Sunday, January 24, 2010
Friday, May 11, 2007
Final Thoughts
Never haven taken a trip like this I expected adventure, but wrapped around elements of a "traditional" vacation or business trip. The reality was far from the expectation. It was adventure as a starting point and an eye opening immersion into third world life.
Being so disconnected from normal life back home I was not sure if this would lead to long periods of retrospective thinking. While there were certainly aspects of that, it was more of a cleansing from the stress of everyday life - job stress and family stress.
Much like when I run, only 1,000 times in duration and power, my mind felt disconnected.
The safari and climb were fantastic beyond my meager ability to describe them and the people and the conditions in which they live was so deplorable that it added to the intensity of the experience.
Life in the numerous villages which compromise most of this country is beyond imagination. I litterly could not believe what I saw. The average adult earns $1 a day! In the cities, they call them that but even their cities are in no way similar to what we define as a city in the rest of the modern world, a good wage is $3 a day. Many of the villages do not have regular power, none have modern plumbing and none have paved roads. They consist of ramshackle huts and buildings on dirt paths/roads. The villages all appear to be self-supportive with butchers, seamstresses, carpenters and markets where people trade product they grow or make - ie, someone who grows bananas will trade for rice from a different farmer.
But even while you can identify the basic trades, they exist at an almost pre-colonial level of skill and refinement. I saw a house being built of wood, this itself is rare due to the cost vs. locally made brick, but the workers used machetes to make all the cuts! No saws or other tools.
Another sight that was very common were dozens of houses scattered along the road in various stages of construction. You could tell many were left incomplete for some time. when we asked about this, we were told that due to the hight cost of materials people bought what they could - 20 bricks, etc, and then worked years more until they saved up for more material. A typical house, complete to the local standard, could take a family 10 years to save for and complete bit by bit.
There are many primary and secondary schools and some universities that we saw, althogh the universities are beyond the economic reach of most, so people do receive a basic education.
The predominant religion is Christian, but Muslim influence is growing, especially we were told in the "modern" city of Dar es Sallam - the capital of the country.
With income levels so low, it is rare to see private vehicles. The only vehicles that you see are land rovers packed with tourists (like us), local buses (really just mini-vans), and trucks of every shape, size and age. There are a moderate number of bicycles, not as many as I would have expected, but for the most part everyone just walks everywhere.
The buses are a sight to see. they cost about $0.10 to ride as far as you need to go. every time I saw one, they were beyond packed, about 15 people inside, some leaning most of their bodies out of the window because there was not room, and even brave younger males who held onto the roof rack and stood on the running boards.
To move materials you saw many carts being pulled and pushed by young males. Some as young as 13 or 14 judging by their size and looks. The carts, like everything else looked like something you would have seen 150 years ago in America.
Beyond tourism, the only industry that you could see was coffee farming.
Radio is the main form of information distribution. There are papers but it would be rare to see them in the villages. Television only exists in some bars or clubs in the villages and internet cafe's are found sporadically.
I will always enjoy the outdoors, but I also now know that mountain climbing is not my future. Adventure should always be part of your life, but you need to do lots of different types of adventure to find what fulfills you. Maybe it is never one thing, but the act of new and exciting experiences.
My two weeks with Ken were great, we talked, joked, laughed and had an easy time together. There were times that Ken was Ken - loosing things 5 times in our tent, or taking way to long to get going, but that is what great friendship is all about, letting him be him and flowing with it. Just as I am sure that he flowed with my quirks.
The trip was rewarding, challenging, expanding and just enough outside my normal comfort range to not push the trip into any negative area.
I thought of my young daughters often as I looked into the eyes of the many children I saw. I thought how large their world was and the endless opportunity that lay before them, like looking at he sea as it stretches beyond sight and into the unknown.
I thought of my wife and her strength and power to stay behind as I set forth on this experience. I saw how her love for me and the girls strengthened and supports us. Finding the birthday and valentine cards was just a typically wonderful touch of her far-sighted vision of things in the future.
