Climbing Kilimanjaro - Day 5
It’s amazing how relentless wind can be. All throughout the night, the wind only gained power and I could feel the strength slowly seeping from my bones. I opened my eyes from what little sleep I got, and we started the next task of four people getting ready for the day inside the same tent. We all turned to our corners, got ourselves dressed, got our duffels packed up, and got ready to start Day Five. I had a fresh set of clothes planned, including base layer tights, hiking pants, socks, base layer top, and midlayer top. Having a full set of fresh clothes brightened my drowsy spirits, and I felt more ready to take on the day.
Batten Down the Hatches!
When we stepped outside of the tent, we could see the storm system on top of Kilimanjaro becoming more prominent and intense. The storm now looked like a cloudy hat atop the peak, concentrated as it was, and it looked like it was creating white out conditions on the peak. It was another moment of recognizing the juxtaposition of Kilimanjaro’s beauty with its terrifying power. We had to walk with our heads down, bent over, in order to avoid being blown over at camp. Abuu and our porters were hurrying us into the mess tent so we wouldn’t be outside too long. Unfortunately, inside the tent was no less aggressive than outside, with the tent poles blowing inward and the tent snapping all around us.
Our view from Karanga Camp of the storm system at Uhuru Peak.
We had our morning health check around 8am, with my readings of 90 for blood oxygen and 91 for heart rate. We tried to enjoy breakfast as the tent threatened to collapse in on us, and I chose only to have some pancakes and fruit for fear of bringing on more heartburn. When we could no longer take the noise of the tent, we stepped outside to find several porters working to collapse our shared tent from the night before. It was about this time we were discussing mine and Danny’s tent with Abuu and were able to tell him that the tent should be fine to put back up, and that it was just the rain fly that was damaged. Relieved at this news, Abuu said the porters would work to get it back up at the next camp. As much as we enjoyed our impromptu sleepover the night before, we were looking forward to having our own tent back.
Our porters collapsing the tent in the crazy winds on the morning of Day Five.
We secured our daypacks and were ready for the shortest day of hiking of the entire trek at less than 3 miles. Day Five was all about making it to base camp, Barafu Camp, with plenty of time to acclimate, rest, and get ourselves ready for our summit attempt later that night. Our current campsite was fairly far down the mountainside, so we had to first hike out of camp (past the sign I thought we’d never see again…oops), and then onto the trail. We could see Barafu Camp in the distance atop a massive hill and the winding, narrow dirt path that would lead us there. The wind was so intense that we could see the gusts growing in the distance as it whipped dirt and sand into everyone’s left side. People would pause their steps, brace themselves, and wait for the gust of wind to relent before continuing on their climb. With the amount of gear porters carry on their heads and necks, they can be easily toppled with forceful winds (and a few were). We saw many porters taking well deserved rests along the trail that day, catching their breath from the increased difficulty the wind created.
Climbing to Base Camp
I don’t have many pictures from Day Five’s hike because the wind was so strong I feared my phone would be blown from my hand. We focused on one step after the other, gaining about 1700 feet throughout the hike to base camp. This portion of Kilimanjaro was desolate, bare earth, with massive boulders and small alpine plants breaking through the ground. It was a fascinating landscape to hike through and brought on more thoughts of Game of Thrones and the landscape Khaleesi crossed in her journeys to conquer the world. We made a couple stops on Day Five’s hike, with one at the foot of the final push up to camp. Here we had more water and snacks, and I chose to hold my bathroom break until we reached our private toilet setup. As it was barren land, there was nowhere to create any privacy.
We got ourselves packed up once again and started the climb to base camp, going pole pole the whole time. As we were hiking, I felt so strong and confident in myself. I was once again thankful for how seriously I took my training and knew that I had prepared exceptionally well for this challenge, and was building up my confidence for summit night.
Once we reached Barafu Camp, we got our group picture with the camp sign, read through some very serious warnings about attempting the summit, signed in at the ranger station, and made our way to our camp for the night. Because the wind was only getting stronger, our porters set up our tents in an area where we were protected on one side by a rock wall. There were at least 10 large rocks on top of the tent stakes to help it stay in place. This wind, y’all, it was testing us in every way. Danny and I were pleasantly surprised to see that our tent was back up and the porters had tied the rain fly strategically so that it wouldn’t flap around in the wind. We also agreed that Day Five’s hike was the easiest of the trek so far.
Toward the top of the climb to Barafu Camp, looking back on the trail we traveled earlier in the day.
Next to our tents was our private toilet setup right next to the rock wall. It was tied down so tightly that you couldn’t zip it past your waist height for fear of it not being able to zip closed again. I made the mistake of unzipping it too high in a moment where I really needed the toilet and time was of the essence. It is one of the worst feelings when you have to go to the bathroom so urgently and something is standing in your way. I almost threw modesty off the cliffs of our camp and went to the bathroom with the tent wide open. Thankfully, I was able to get the zipper back down before the emergency became a catastrophe.
Side note: I have another bathroom story that is best told in person. If that piques your interest, give me a shout.
You Have Dirt Where?
