Training Log Archive: Sandy

And then the final grueling trek down the rest of the mountain to the park gate. A final lunch and then on our way.

It was a little strange at the end - a bit abrupt and I didn't really get to say goodbye to lots of people.

The downhill was tough, but only because it went on for so long and was slippery in a few places. I really wanted to just run at the end to use different muscles.

The original plan was to hike from Crater to Millenium, but we had already done half that by getting down to Barafu the day before. So had a short easy day to get to Millenium at 12,500.

Experimented and found a sort of squat walk that took the pressure off my knees. Sort of like skiing, keeping the weight as far back as possible. Made the downhill go pretty fast.

Lots of celebrating in the evening - thanking all the porters and guides and singing and dancing. Dick (one of the MIT guys) gave a great speech saying how much we all felt privileged to be a part of the trek and what a great job they all did. Our tips were quite generous apparently and there was a very structured way that it was all handled so that all the porters got their fair share.

What a day!

Highlight: summitted!
Lowlight: got no sleep and my nose was totally clogged.

Could not get any sleep over night. I'm sure the altitude had a lot to do with it as I couldn't get any relaxed breathing. But the stuffed nose certainly didn't help and after trying Afrin to clear it and feeling my pulse race I wasn't willing to try any other medication. So I listened to all the climbers leaving camp at midnight in the howling wind and freezing cold and very glad I could stay in my tent and not hike until daybreak.

Leaving at midnight, summitting at dawn and then climbing down to Millenium camp is the normal procedure for most treks that are doing the climb in 4-6 days. Our plan was to summit leisurely during the afternoon after climbing all morning, camp up at Crater Camp on the top of the mountain, then hike down to Millenium the next day. Our initial itinerary called for hiking to Crater Camp and summitting the next morning, but Onest explained that it was much better to summit in the afternoon if possible since you could never predict what would happen at Crater Camp and if you got sick and had to go down, you sure as heck would have wanted to have made it to the summit the day before. So that was the plan.

We left at about 6:15, just as it was getting light enough to see and started the climb. It was strenuous but not ridiculous - the fact that I couldn't breathe through my nose at all was the toughest thing. And being sleep deprived didn't help. We stopped for lunch with about an hour to go to Stella Point which is not quite the top of the mountain, but is up on the crater rim so the hike to Uhuru Peak from there is relatively easy. Could barely eat anything at lunch and felt like if I forced down food I would puke. I think it was mostly just the stuffed nose and all the mucus that had gotten into my stomach but who knows - perhaps that was my reaction to the altitude. My legs felt fine though and I never felt too tired when we were moving.

I kept near the front of the line for this ascent - my normal place was near the back as I was unpredictable with my pole placements at times and I didn't want to hold up the line when I had to slow down to negotiate some rocks. But I was worried enough about how I felt that I wanted to be near Onest who was leading so that if anything changed quickly it would be obvious. He inspired so much trust - he is knowledgeable and kind and careful and all the things you would want in a mountain head guide.

So we eventually make it to Stella Point and all the porters are there to greet us and we spend a whole bunch of time taking pictures and celebrating. And then on to Uhuru Point.

I'm not really sure about what came first in the next decisions but the upshot was that Onest decided everyone was going back down to Barafu after we made the summit and we would not stay at Crater. I think it went like this:
- We met some hikers had come through the Western Breach and had planned to stay at Crater Camp but they said that there was too much snow and so they were going on down to Barafu.
- Onest pulled me aside and said he would let me summit, but he was worried about me, and did not want me staying at Crater Camp, and did I think I could get back down to Barafu that afternoon/evening. The no sleep was really catching up with me and I was not looking forward to even colder temps at Crater and I said I would be thrilled to go back down that afternoon/evening to Barafu.
- The porters that tried to make camp at Crater said they couldn't dig down to the sand and that they were worried if they put the tents on the snow that the body heat would melt things and everyone would get seriously wet.
- Onest made the decision that everyone was going back down to Barafu.

