Mt Kilimanjaro - Uhuru Peak

This was the final stage of my journey.  Having left Barranco camp, I carried on westwards in a zigzag fashion, descending 984ft (300m) until I reached the Machame Trail junction at 12,139ft (3700m).  Turning right onto the trail I knew this was the final ascent but also where my breathing would be challenged the most.  

Trekking through alpine desert, the sun was strong and glaring and the temperature cold and dry. As I gained more altitude, the air thinned out further.  It became very important to set the right pace to manage my heart rate and oxygen intake.  Move too fast and I would get dizzy, lose energy and fatigue the muscles.  Move too slowly, I’d fall behind and potentially run out of time to summit.

With a slow and steady approach, I arrived at Lava Tower.  At 300ft (91m) tall, Lava Tower is a volcanic plug.  During one of Kili’s past volcanic explosions lava erupted out of a vent, cooled then hardened like a plug.  Luckily Kili is no longer active because this kind of plug could build pressure below the surface that could potentially erupt violently.  

There was a time when the tower was climbable but due to safety concerns it is now prohibited.  Those who had the chance to climb it in the past said the views of Uhuru Peak were just amazing.  At the base of the Tower is the Lava Tower Camp.  Set a little lower, the camp provides an opportunity to rest and recover from the lengthy ascending hike and effects of high altitude. 

From Lava Tower there are two ways to climb up to the Summit.  Either via a descent to Barranco Camp, before an ascent to Stella Peak and then Uhuru Peak or the treacherous Western Breach Wall.  

I opted for the latter.  Although the Western Breach Wall is known as one of the most hazardous routes to the summit, I chose it for several reasons.  One, it was the shortest route to the top.  Summit is done during the day rather than overnight and no traffic jam at the top.  I was also able to sleep in a crater and explore glaciers.

Now the downside is that the Breach Wall, which is a gap formed by lava flow, is made up of soft loose rocks, the result of a rockslide.  The top third of this wall is very nearly vertical and the rocks here are often held together by the glaciers above.  When the glaciers melt and retreat the previously bound rocks are released and tumble down the mountain.  Beneath the wall is a 30-45 degree mountainside which collects the fallen rocks from above and shoots them down a narrow chute to the bottom.  

As such, the difficulty was not in the climb itself, even though there were many switchbacks to tackle, but the ever-present glaciers that gave no indication if they had retreated and loosened the rocks above.  Although I had to trek through the dangerous chute, my time was kept to a minimum and as quickly as was possible at that altitude I traversed to a safer pathway.  It didn’t completely eliminate the danger but I was in a better position than if I had climbed directly through the ‘danger zone’.

When I reached the top the first thing I saw was the remnants of an ice cap that once used to cover the summit.  Named Furtwängler Glacier, it seemed almost odd, looking at this large block of ice sitting atop very fine beach-like black sand.  It was interesting to see the glacier and the sand cohabitating in the same space.  Sadly in the last century almost 85% of the glacier had vanished.  There was a time when Kili had 16 named glaciers and 3 icefields.  In the last half a century at least four have vanished and at the rate they are melting it is predicted that in less than 50 years there will be no ice left on the mountain.

I skirted the crater rim to Crater Camp, elevation 18,865ft (5750m) to refuel and pondered that last stretch.  I was a mere 475ft (145m) below the summit and about half a mile (800m) in terms of trekking distance.  Of course without further ado, I pushed for that final ascent.  Slow and steady over the next hour, focusing on just one step in front of the other, I wound my way up to the weathering summit sign and the spectacular views of Mount Meru, another volcanic mountain, to the southwest; Kibo’s three concentric craters; and the Northern Icefield beyond the crater.  

In Swahili, Uhuru means Freedom.  Here at the top of Africa, I felt free and unconstrained, just like this tall free-standing mountain called Kilimanjaro.
 

Mt Kilimanjaro - Mti Mkubwa Camp

Mount Kilimanjaro, Kili for short, is located in north-eastern Tanzania and it is the largest free-standing mountain in the world. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo (dormant), Mawenzi and Shira (both extinct).  It stands at 19,341ft (5,895m) above sea level and is one of the 7 Summits in the world.  Kili is within the Kilimanjaro National Park, a UNESCO Heritage Listed site since 1987.