We got our stuff organized and took stock of ourselves, with our first reaction being laughter at how dirty we were. Covered head to toe in dust and dirt, my black pants looked more tan with the amount of desert caked onto them. We had dirt in every exposed area of our bodies, and some not so exposed - the wind knows no boundaries. Dirt inside my ears, my teeth, and into the layers of my clothing, I started to divest myself of dirt and freshen up while we waited for lunch to be delivered to our tents. We were told because of the wind strength, the porters weren’t able to set up the mess tent and that we’d have our lunches in our own tents, but soon Abuu came by and let us know the mess tent was successfully (if unsteadily) set up for lunch. This would be our last large meal before summit night and it included a vegetable and potato soup alongside a vegetable curry. As we got higher in altitude, the meals became more bland in order to aid better digestion, so this was a welcome meal.
Our tent village at Base Camp.
We shared our highs and lows of the day, then Abuu and LuLu came in for the most important briefing of the trip - preparing for our summit attempt. They reminded us that we would be going pole pole and that we would have some porters coming with us to the top. When we were still in the planning phases of this trip, our group agreed that if someone needed to turn around at any point, we’d wish them well and the group would continue the climb. It was imperative we were on the same page about this decision before the trip started so there was no equivocation if the time came. Once again, with LuLu and Abuu as witnesses, we agreed that if someone needed to turn around they could do so and everyone else would continue to the top. While we wanted to summit as a group, we were all prepared to move forward whether or not our group stayed intact. Abuu agreed with our plan and said that he was fully confident in us all achieving our dream of summiting the tallest freestanding mountain in the world.
We had our health check for the night around 6pm, with my blood oxygen dropping to 83 and my heart rate to 87 - Abuu was not concerned so I wasn’t either (I’d learned my lesson about reading too far into these readings from Day 3, and I wasn’t doing it again). After our health checks Abuu told us to be back in the mess tent by 11:30pm (yes, that same night) dressed in all the layers we had and carrying only the bare necessities in our daypacks. With a mix of exhaustion and elation, we parted ways to get ourselves prepared for the climb ahead.
Mr. and Mrs. MacGyver
Back to our lovely, slightly decrepit tent. While Danny and I were grateful we had our own tent back, there was another concern with the makeshift, slightly intact rain fly - what happens when it rains? At this point in the trip there was some moisture in the air and combined with the wind, we were afraid the inside of our tent would not fare well if it rained. We shared this concern with Abuu before leaving the mess tent and he basically said, “Hakuna matata.”
I remembered I brought some k-tape in case any of us needed it for our ankles or knees, and I found a few safety pins and extra carabiners in our gear. Danny grabbed one of our ponchos and we worked together to hang it up inside the tent to cover the mesh window where moisture would get inside. We were able to secure it well enough that it stayed in place throughout the entire night. We also tried to secure one of our microfiber towels on the top of the tent where there are two mesh vents to provide some more protection. While the top of the tent was enclosed just fine, wind was still whipping inside at increasingly alarming rates.
The results of our MacGyvering. It actually stayed up all night!
Proud of ourselves for our ingenuity and resourcefulness, and for working together so well, we started getting our gear organized for the summit and ourselves ready for sleep.
But sleep would once again evade us. One thing I was not prepared for (and I was super prepared for this trip) was how little sleep we would get throughout the entire week. I was too overstimulated from the noise, the wind, the butterflies in my stomach, and the fact that in less than 6 hours we’d start our attempt to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. I did my best to close my eyes and quiet my mind and I began to gather all the strength, belief, and trust I’d need to charge headfirst into the biggest challenge of my life.
Day Five Stats
Day Five starting elevation at Karanga Camp: 13,123 feet
Day Five ending elevation at Barafu Camp: 15,091 feet
Hiking distance: 2.5 miles, 1968 feet of elevation gain
Highs and Lows
A nightly tradition during dinner was to share our Highs and Lows for the day. It was always a fun way to recap the day and see what everyone took away from it. Sometimes one person’s Low was another person’s High. I’ll share my own Highs and Lows for each day at the end of every blog post.
Day Five Low: our tent collapsing at Karanga Camp
Day Five High: felt so strong on today’s climb and no heartburn
Health Checks
Morning Check at 8am - Blood oxygen: 90 | Heart rate: 91
Evening Check at 6pm - Blood oxygen: 83 | Heart rate: 87
Note To Reader
If you are reading this purely for entertainment, awesome! This disclaimer does not apply to you. If you are reading this in preparation for your own climb of Kilimanjaro, it’s important for me to note the following things. Before my climb of Kilimanjaro:
I was living in Colorado at an elevation of 5350 feet above sea level
I was in excellent physical condition and was 36 years old
I did not smoke, rarely drank alcohol and did not have any for two months prior to the trip, and did not have any other medical issues
I had been hiking to elevations above 12,000 feet for years and hiked in the mountains every weekend for three months before the trek
I physically trained for a year before my trek through cardio and weight training at OrangeTheory Fitness
I had a lot of gear already, although I did purchase a lot
Why do I include this information? Because research will be a part of your trip preparation and you’ll most likely read a lot of blog posts like this. A trend that I saw in my own research was that people didn’t include their personal background before giving advice or recaps of their own trip. To best understand my experience, I want to give you a basic understanding of me as a human, and the benefits I had before embarking on this journey. This may help you better prepare for and relate to the experiences I had along the trail.