think I hate rain because I live it in 6 months of the year in the amazing west coast of Canada. Growl. Anywho…

Kikilewa Camp, Rongai Route, Mount Kilimanjaro

After our very rainy, hail and hell afternoon we were pretty excited to spot our 2nd night camp, Kikilewa Camp, in the distance.

A couple soggy hours later, as we stroll into our second night’s camp I am again my usually happy hiking self as the hail has stopped and the rain was letting up. Even better than that we are met with the most delicious and amazing smell and taste ever as a snack for our hard work … popcorn! Mmmm mmmm mmmm Popcorn has the ability to make a crappy day for me happy again, so to get served popcorn when I am in my happy walking place was beyond epic. I was ecstatic like a wee school girl getting her first Cabbage Patch Doll at Christmas (remember those?)! Secretly, I feel they served popcorn just for me; in reality its a great snack to get your salt stores up and make you thirsty so you drink me and they always want you drinking more water (sneaky, sneaky Team Kilimanjaro).

Following snacks and a little warm water bowl clean up we settled into our cozy dining tent to play some cards, some additional trivia games (who would be your secret celebrity girlfriend, who is your secret celebrity boyfriend, etc. – we had the boys in our clutches so of course I had to throw out some bestie sleep over girly questions!).

Before we knew it, another epic dinner was served. On the menu tonight was a cream beef stew with plantains (yup wee baby bananas), sweet potatoes, beans, etc. I feel this was a Tanzania / Kilimanjaro Camp version of beef stroganoff. There was also veggie stew which was in a red thai curry sauce. All of this was served with mashed potatoes – perfect for soaking up stew juice. Then watermelon slices for dessert. What was also an every meal thing – was a big old school Thermos of piping hot water and every kind of hot drink powder you can imagine. Perfect!

Tonight we could see our breath, things were starting to get mountain real. I was thankful for my toque, thermal liner in my sleeping bag, thermal top and bottom base layer, and cold weather ski socks for night wear. Seeing our breath was interesting and odd to me – we are in Africa as close to the equator as I will ever get and here I am all cold. A chill on a mountain was expected for sure, but somehow it was still funny strange to me cause it seemed out of place in Africa. Don’t worry I wasn’t experiencing the ole brain swell from altitude yet – I often find the oddest things funny, its normal…for me.

Speaking of altitude sickness: a couple of our troop experienced headaches today. Lance was intermittent throughout the day with a headache and then worse during our popcorn extravaganza but it subsided shortly after his evening dose of Diamox (altitude sickness medication). My sister had a headache too but she was able to med it up too.

Day 2 Davison Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro Honeymoon!

I was feeling golden, great, amazing, and excited when we all finally went to bed at 7:00pm. Oh yes that is no typo, that was a for real 7:00pm shut eye. Finally! It was hard to stay up that long. You sort of hope the darkness of night comes fast just so you can go to bed. I think between the fresh air and exercise your body also wants to keep the good stuff coming and get a good night’s sleep. The body knows what makes it happy and healthy if you listen. Oh and you are up 2 to 4 times a night to pee (Diamox medication is diuretic), and most of us were up with the sun at 5am so it was already a longish day. Also, the dining tent gets cold and you want the warmth of your sleeping bag! Secretly, I too wanted the chance to share and talk about the day just hubby and me … It was our honeymoon after all!

Getting to sleep is easy, so long as I in no way think about how excited I am to be on the mountain and do not at all consider how great the next day will be. I have to think cold, sleepy thoughts to make myself fall asleep or risk being up all night excited.

Brande

(If interested, hope you are – here is my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 3)

Lana Looks Back: Kilimanjaro Day 1

November 23, 2015March 12, 2018 / runningforthegate / 1 Comment

A look back at Lana’s experience of Kilimanjaro – Day 1

Lana and me, ready to trek! (albeit a little nervous)

While sitting in the comfort of my arm chair with the first of the snow on the ground, I am trying to recollect the experience of Kilimanjaro Day One and I find myself wondering things like, “What happened on day one?” and “Was I even there?!”