And I thought of myself. Am I the person that I want to be, can be? Like all of us, I am not. I am a work in progress and this trip has helped me in that progress unlike anything I think I could have accomplished at home.
Nina Furaha
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Going Down...
(this is how we really feel !)
Today is February 14th and we have showered, which may rank as on e of the best parts of the trip, and we are sitting in the lodge reviewing summit photos.
We descended from camp at about 10,000' all the way to the gate at 5,500'! This was murder on the legs as the trail consisted mainly of rock or wood steps. So for 3 hours our knees and legs got shocked and pounded.
SOME OF KEN'S THOUGHTS
This (summit) ranks in the top 10 things I have done in my life. It was hard, but I thought it would be harder. I give credit to the African Walking Company (our guide company), the guides, drugs - namely Diamox, and preparing for the trip.
The most difficult part of the climb was the descent! Not sure if it was because of how steep the trail was or because we came from the top all the way to the bottom in only 1 1/2 days!
When I got to the crater (Stella Point) it was overwhelming. It was so beautiful. You forgot about the climb, the cold, the fact that you had been walking for 7 hours and you see the summit not far away. It is so close it seems easy and secondary to everything you see and feel at Stella Point.
At the summit, my first thought is "damn it is cold and windy". As you look around a the other climbers you have seen on the mountain for the last 5 or 6 days and you congratulate them. I want to get my photo and then start down right away because it is so cold (editors note: I did not feel cold at all. I was overtaken by the moment. Funny how two different people in the same exact place, sharing a very very similar experience can be effected so differently).
point in Africa and one of the highest places onOn the way down, nostalgic thoughts start going through my head. Especially when you see those that did not make it. The odd thing being that most of those that did not make it were young. Although I said it to myself many times, I thought and pondered in my mind that at 5 years ago, almost to the very day, that I was 3 days from being dead. How the guy who gave me the kidney (editors note: That would be me!) and I are standing above 19,000' at the highest earth and we did it with relative ease - the key being relative.
Today is February 14th and we have showered, which may rank as on e of the best parts of the trip, and we are sitting in the lodge reviewing summit photos.
We descended from camp at about 10,000' all the way to the gate at 5,500'! This was murder on the legs as the trail consisted mainly of rock or wood steps. So for 3 hours our knees and legs got shocked and pounded.
SOME OF KEN'S THOUGHTS
This (summit) ranks in the top 10 things I have done in my life. It was hard, but I thought it would be harder. I give credit to the African Walking Company (our guide company), the guides, drugs - namely Diamox, and preparing for the trip.
The most difficult part of the climb was the descent! Not sure if it was because of how steep the trail was or because we came from the top all the way to the bottom in only 1 1/2 days!
When I got to the crater (Stella Point) it was overwhelming. It was so beautiful. You forgot about the climb, the cold, the fact that you had been walking for 7 hours and you see the summit not far away. It is so close it seems easy and secondary to everything you see and feel at Stella Point.
At the summit, my first thought is "damn it is cold and windy". As you look around a the other climbers you have seen on the mountain for the last 5 or 6 days and you congratulate them. I want to get my photo and then start down right away because it is so cold (editors note: I did not feel cold at all. I was overtaken by the moment. Funny how two different people in the same exact place, sharing a very very similar experience can be effected so differently).
point in Africa and one of the highest places onOn the way down, nostalgic thoughts start going through my head. Especially when you see those that did not make it. The odd thing being that most of those that did not make it were young. Although I said it to myself many times, I thought and pondered in my mind that at 5 years ago, almost to the very day, that I was 3 days from being dead. How the guy who gave me the kidney (editors note: That would be me!) and I are standing above 19,000' at the highest earth and we did it with relative ease - the key being relative.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Topping Out at 19,340'
7:25am. 10 degrees F with a 20 knot wind.
When I am about 50 yards from the summit I actually cry the emotion is so overpowering!
In addition to the low temperature, wind speed is between 20 and 40 knots so we only stay long enough for our photo's and for the guys to sing happy birthday to me.