The first successful summit of Uhuru Peak was made in 1889 by German geographer, Hans Meyer and Austrian mountaineer, Ludwig Purtscheller.  It was Meyer’s third attempt to summit and Purtscheller had the privilege of celebrating his 40th birthday on the summit.  It took another 20 years before someone else summitted again.

It took the better part of the 20th century before Kili became a trekking destination.  In 1939 only 58 people visited and less than 1,000 visitors by the 1950s.  Fast forward to the mid-1990s and it exploded to 11,000 trekkers and by the 21st century Kili sees an average of 35,000 climbers per year.  

There are five climatic zones on Kili:

1.      Cultivation [4000-6000ft / 1200-1800m] – a highly productive agricultural terrain due to the fertile volcanic soil.  Small nocturnal mammals such as tree hyrax and galago reside here.

2.      Forest [6000-9200ft / 1800-2800m] – a lush and dense ecosystem with high rainfall. Squirrels, antelopes, monkeys and leopard roam the area.  

3.      Heather and Moorland [9200-13,100ft / 2800-4000m] – the heather ecosystem connects the wet forest below with the arid moorland above.  Due to lack of foliage the moorland is dry, cold and windy with overnight frost.  Elands a type of antelope occupy this area.

4.      Alpine desert [13,100-16,000ft / 4000-4900m] – this zone consists of almost no vegetation as it is cold and dry but with lots of sun. Temperatures fluctuate and water is scarce.  Hardly any animals venture here except for the occasional African wild dog.

5.      Arctic [16,000ft / 4900m and above] – below freezing temperatures at night with very little rain, plants or animals.

There are seven established routes on each cardinal point.  The most popular being Machame and Marangu both from the southside of the mountain.  Wanting to experience a more remote and quiet route, I opted for the Lemosho Route from the westside with a plan to swing left onto the Northern Circuit circumnavigating Kibo to Barranco Wall on the southside and wind up to the summit, Uhuru Peak.  Lemosho is a relatively new trail, added by the National Park to reduce congestion on other routes.

Another reason for choosing Lemosho is that it is longer with shorter elevation gains thereby making it a slower and more natural acclimatisation experience.  Camping all the way through, the route is a repeated “climb high, sleep low” which provides ample time to adjust to a higher altitude.  Acclimatisation is an important part of the trek.  My body is used to working at sea level where oxygen intake is at maximum.  However, once I climb beyond 6561ft (2000m) the air thins out and I need time to adapt to less oxygen.  The further up I go the more adaptation I need.  By disregarding gradual adaptation, I could end up with Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) that could develop into pulmonary oedema or cerebral oedema which could prove fatal.  Certainly if I was to show signs of AMS the best way to manage it would be by descending, taking AMS medication and/or resting an extra day as my body recovers and adapts.

The route begins at Lemosho Glades at 7380ft (2100m) above sea level.  Standing at the Lemosho Gate I was surrounded by a dense rainforest very clearly indicating what I would be experiencing on the first stage of my climb.  The path was narrow but very well maintained.  Either side was a green wall of deep foliage with light filtering through the canopy.

With Kili only three degrees south of the equator, it means that the temperature does not fluctuate much, and the forest is quite humid especially after heavy rain.  This is a great environment for plants to grow and thrive.  Ferns, junipers, sycamore trees and moss are just some of the plants found in the forest zone along with the endemic ‘Impatiens Kilimanjari’.  This flowering plant is only found in the jungle floor of Kilimanjaro.  The inch-long flower is pinkish-red that’s a little orchid-like but it has a yellow tail that from a profile looks more like a tropical seahorse.  As a perennial plant it blooms almost all year round.

Anyway this wondrous undisturbed forest was a constant visual delight as I ascended the trail at a steady pace up to Mti Mkubwa Camp.  The trail itself didn’t deviate, it continued to be mostly narrow and well maintained, hiking single file.  The camp’s elevation was 9120ft (2780m).  It was nestled amongst tall trees with the tents setup ready to be occupied and the mess tent prepped and ready for dinner.  After 4+ hours of trekking I was famished and looked forward to a hot stew, crunchy bread and a cuppa to replenish my burnt calories and fully fuel me for the next stage.