Looking back, it all seems very surreal. I know I climbed a mountain, I have the pictures, 2 less toenails, and ongoing numbness in my feet to prove it! I can remember the anticipation that I felt at the beginning of the first day, the taste of the dust in my mouth and the grit of the dirt on my teeth, the smell of the dampness in the forest, and the warmth of the sunshine on the back of my neck as I walked with my head down, but when I try to break it down into individual and separate events, I seem to have forgotten all but a few ridiculous, painful, or beautiful experiences that contributed to this incredible adventure.

Brande’s writing has thankfully brought to the forefront so much of our experience that perhaps happened in a mere moment, but which are the very fleeting instances that make up our entire adventure, and so often life itself.

I remember the chaos of the rental equipment being handed out at the lodge: Our guide pulling out sleeping bag after sleeping bag from a cinched duffle bag, much like the way a magician pulls never ending handkerchiefs continuously from his sleeve, only to find that we were still one short; the dispensing of the rain gear somewhat willy-nilly and the laid back response of “it’s okay, everyone fits,” as we questioned who’s pants were whose and my mind flashed back to the painstakingly drafted itemized, personalized, alphabetized, and categorized inventory list of rental gear submitted to the trekking company three months prior; and my very own red, black, and silver walking poles that I carried faithfully for seven days that did not leave the safety of their position, strapped tightly to the side of my pack and on more than one occasion thumping the back of my skull, reminding me of their usefulness. And so Day One began with all of us, our crew, and our gear – purchased, rented, borrowed, and gifted – loaded onto the top, under the seats, and into the stinky bus. Interesting to note, I have absolutely no difficulty recalling the stinky bus!!

The stinky bus

Perhaps if there was a straight road or two in Tanzania the bus ride would have been a bit faster.

Registration, weigh-in and lunch was a blur to me until B mentioned the soup. Delicious and steaming hot with tomato sandwiches and cookies on the side. It was an appetizing preview of meals to come and after what I thought was the final tightening of my hiking boots, we set off on the dusty trail. I do remember stopping about 20 minutes in and tightening my boots again because they had started to rub the already tender area on the inside of my heels. As it turns out, the short trek from the train station to the hotel in Amsterdam was longer than I anticipated and warranted a snug fitting boot tie after being loosened on the flight from home. So on day one of my seven day adventure, I already had blisters to contend with. The ongoing saga of which I fear will continue to the end of this great journey and beyond…

Our troop with Kilimanjaro calling ahead.

The 7 Day Trivia game began early on with Seinfeld episodes, music trivia (complete with sing-along), The Simpsons, and Forrest Gump driving most of the questions. This was an amazing way to pass the time. It not only gave us hours of entertainment and some great laughs but also helped some of us get to know one another. This came in especially handy for me as at first camp I would be spending the night with a fellow I had only met twice before! Well, three times if you include spending the night together with his brother in Amsterdam…It’s not what you’re thinking!

My tent-mate, Matty

When we arrived at first camp I was excited to see that each tent had not only a small foyer with zip closures AND a sleeping area with zip closures, but sleeping mats 3-4 inches thick! Those who know me will understand my elation as it is no secret that I am some kind of cold blooded creature that cannot wait to throw on an undershirt and/or turtleneck, and freezes out with visible goosebumps at the mere mention of any temperature less than 25 degrees Celsius. Fashionable layers upon layers of autumn sweaters completed with a scarf and boots are my most favorite of all… Oops, I digress. So we laid out our sleeping bags to achieve maximum loft, I inserted my heavy duty sleeping bag liner to add 15 degrees, and stuffed my fleece thermal outfit/long underwear/pjs inside to await me after dinner. Hot beverages to drink, hot water to wash, cookies to eat, and not one, but two toilet tents complete with paper were already set up in the distance – what kind of luxury was this?!

First night supper – fresh and delicious!

Supper was fresh and delicious and more than I dared hope for. I was full and satisfied and as I stepped outside the dining tent thinking the day was done, I was surprised by what awaited me. I was immediately enveloped by an incredible blanket of stars that I felt were so close they could be touched! The clear night sky was like nothing I had seen before. At this point, the first day of my adventure, I did not know what nature had in store for me and was unprepared for the raw beauty that continued to reveal itself daily. It was an unexpected and unbelievable gift and feeling grateful for a day of blessings, I crawled into my hobbit tent and got ready for the night ahead.

