Kilimanjaro - My Journey to the Roof of Africa

Mt. Meru (Day 3):

Saddle Hut to Socialist Peak to Miriakamba Hut

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

What a long day! It started a little after midnight when Faustin knocked on my door to wake me up. I quickly got dressed and then went to the dining room where my tea and biscuits were waiting for me. I had two cups of tea and ate all the biscuits.

We left for the summit at 1:15am. Faustin offered to carry my backpack since he didn't bring one to the summit. This turned out to be a great idea since I had a pretty rough day even without carrying a backpack. I dressed really warmly (three layers on the bottom, four layers on top, hat and gloves). We quickly caught up to Andreas and Jimmy and the four of us continued on together to Rhino Point. Until then the trek was pretty easy: easy walking on a slightly ascending trail followed by switchbacks. At Rhino Point (3,800 meters) I put on another layer plus my balaclava and soon after the big gloves as well since it got pretty windy up there.

Using our headlamps we continued on. My "hakuna matata" attitude quickly changed after Rhino Point. The trail became steep and treacherous. Many times we had to climb on rocks where I couldn't use my poles anymore. I needed to use at least one hand to safely cross these rocky sections. The night sky was really beautiful but we couldn't really enjoy it because we had to pay close attention to the trail. I could hardly see through my balaclava but it was necessary to wear it due to the cold wind. I was concentrating on my breathing and was following Faustin who walked in a very comfortable pace for me. I got more and more tired because the trail was really steep and I wasn't too happy when at one point he announced that we were half way up. Another three hours of this misery is ahead of us. The sun started coming up so it was evident that we won't be able to see the sunrise from the top. Oh, well!

The last part of the peak was steep rock climbing. I could see the flag up there and we were inching closer and closer to it. It turned out that Faustin lied about the halfway point. We actually reached the summit in 5.25 hours. There were other people up there already. They all passed us on the way up. I seemed to be the slowest person all day. I don't mind it though. It's wise to go slowly anyway. We stayed up there for a little more than half an hour. I ate an energy bar, took some pictures with the sign, and placed some of my brother's ashes on it.

Coming down was just a little bit easier than going up. The trail was steep and slippery and I was very tired at this point. Faustin's speed was faster than what I would have liked and I didn't even try to keep up with him. He stopped often to wait for me. Since I could finally see where we were walking all this time, I started taking pictures. The walk was really beautiful. I saw the Ash Cone from different points on the trail as well as Kilimanjaro. The group of five people who reached the summit after me (they started their climb later than me) passed me on the way down. We sometimes caught up to Andreas and Jimmy because Andreas was taking lots of pictures (or rather videos). He was carrying a lot of camera equipment.

It took me 4 hours to get back down to Saddle Hut. By the end, my lower back was really hurting. Considering I had to do this tough climb on the second day of my period it was even a bigger accomplishment for me. Faustin told me to rest, sleep for an hour but I simply did not have time for that. First, I wanted to clean up but there wasn't any water available. It turned out that the only working sink wasn't working anymore. I had to chase down my porter and ask him for a bowl of water. The only time I really needed that bowl of water they didn't provide it for me. I guess everybody just goes to sleep after they get back without washing up first. By the time I cleaned up, I didn't have time for a nap because lunch time was soon approaching so I started packing.

Lunch started at 12:30 and we left at 1:45 for Miriakamba Hut. Surprisingly, I recovered well enough to do the 6 kilometer hike down with no problems. The only weird thing I noticed was that my legs were shaking when I stopped and when I squatted down to pee. The latter was a very weird experience. I was walking behind Gideon most of the time and we were chatting. I really like him and I couldn't have imagined a better ranger for our group. We got down to Miriakamba Hut in 2.75 hours. On the way down we saw a Kilimanjaro chameleon and we played with it a little. We also saw a young American guy who needed to be carried out on a stretcher. He did the stupidest thing: hiked up to Saddle Hut in one day and the same night he climbed to the summit. Now he was so sick he wasn't able to walk down.

It was sure nice to be back at Miriakamba Hut. I had popcorn and tea followed by dinner. I ate with Michal and Martin. Michal has some stomach issues so he decided to skip Kilimanjaro and fly home tomorrow instead. I went to bed right after dinner. It was a little after 7 o'clock.