The sun was just starting to color the sky at Stella Point and was up by the summit.
We then descened to base camp in about 2 hours. The surface had melted along the path, exposing the volcanic scree. Going down is like powder skiing.
At base camp we take a 2 hour nap, eat a light lunch and start back down.
We are not at 10,018'. So today we climbed 4,000' and descended 9,000'. Both of us are wiped out!
Friday, May 4, 2007
Kilimanjaro - Summit Day
Date: 2-12-07 to 2-13-07
Time: 11:35pm
Temp: 41 F
Alt: 15,217
Seems colder than we thought. It is sleeting outside the tent. "Its a Beautiful Day"
Well... when we stepped out of the tent at 12:00 it was NOT sleet, but snow. Huge, heavy flakes. There was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch on the ground and the temperature was about 34 F.
We switched on our lights and got going by 12:30, a little late, but the snow threw us for a bit of a loop and we had to put on items of clothing we had packed for higher up on the mountain.
As we looked up we could see the trail of lights of those ahead of us. Our expected summit time is 8:00am! 4,100' to climb in snow and fairly cold conditions.
Samson wore Ken's pack and set a slow steady pace. In the first half hour about twenty people passed us. The pace consisted of about taking a step that was 3/4 in front of your other foot. While later this seems like a ridiculous pace that is almost impossible to replicate, it was the exact right pace to get us to the top.
All I can say is this was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. The entire day was spend walking up, there was not a single flat spot before we reached the summit.
Ken and I took the following readings to keep track of our progress:
Time 1:35am 2:28am 3:07am 4:00am 5:45am 7:25am
Temp 35 F ; 34 F; 34F; 20F; 27F; 10F
Alt 16,001'; 16,531'; 16,959'; 17,588'; 18,516'; 19,340
HR 118; 115; 118; 98; (resting); 96; SUMMIT
The Goalwas to record every 500' but after 4:00am it was enough to just get my next foot in front of the last. Interestingly my heart rate was very very low but it felt like 90-95% intensity and effort. I could not walk faster if I wanted to.
At the top you first reach Stella Point which is about 300' below the real summit. From here you can see the lower inner crater. By the time we reach Stella Point we have passed twice as many people that originally passed us at the start.
Time: 11:35pm
Temp: 41 F
Alt: 15,217
Seems colder than we thought. It is sleeting outside the tent. "Its a Beautiful Day"
Well... when we stepped out of the tent at 12:00 it was NOT sleet, but snow. Huge, heavy flakes. There was about 1/4 to 1/2 inch on the ground and the temperature was about 34 F.
We switched on our lights and got going by 12:30, a little late, but the snow threw us for a bit of a loop and we had to put on items of clothing we had packed for higher up on the mountain.
As we looked up we could see the trail of lights of those ahead of us. Our expected summit time is 8:00am! 4,100' to climb in snow and fairly cold conditions.
Samson wore Ken's pack and set a slow steady pace. In the first half hour about twenty people passed us. The pace consisted of about taking a step that was 3/4 in front of your other foot. While later this seems like a ridiculous pace that is almost impossible to replicate, it was the exact right pace to get us to the top.
All I can say is this was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. The entire day was spend walking up, there was not a single flat spot before we reached the summit.
Ken and I took the following readings to keep track of our progress:
Time 1:35am 2:28am 3:07am 4:00am 5:45am 7:25am
Temp 35 F ; 34 F; 34F; 20F; 27F; 10F
Alt 16,001'; 16,531'; 16,959'; 17,588'; 18,516'; 19,340
HR 118; 115; 118; 98; (resting); 96; SUMMIT
The Goalwas to record every 500' but after 4:00am it was enough to just get my next foot in front of the last. Interestingly my heart rate was very very low but it felt like 90-95% intensity and effort. I could not walk faster if I wanted to.
At the top you first reach Stella Point which is about 300' below the real summit. From here you can see the lower inner crater. By the time we reach Stella Point we have passed twice as many people that originally passed us at the start.
