One year ago, Todd and I were on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Mt. Kilimanjaro is the world's highest freestanding mountain and Africa's highest point. Uhuru Peak, the summit, is at 19,341 ft. From base to summit, you ascend 15,100 ft.
There are many different routes to climb Mt. Kilmanjaro. We went on the Marangu Route which took us 5 days. During our trek, we experienced many different climates.
Day 1 the rainforest...
We spent our first night at Mandara Hut which is at about 9,000 ft.
We saw monkeys in the trees along the trail and heard them throughout the night.
Day 2 the rain forest transitioned to small forest/moorland.
We spent our second night at Horombo Hut which is at about 12,000 ft.
This is where we started to feel the effects of the altitude.
Day 3 we entered the Alpine desert. There wasn't much to see except dirt and rocks!
We then made it to Kibo Hut which is at about 15,000 ft. We went to sleep early just to wake up at 11:30 pm of the same day and started our trek to the summit.
Day 4, we hiked with headlamps all the way to Gillman's Point which is at about 18,750 ft.
On May 18th, 2009 we summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. Everyone in our group made it!
It was freezing- everything was frozen!
After the summit- we descended over 10,000 ft and slept at the Mandara Hut.
Day 5, we made it to the bottom and all enjoyed a nice, cold coca-cola!
No comments:
Post a Comment