Standing Atop Africa

I have conquered Mount Kilimanjaro….well maybe not conquered, but I made it to the top and survived. I came away feeling the affects of the struggle; while the mountain, I am sure, was completely oblivious to the battles I forged upon her peaks and valleys. So I don’t think you can conquer a mountain, merely meet the challenges she presents to you.
Going into this adventure I was not sure what to expect; or even what I wanted to feel once it was accomplished. I wanted to climb Kilimanjaro because I wanted to challenge myself and feel a sense of accomplishment. Yet, I never truly felt like reaching the top would be something that was a great physical accomplishment, since most people that start the trek are able to finish. I have a few friends, and know of many friends-of-friends that have reached the Kili peak. I guess I associated it more with the accomplishment of deciding it was something I wanted to do, and then actually following through with doing it. So once I actually got to the mountain base, I thought the biggest hurdle was over. Now it was just a matter of some long hiking days, with some sore legs. But I was wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, the hiking was difficult. I am not sure if it was more or less technical than I expected, because I really did not think about it too much. But the mental and other physiological impacts were greater than I anticipated. I suffered from severe physiological effects each of the six day trek. I cannot say if they were all caused by the altitude, or, more than likely, a combination of outside factors and some unfortunate timing of common ailments, accentuated by poor acclimation. Regardless, the unexpected complications started the first night. Because of delays all day long, we got to camp very late in the day; causing me to eat a very heavy meal right before going to bed. That first night I did not sleep hardly at all. My body was in overdrive; my heart beating so fast and so hard I could hear and feel it in my ears and throughout my body. Over the next days I battled against neck and back cramps, severe headaches, lack of appetite and dehydration. I found myself wanting to do nothing but lie in my tent every chance I had. Mustering up the ambition to get out of bed each morning was a challenge. Plus, being so isolated made me feel like I was missing out on a social aspect with the other climbers that would make the experience more enjoyable. Although I soon found out that wasn’t the case because none of the climbers really socialized. They retreated to their tents right after dinner every night as well.
Getting the headaches under control by the third day helped a lot. And I was able to eat a little more. Which was good because I found out that doing the climb in 6 days instead of 7 did not mean a little extra hiking each of the 6 days. Instead, it meant the 4th and 5th days of the longer schedule were just combined into one really grueling day. Start hiking at 8:00 am for 4 hours, then stop for lunch at the next camp. But when everyone else stays there for the day, the shorter schedule hikes again for 4 hours after lunch to arrive at the pre-summit camp around 4:30 pm. You try to grab some sleep, eat dinner and re-organize your pack. Then at midnight you are off again for the 6 hour hike to the summit (where you are supposed to only stay for about 15 minutes, but I will explain that next), then a 2 hour decent back to the camp. You can try to get about 2 hours of sleep there before you set off yet again for the 4-5 hours down to the last camp for the last night. Overall, days 4 and 5 is a painstaking chain of 18 hours hiking over a 30 hour period.
Now for the supposed to part. Everyone is affected by oxygen deprivation in a different way. I know from my training in the Air Force that my first signs are with my vision. I start to go slightly color-blind. What I didn’t know is that it also makes me act like I am very drunk. So after we had been above 19,000 feet for awhile, I began to get very happy and very talkative. I wanted to make friends with every other climber on the mountain. And the more I spent time talking to people, the slower I hiked…and the longer I was at the high altitude…and the drunker I got…until we had been above 19,000 for close to 2 hours. Who needs alcohol on their birthday when you can just get an altitude high!
But then the reality of that affect on my brain was apparent as I was completely non-functional for the rest of the day. There were times when I actually needed help walking because my legs would not work properly. Although I got to be drunk without the worry of an actual hangover, the residual affects were just as bad.
But boy did I have a great time while I was standing on top of Africa !!