We got up at 3.45am this morning, quick change, used the loo and then went to the mess tent for oatmeal porridge. I can't really tell you how cold it was, cause it was very, very cold. Somehow we managed to get all our stuff together and pack our day packs. We were given the option of not folding our sleeping bags ourselves (to save some much needed energy) and letting the porters do it after we had left, we each took that option. Our entire movements this morning were in slow motion. Breathing is very fast, our heart is beating fast and any sudden movements takes the breath out of us. With our head lamps on and poles in hand, we take on the Western Breach.
It was the most gruesome, tough, physically challenging hike that I've encountered. The cold that we experienced is something that I have never come across. I had 2 thermal inner wear on, a 180' merino half sleeve sweater, a dry fit shirt, a thicker 260' merino full sleeve sweater, a fleece and my ski jacket and I am still COLD. First mistake is that we only have our inner gloves on, within 10 min of starting the hike we pause to take out the ski gloves. My fingers seem yellow and Jen is getting worried as her fingers are stinging in the cold and she can't feel them. Honestly, I can barely feel mine either. I keep banging and clapping my hands together every few steps hoping to warm them up or just keep them from freezing. All I can concentrate on is the summit ahead of us.
And then within a few minutes we hear it, a crashing, blowing, falling sound. We look to our right and we can just about see in the early morning light that a portion of a small glacier has just come crashing down on the adjacent rock face. Amazing sights as the powder from the snow rises outwards from the rock surface. Amazing sights for a nano second, and then the wow! hope it doesn't happen in our path.
Another 10 minutes into the walk and we see M having some issues. Complaining of headaches and of feeling faint. She is cold, fingers are turning blue and painful. She sits down for a few minutes which turns into a longer time. She resumes but has to rest again. Headache, cold, fatigue, tears, everything is going wrong. We are getting cold so we go ahead and they will catch up eventually.
The Western Breach is basically a very steep 2500 feet ascent of vertical climbing and scrambling over rocks. It's the shortest and most direct route up, thus it's very tiring and steep at these altitudes. We are walking very slowly, but it's still making us breathe very deeply and very rapidly, both at the same time. The sun is starting to shine just over the top of the mountain that we are climbing. As we look back and down at our old camp site, we can see some incredible views. We can also see Mt. Meru near Arusha at 15,000 ft, in the distance. The shadows of Kilimanjaro are falling just short of Mt. Meru. We sit down to take a break and I capture some super photographs.
We look down and M is taking longer to recover, there are some questions being asked about if she can continue, but thankfully she does get okay soon enough and they join us. It's about 7am now, and the view is just getting so much prettier. The sun is out but it is still so cold. We have been climbing now for nearly 2 hrs and it doesn't seem like the cold is letting up. I am freezing, the water in our platypus and secondary water bottle are both frozen. Just a few drops come every time we try drinking out of them. Time for sun block as the sun seems sharp but it's COLD.
It takes us 6 hours to get up the Western Breach. We stop every 20-30 minutes but only for a short time. The sights are incredible. No words can describe them, I take some photographs hoping to capture the moment. But the photos will never seem enough, besides, every time I need to remove the camera from my bag and remove my gloves, the bitter cold drives me insane. My breathing is so heavy, I sit or lean on every rock I can find. I try to rest whenever I get a chance as I know this climb is going to require every bit of energy. The porters are tiring - can you imagine that, these guys climb this way 2-3 times a month on each of their expeditions carrying 20 kgs on their heads.
Finally, just like an anti-climatic ending as we clamor over another rock face, another frozen stream, another set of loose rocks held together by shinning ice and we turn another corner and then suddenly flat. FLAT!! It's a plateau, sort of; we have done it. The Western Breach is over. I cannot believe it. It's done, 6 hours of the toughest hike in my life, and it's over just like that. We only have a 10 min walk on this flat frozen plain to our last camp site before the summit, called Crater Camp at 18500 ft above mean sea level. It's noon.