Kilimanjaro - Day 6
Date: 2-12-07
Time: 8:17am
Temp: 74 F (in sun)
Alt: 13,247'
Almost to the big day! It is a beautiful morning for our easy hike to base camp. Camp last night was on a fairly steep pitch. Ken calls it the "slanted joes" camp. It I were to guess, it is probably 20 degrees in pitch.
The temperature in the tent first thing this morning was 42F but it warmed up very fast.
Ken's watch is angry this morning, it is saying "err" "err".
We are off again after a great breakfast.
Just got chocolate for a mid-day snack and thought of the African kids we would see. They would say "give me chocolate, give me gum, give me money, give me pen" I think that may be the only english words they knew.
WE ARE AT BASE CAMP! FEELING GREAT !!
15,217 '. It is 11:38am and temperature is 50F with some light sleet. We walked 1.83 miles today.
Just as we walked into camp we saw a group of climbers that we had talked with yesterday. They were coming back from the summit. It was good to hear that their entire party made it and conditions are good.
KEN'S THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
I bet I will be too excited to sleep, even though I need it. Exciting about summiting, but nervous that I will not make it - which would be an embarassment considering the shape and age of some of those that I have seen come back from topping out. Biggest concern is not making it because of medical reasons.
I feel confident about my ability to summit. Now I need to just get some good rest. We have 4,100' of elevation to tackle starting in about 10 hours.
We opened the birthday/valentine day cards here at base camp (Note: My Birthday will be tomorrow on the summit!). They were a nice suprise that I found after we got back from safari. BTW- Ken lost the card he has had for me for the last 5 months!
It is 5:19pm and we just finished dinner. A hearty stew. Oddly this is the hungriest that I have been since our first day. I hope it means I have fully adjusted to the altitude.
They will wake us up at 11:30pm and then we will be off at 12:00.
KEN'S FINAL THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
Excited (more), Nervous (less) and happy when it is done. This has been 2 1/2 years in the making.
We go over our final gear prep one last time - getting all our true alpine gear ready. While it has been cool on some portions of the mountain so far, tomorrow will be a serious test.
"Ken the Pastry Terrorist" doing a final baklava test (I encouraged him NOT to wear this outfit for the plane ride home!) - Ok this is an inside joke that we had for about a month before the trip. Since baclava is what he is wearing and a baklava is a nice pasty I had some fun with it.
Time: 8:17am
Temp: 74 F (in sun)
Alt: 13,247'
Almost to the big day! It is a beautiful morning for our easy hike to base camp. Camp last night was on a fairly steep pitch. Ken calls it the "slanted joes" camp. It I were to guess, it is probably 20 degrees in pitch.
The temperature in the tent first thing this morning was 42F but it warmed up very fast.
Ken's watch is angry this morning, it is saying "err" "err".
We are off again after a great breakfast.
Just got chocolate for a mid-day snack and thought of the African kids we would see. They would say "give me chocolate, give me gum, give me money, give me pen" I think that may be the only english words they knew.
WE ARE AT BASE CAMP! FEELING GREAT !!
15,217 '. It is 11:38am and temperature is 50F with some light sleet. We walked 1.83 miles today.
Just as we walked into camp we saw a group of climbers that we had talked with yesterday. They were coming back from the summit. It was good to hear that their entire party made it and conditions are good.
KEN'S THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
I bet I will be too excited to sleep, even though I need it. Exciting about summiting, but nervous that I will not make it - which would be an embarassment considering the shape and age of some of those that I have seen come back from topping out. Biggest concern is not making it because of medical reasons.
I feel confident about my ability to summit. Now I need to just get some good rest. We have 4,100' of elevation to tackle starting in about 10 hours.
We opened the birthday/valentine day cards here at base camp (Note: My Birthday will be tomorrow on the summit!). They were a nice suprise that I found after we got back from safari. BTW- Ken lost the card he has had for me for the last 5 months!
It is 5:19pm and we just finished dinner. A hearty stew. Oddly this is the hungriest that I have been since our first day. I hope it means I have fully adjusted to the altitude.