As my room mate with his 6 foot frame snuggled down into his mummy bag I could almost feel the heat rising and the tension beginning… Just joking! Although it sounds like something from a sultry romance novel I was snuggled inside my own mummy bag thankful that one more body (anybody) was producing more body heat than my own so it would help warm the air in the tent. The tension was the scene I created in my own mind hoping that Matt wouldn’t lose sleep, not only because of my snoring, but because of the acclimatization flatulence I had read so much about… So far so good. By 5:30am on day 2 I had slept like a rock, warm as toast, and my more than polite and easy room mate had no complaints…

My shiny new boots are no more… The dusty Asolos of Kilimanjaro – Day 1

Lana

(Here is a link to my look back on Kilimanjaro Day 2)

Down to 1 Sleep

September 26, 2015September 26, 2015 / runningforthegate / 1 Comment

1 More Sleep!

We are down to one sleep and I suspect with the level of excitement in this house there will not be much sleep at all!

We picked up Lana from the airport today (she flew in from Edmonton) for our adventure to start tomorrow! 5 of us fly out of Vancouver (me, my hubby, Lana, Matt and Scott) to meet our other 2 hikers (my sister Hailey and her hubby Paul who are coming from Edmonton) in Amsterdam for 24hrs then onto Africa …

I have to admit today when at the airport picking up Lana it hit me. Hit me big time. I was walking through the Departures section and all of a sudden it was like a smack across my whole body, ice cold feeling from head toe and then a heat wave – I am going to Africa!

Lana coming was in my mind the start of this adventure and holy heck she is here and this is happening! I am climbing Mount Kilimanjaro! I am going to see hyenas! I feel so blessed, so honoured and really so humbled by this opportunity and by all the excitement our friends and family have for us. Wow!

So with this amazing feeling, we are doing our final prep! Here in Vancouver – Lana is going through her stuff to make sure she didn’t leave anything at home, Matty is actually packing (boys!), I am well writing this blog post and charging phones and charger packs, and Lance is loading up his iPod with tunes to get him through the tough bits on the mountain. I bet our other Vancouver climber Scott is also packing; and in Edmonton Hailey I would guess is packing and Paul is chilling (boys again!).

All in all, I think we are all just chomping at the bit to get this party started!

Brande

PS: one little baby, itty bitty, wee sleep until our adventure

A Table for 7 Please

July 16, 2015July 16, 2015 / runningforthegate / Leave a comment

Project management geek on!

Our 6 week great African adventure starts in Tanzania (climbing Mount Kilimanjaro), then into Zimbabwe (Lake Kariba, Zambezi River, Harare) and South Africa (Cape Town, Drakensburg, Table Mountain, Shark Diving) as tourists. We may even toss in some Zambia (Devil’s Pool) and maybe some Mozambique.

Planning all of this has been interesting – especially with the added nuance this is not just a trip for 2, this is a trip for 7 people at any one time. Wow, that is a lot of moving parts!

So how do you approach planning a trip like this? Well you ‘geek it up’ and go into full blown project management mode. We have itineraries, calendars, task lists and spreadsheets. And those are not all mine, some of the other travelers are doing spreadsheets too! I have to admit there was some mocking when I brought out poster sized post it notes and colour coordinated small post its.

To officially kick off the planning, we gathered on our big deck, ordered in some sushi, cracked some cold pints and started laying out the details:

The group had their iPads, travel books, notes and whatever else
Everyone had an idea of what they wanted to see, where they wanted to go
We drew up a massive calendar with all our travel dates
We added to the calendar anything that was booked (flights to and from Africa, etc.) using post it notes so things could be moved about as needed
We added to the calendar things that we needed to book on certain days in post it notes again so we could shuffle as and when needed to accommodate other items
The end result was an exciting start to a travel calendar, and pretty large task list with action items (things to book) and who was doing the booking
We put the task list and travel calendar up on our private Facebook Group ‘Africa or Bust’

We are now all working on our tasks, using Facebook as our communication vehicle so everyone sees all of the conversations going on, and will meet again in August and September to finalize. Loving the ability to ask a Poll question on Facebook – this is dream with 7 people involved.

At the end of the day we now know we have some serious thrill and monkey seekers in the group – and some sightseeing, museum and wine tour seekers in the group. The combination of both will give us a plan with a bit of lazy and a bit of crazy…perfect!

Brande

PS …73 sleeps to go