Mt. Kilimanjaro Ed's Pack
New York Times Article: On Africa’s Roof, Still Crowned With Snow
It seems that every six months, the New York Times writes another story about Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, with a new story angle. Kilimanjaro, in my opinion, has always received great attention in the press as it’s the highest mountain in Africa and is often romanticized by books, movies, explorers, on TV. But this year’s increased attention is probably from constant references that Africa’s highest summit is melting, which was from Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore has probably put Kilimanjaro more on the “must do” map, as the number of people wanting to reach the summit has …
Date: January 21st, 2008 |
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Picture of the week 51
This photo was taken just outside of the Mweka Gate Hut as the officials completed our summit certificates. Our Tusker Land Rover waited a few steps away ready to whisk us down through the gauntlet of souvenir salesmen and hawkers as we headed, joyful to be riding, to the first shower in 11 days.
We made sure to break-in our Asolo boots prior to the climb but they were basically new when we started the trek. As you can see, our trusted foot-gear took a vigorous pounding and left the mountain with …
Date: December 18th, 2007 |
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Picture of the week 49
This is Barafu Camp. As you can see by all the tents, it has enough population for its own zip code. Most of the night summit attempts leave from here.
Shira, Lemosho, Machame and Umbre Routes all pass through Barafu to the summit.
We briefly stopped in Barafu for a candy bar and continued on to Millennium Camp for our last night.
The trek from the summit (19,340 ft) to Millennium Camp (12,300 ft) took 7 hours.
The oxygen rich air returned our cognitive spark that had been squeezed out high …
Date: November 29th, 2007 |
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Picture of the week 47
The stroll from the spot of the week 46 photo to the summit sign was maybe 150 yards. My son and I covered that distance, arm & arm, as I fondly recall and you would have thought we would be feeing triumphant, but the core feeling we experienced was one of over-powering relief.
We knew we didn’t have to climb anymore. Our mission had been accomplished even with the knowledge we had two more days to walk to the Land Rover. We hadn’t slept during our over-night at Crater Camp but we …
Date: November 26th, 2007 |
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Picture of the week 45
Pictured here, taken from inside our tent, is our waiter August at Crater Camp announcing that our dinner was ready in the mess tent. Behind him are the beautifully iconic Furtwrangler Glacier and one of the cinder cones protecting the Reusch Crater.
As I’ve shared in other posts this year, the long shadows and stunning topography is easier to contemplate and appreciate now, after the trip, owning to the lack of oxygen for our flatlander brains at 18,400 ft. At this particular campsite, we were quite content and happy to simply be told what to …
Date: November 5th, 2007 |
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Picture of the week 52
This is the last photo for this year as Donavan has other plans for the site in 2008. I enjoyed sharing the images. I received some very nice reactions to the photos and wish to thank everyone that sent comments. I also wish to thank the outstanding staff at BootsnAll for their kind stewardship of this process.
The final image was sent to me after our trip. I’d shipped a package of goodies to our head Tusker Guide, Bwana Stephen, with the intent to have him pass the stuff around to our …
Date: January 8th, 2008 |
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Picture of the week 50
Our final stop on the way down was Millennium Camp on the edge of the tree line. I confess that I never took any pictures. We could breathe, our hunger had returned, we knew we would sleep like babies and the realization we’d really climbed the mountain combined to leave us standing there in a sustained, wow.
On the final day through the rain forest, however, I took many images like this one. After a week without any foliage, this was pure
Eden.
Date: December 11th, 2007 |
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Picture of the week 48
This photograph has always intrigued me because of the primary colors (red, yellow & blue) with the morning moon and the Rebman Glacier peaking along the horizon.
We are half way down the scree slide as I looked back up the slope to capture this image. Running down the scree enabled us to get from the summit !9,340 ft. to Barafu Camp 15,000 ft. in just under 4 hours, a distance that had taken 3 days to ascend.
Each meter brought increased oxygen and euphoria to our starved brains.
Date: November 28th, 2007 |
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Picture of the week 46
One of the fellows at BootsnAll sent me some photographs taken by a friend.
I have included one of his images this week because it was the shot I couldn’t take. My camera stopped working and, at 19,000+ feet, I did not possess the cognitive resources to render the simple fix it until we entered the lower, oxygen rich, altitudes on our way down the mountain.
This photo was taken at the top of the trail from Crater Camp to the summit ridge.
Pictured is Crater Camp (tents in lower center), a …
Date: November 12th, 2007 |
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Picture of the week 44
Climatic truths are rendering the glaciers atop Mt. Kilimanjaro smaller by the day. This process has been unfolding for hundreds of years, yes, even before “global warming”. Although I think “man” could be a wiser steward of the planet, I’m of the opinion this ice was going to melt, in time, but also, in time, return and “man” will not affect the process greatly with energy credits or carbon neutral strategies.
As “man” continues to struggle with good stewardship, however, I have, and will always possess, the coveted photograph of, yours truly, standing triumphantly with the sublimating …
Date: October 29th, 2007 |
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