As we walk along this plain we see huge glaciers on either side. We are only 800 ft below the summit. It's a bit overwhelming at this moment. We reach our campsite, there are chairs outside in the bright sun. It's an awesome sight and hugs go around.
My head is starting to spin. I didn't think I can move any slower than I am at the moment and still be out of breath. It takes me more than a second to walk each step, and at every step I can feel my heart beating. Scary? Not at all, I don't think I have felt any prouder and any happier at our achievement today. All of us got through today and it's an incredible feeling to be up here. I was telling the group that we only had to make it to Crater Camp and then just the adrenaline would take us up the remaining 800 feet to the summit tomorrow.
And here we were at Crater Camp.
The hill behind the camp is the path to the summit. I'm feeling very nauseous but it's under control. The views are indescribable. Lunch time now, soup again. Bread too, but I gulp down the soup and some vegetables. Nothing else goes down. M doesn't come out of the tent, she is tired and sick. We all are. We hear some of the porters are a bit down, too, with headaches. Jen is next to me, barely moving around. The headaches are back with a vengeance. Some Ibuprofen does the trick. Nap time between 2-5.30 pm. We open our sleeping bags and lay down. Seconds later the wind picks up and it's howling. We hear the sound of snow flakes falling, I take a peek outside and there is a bit of ice falling on the ground. Wish I had taken a pic, but it was never going to happen. I am way too tired and out of breath.
Dinner at 5.30, the slowest pace of walking or standing or talking. It's like we are watching a movie in slow-mo. Dinner is spaghetti in vegetable sauce and soup. 6.30 is bed time. Neither Jen nor I have the energy or motivation to change, as we have every single night before bed. Today we sleep in the same clothes. There is absolutely no energy to remove our pants or change our shirts. We do have the energy though to get our camera's checked and flags out for tomorrow's summit, we also fill up the water bottles today, although they are still partly frozen.
10.40pm - wake up for a pee break. Jen is half asleep, but wishes me a 100 minutes early for my birthday. Tomorrow is summit day and my 33rd birthday.
*** jen's outakes ***
Good Lord, it's cold. Today is the biggest challenge of our entire hike - the Western Breach. When I was researching Kili and the various routes, a lot of people (and companies) told me they didn't opt for the Western Breach because it was "too dangerous" and staying in Crater Camp was not advisable because of the many hours at such high altitude. But, Detasa's owner, Innocent, convinced me that although it was tough, the Western Breach/Crater Camp combo would give us the BEST chance to make the summit successfully. I kept thinking of what Innocent told me along the rock face of the Western Breach; especially when I was out of breath and I could feel my heart beating inside my head. (I also tried to think of all the Celine Dion songs I could remember to keep my mind off the cold and the seemingly impossible task under my feet - but all I could remember was 1 or 2 lines from the Titanic song!).
As we started up the Western Breach, my hands were a bit cold. As the minutes went by, my hands became colder and very numb; at one point, I had images of losing my fingers to frostbite. Thankfully, I overheard Justin telling someone that no, you could not get frostbite on Kili. After seeing me stuggle with the cold, Frank, our first assistant guide, took my hands in his to warm them. He gave me his gloves and started massaging my hands together. Then he placed my hands under his armpits!
I looked over, wide-eyed, at Arun and later told him that I've never been that close to a person whose last name I didn't know! But, it worked and within a few minutes, I was feeling a bit better.
I honestly don't remember much of the Western Breach; other than I was as cold as ice and it was a tough climb. I tried not to look down or back, behind us, but I do remember thinking on a few occasions that we had made it, only to be foiled by Justin who kept saying, "Almost. We're almost there."
When we finally made it to the flat, finish-line towards camp, I was deliriously happy. I wanted to cry (ok, maybe I did a little). We did it! :) Crater Camp was simply beautiful. I've never been that close to a glacier and the entire area was so quiet; and utterly peaceful. For a few minutes, I forgot about all the tiredness, the soreness, the headaches, the tummy problems, the racing heartbeat, the cold, the ache in my muscles and everything else around me. I looked over at my husband, who was equally moved and elated, and just smiled.
We did it! :)
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