The Climb - Summit Day

here we go! though i'm writing about our summit day, i need to start by back-tracking and get you some info from the day before. brad had worked hard, done great and we made it to barafu hut in good time, but there were some obvious concerns about the next 24 to 36 hours. over "soup" and sandwiches in the dining tent, we discussed our options with the others on the "climb for sight". starting off, though they all had a strong desire for us all to get to the top together, we made it clear to them that it would be best if they stuck together as a group of 4 and made a good shot at the top with or without us. then brad voiced his strong, and valid, concerns of what was ahead of us. to summarize, brad was visually spent! in his opinion, even if he kept the pace that we had been moving at for the last several days (with less visual tension than he was having now), it would take us somewhere between 22 and 28 hours to summit and then descend to the next camp. but with the position of his current visual state, and the fact that there would be at least 6 to 8 hours in the dark that he would be climbing by merely following reflective tape on brian's or my legs and boots, it made the effective "life" of his eyes decrease dramatically. this was a very discouraging thought for brad...but somewhat accurate. though he wasn't done, brad wasn't sure how much was left (visually) and was concerned that he would "get in the way" of my and brian's attempt of the summit. i believe our answer to him was to "shut up"! we were there to do this together, and that's exactly what we were going to do!

so...in the wee hours of the morning, with the full moon lighting up a cold, crisp night air, we three (and our great guide douglas) started for the summit of mt kilimanjaro. our intent was to go 'til brad couldn't. and from that spot we'd watch a sunrise from a point higher than anywhere in the contiginous united states.

the climbing right out of camp was tough. it was rocky, with some small bouldering, and switchbacks and more rock. but...it truly was a beautiful night. though the air was cold enough to make your lungs burn, the sky was clear and the full moon SO bright that it lit up the whole sky, making only the brightest of stars visible. as i looked at the stars i recognized orion. he is a winter constollation in the northern hemisphere, but was laying (somewhat upside down) right there in africa in early august. wow! anyway...we climbed for several hours, having to stop more and more regularly for brad to rest his eyes and head. brad was right, it was obvious that he was visually exhausted, but with our encouragement, he kept plugging away at the rock in front of him. it got to the point that brad needed to stop every few minutes to rest his strained eyes. we'd ask him for alittle more...and he'd give it. time and again. then, just as we topped a ridge that would give a clear view to the east...he couldn't. so we made our way to some good "sitting" rocks...that was it. so, somewhere close to 16,500 feet, we waited. quitely. in the strange combination of darkness and rugged beauty we waited for the sun. this was a time of reflection for us all. i can only speak for myself, but know that both brian and brad were as moved as i was. i thought of all that had happened to get us there. of the training. of all the preparations. of the bonding. and then of the trip itself. of the massive mountain and this wild place on the other side of the globe. but mostly i thought of what brad had endured and accomplished to get to this point. other climbers gave what it took to get to the top of this majestic mountain, but brad had given ALL he had. it was an emotional time for me, to think how my life had been blessed to be a part of something so rare. then, as the first rays of light made their way over the layer of clouds far below us, it was like God himself was there hugging us and high-fiving us, letting us know that we had done it...we had summited!

the sunrise itself was great. as the morning colors swept across the clouds, the moon continued to light up the west sky above kibo. in the daylight, we made our way back to camp at barafu hut in short order, stopping mostly to gauk at the difficult terrain we had passed through on the way up. we knew, due to our slower pace, we had a long day ahead of us, so instead of catching a few zzz's, we packed our gear and headed down the mountain, as we had another 5000 ft to descend that day! the trail, and the sun location, made for quick moving for the first third of the way to our next camp. but the rest of the trail, the last third particularly, made up for the easier sections. we had to work down through a cloudy, misty layer and over some of the rockiest trails of the trip, but made it to camp well before the sun went down. i think brad may have just closed his eyes and hung on to brian's pack at this point:) upon arrival to our camp in the rain forest we were all pretty tired, but brad was in real need of resting his eyes and head. brian and i stayed around camp and in the dining tent to congratulate the other climbers on their successful summit as they rolled into camp.

what a day! it had been a day to remember for a lifetime! but we still had another day of descent to get off the mountain. keep checking back, we'll get off this mountain yet!