|
About Kilimanjaro
| |
We did a six day climb of the Machame Route to the
summit of Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, whose snow-capped peak
rises 19,340 feet above the Great Rift Valley. We climbed
through five vegetation zones including forest, heather, moorland,
alpine desert and the summit/ice cap. |
About Kilimanjaro
- Learn about the history and geology of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Kili Route Map
Here is our climb itinerary.
 | Day 1: We hiked from the Machame gate (6000ft.) for 5 hours through rain forest (lots of tree roots for steps) and rock to Machame Camp
at 10,000 feet. |
| Day 2: We hiked for 4 hours and 45 min. through the heather and
moorland zones to Shira Camp at 12,300. |
| Day 3: We climbed for a little over 6 hours from up to 15,000' then back down to 12,800 at Barranco Camp.' It included 1 hour of rock scrambling
for 1,000.' (It's a good thing Marti took that rock climbing course!) |
| Day 4: We hiked for over 8 hours, for a while up some pretty serious lava rock to Barafu Camp at 15,000.'
We got to camp at 4:30PM, had dinner, got packed for the summit attempt and
laid down to rest at 7:00PM.
We got up at 10:00PM, had a quick breakfast of tea and cookies provided by the porters, and left for the summit at 11:30PM. |
| Day 5: After 7 hours of grueling climbing on trails, loose rock, steep lava rock and a lot of scree, we got to the crater rim.
It was 6:30AM which was just in time to see a spectacular sunrise. It took another hour to walk around to Uhuru peak (the highest point on the mountain) to take pictures. We then descended back to
Barafu camp, rested for an hour, ate, then descended to Mweka Camp at 10,000.'
It was a 17 hour day up 4,340 ft., then down 9,340 ft. Brutal!!! |
| Day 6: We left Mweka Camp at 8:00AM and got to the trail head at 11:30 where we were picked
up and taken back to the Kibo Hotel.
It was a great experience and after our feet healed, we enjoyed it even more. |
Here are some pictures of our climb.
|
 |
|
|
Steve and Marti at the Machame Gate (start of climb) |
Marti about two hours into the first day. |
|
 |
|
|
Steve and Marti having dinner at Shira Camp (13,200 ft.) |
In the alpine desert zone at about 14,300 ft. Note that
Marti is wearing a T-shirt and our guide Felix is carrying a box of eggs |
|
 |
 |
|
Marti rock scrambling on day 3 at about 13,800
ft |
Steve resting on day 3 at about 14,000' |
|
|
 |
|
A room with a view. Outhouse at 15,000 ft. |
Marti and Felix taking the last few steps to the crater rim
(about 18,700 ft.) |
|
 |
|
|
Steve and Marti on the summit (19,340 ft.)
|
View from Uhuru Peak looking southwest. Diamond Glacier
is on the left and Mt. Meru (14,990 ft.) is on the right. |
|
 |
|
|
On the way down the Mweka route in the heather zone on day 5
(about 11,000 ft.) |
Marti and Steve celebrating at the Kibo Hotel in Marangu |
|