They will wake us up at 11:30pm and then we will be off at 12:00.
KEN'S FINAL THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
Excited (more), Nervous (less) and happy when it is done. This has been 2 1/2 years in the making.
We go over our final gear prep one last time - getting all our true alpine gear ready. While it has been cool on some portions of the mountain so far, tomorrow will be a serious test.
"Ken the Pastry Terrorist" doing a final baklava test (I encouraged him NOT to wear this outfit for the plane ride home!) - Ok this is an inside joke that we had for about a month before the trip. Since baclava is what he is wearing and a baklava is a nice pasty I had some fun with it.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Kilimanjaro - Day 5
Date: 2-11-07
Time: 8:16am
Temp: 40 F
Alt: 13,045
Today we go to Karanga camp. About the same altitude as today but we have a lot of climbing and descending to get there.
(Kilimanjaro - Today's route in yellow)
It is 12:29 and we have reached camp! Elevation is 13,247'. We climbed and descended 2.55 miles in 2 1/2 hours.
Today was the hardest day by far. There was not a flat stretch all day. We either went straight up or straight down. As Ed Viesturs says about one of his treks into the base of a Himalayan Mountain "you go up a pass, down on the other side, then up another 3,000' then down 2,000'. It is exhausting and harrowing, especially for the heavily laden porters" While we do not have quite this much altitude gain and loss, this describes today perfectly.
There were a number of what I would deem fairly to very technical climbing. On a scared shitless sale of 1-10, 0 being lying in bed at home and 10 peeing my pants, today had some solid 6 sections.
KEN'S THOUGHT OF THE AFTERNOON:
God do my feet hurt! I have never traveled so far to go so short a distance. Not an exercise in efficiency. Starting to get excited about our summit push!..... and I wish I had a hang glider that would be cool.
I feel very good. No headaches for the past two days and last night I slept very well. Today our tent is on a good slope so it will be all we can do not to slide out of the tent tonight.
After lunch I have a long chat with Samson. He has aspirations of starting his own guide company. Acquisition of tents, he needs 20, seems to be his biggest hurdle.
Tomorrow and summit day will all blend together. We will reach base camp at around 1:00pm. We will leave for the summit at midnight with the goal to reach the top at sunrise. We then descend to base camp for lunch and continue to press down the mountain for another 3 hours.
Time: 8:16am
Temp: 40 F
Alt: 13,045
Today we go to Karanga camp. About the same altitude as today but we have a lot of climbing and descending to get there.
(Kilimanjaro - Today's route in yellow)
It is 12:29 and we have reached camp! Elevation is 13,247'. We climbed and descended 2.55 miles in 2 1/2 hours.
Today was the hardest day by far. There was not a flat stretch all day. We either went straight up or straight down. As Ed Viesturs says about one of his treks into the base of a Himalayan Mountain "you go up a pass, down on the other side, then up another 3,000' then down 2,000'. It is exhausting and harrowing, especially for the heavily laden porters" While we do not have quite this much altitude gain and loss, this describes today perfectly.
There were a number of what I would deem fairly to very technical climbing. On a scared shitless sale of 1-10, 0 being lying in bed at home and 10 peeing my pants, today had some solid 6 sections.
KEN'S THOUGHT OF THE AFTERNOON:
God do my feet hurt! I have never traveled so far to go so short a distance. Not an exercise in efficiency. Starting to get excited about our summit push!..... and I wish I had a hang glider that would be cool.
I feel very good. No headaches for the past two days and last night I slept very well. Today our tent is on a good slope so it will be all we can do not to slide out of the tent tonight.
After lunch I have a long chat with Samson. He has aspirations of starting his own guide company. Acquisition of tents, he needs 20, seems to be his biggest hurdle.
Tomorrow and summit day will all blend together. We will reach base camp at around 1:00pm. We will leave for the summit at midnight with the goal to reach the top at sunrise. We then descend to base camp for lunch and continue to press down the mountain for another 3 hours.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