So we trudged on to Uhuru - it really was pretty easy since we were going slowly and it's almost flat once you reach Stella. It was a great feeling to get to the summit and say to myself "I did it", but I was not feeling all that great so didn't really enjoy it as much as I expected. As I write this it sure sounds like I was having symptoms of altitude but I still think it was the no sleep and stuffy nose (which were probably related to altitude) as opposed to anything new up at the higher altitudes. I never had a headache or any other common symptom. Who knows.

Anyway, we all took lots of pictures and then I asked if I could book it out of there and start down even though some people were still celebrating and whatnot. So Onest sent me down ahead of the group with Philip (one of the assistant guides) and Amedeus. It was great to be able to go at my speed and rest only when I wanted to rest, etc. The rest of the group started down about 15 minutes later apparently and although I expected them to catch me on the way down, I actually went faster. There is a lot of loose sand and gravel on the way down and I found I was able to "ski" it pretty effectively, sliding on purpose a few feet with each step.

Made it back down to Barafu in 3 1/2 hours; was about 9 going up (including the lunch break).

And yes, our porters and cooks and waiter had trekked up ahead of us and had lunch waiting for us although this time we ate just sitting on rocks. But they had warm water for us to wash our hands before eating and served us food on plates; I'm telling you we were spoiled!!

And then they had dinner waiting for us when we made it back down.

Funniest moment on the mountain for me: David had seen that I was not able to eat much up near the summit and was not feeling all that great and asked what I wanted for dinner. I told him that if he wanted me to eat he had to give me pudding. We had had vanilla pudding - similar to Jello instant pudding mix - for dessert one evening earlier in the week and I love the stuff and for me it goes down really easily. I had had seconds and thirds of the pudding when we had it. He said he was sorry but they didn't have any more pudding but he would make me rice and some other bland stuff. And so I ate a little dinner but not much. But then Davide shows up with a big bowl of pudding just for me and said the cook found some more and no one else could have it, it was all for me. So I ate this giant bowl of pudding and it tasted great!

Short hiking day from Karanga to Barafu Camp at 15,330 ft.

Barafu is the camp that most people summit from and it was crowded. At most of the rest of the camps, we were the only group or shared with a few others. But this camp was crowded with groups all up and down the hillside.

Nose started getting stuffed up - not sure if I picked up a cold or if it's related to altitude but it was just a stuffed nose, no headache or any other common altitude issue.

A long hard day, going up and down huge ridges and valleys, eventually making it to Karanga Camp at 13,230 feet. This was a key day in acclimatization since we slept about 2000 feet lower than the night before.

There were some serious downhill rocky sections that were exhausting - both tough on the knees but also mentally fatiguing and I had to be very careful.

Barranco Wall is an 800 foot climb up over boulders including a couple of pretty treacherous spots where you basically have to step around big rocks with a huge fall if you slip. The guides positioned themselves to make it as safe as possible and i was fine as long as I just kept looking at where I needed to go. It was tough climbing since many of the rocks were large and it was tough to find footholds that I could use for steps my size - the double stair workouts were really helpful for this part. But I would do that uphill 10 times over in place of all the rocky downhills that we did. Lots of sitting on my butt and sliding down, using my poles to take the weight off my knees and so forth. Amedeus meanwhile was pretty much skipping down but always ready to help me if I needed it. Occasionally I would give him my poles when I wanted to use both arms for something, but mostly I got down on my own. The guides kept suggesting places to put my feet and so forth, but I ignored them most of the time and found my own way and eventually they left me alone.

After one grueling long downhill stretch, everyone was taking a break and I asked if I could just keep going - I didn't want to sit and let my knees tighten up. They said sure, so I climbed the next hill to camp at my speed which was nice.

Comments from my journal:
- amazing food again, really good chicken for lunch and mexican for dinner. I know I'm gaining weight.
- hair is totally gross