I left my tent to take a few photos and learned to always keep it zippered. In my absence a bird flew in and snagged my M&Ms! In my situation competition for food was becoming a reality and M&Ms were among the best food available to me! I decided to have a cup of coffee to stay awake and transition to more of a normal schedule. I do not use caffeine as it causes me to exceed an energy level that I require and makes me jumpy. In this case It helped, but I still found myself crashing too early. Now in my tent for night three I did more soul searching in an effort to strategize and adapt to challenges lying ahead. Do I really have a plan?
Day 4, November 20th was a perfect morning and I was excited to tackle the wall. I watched as everyone was packed and, on their way, and saw how they were negotiating the challenge. “Are you ready Richie”, Berundi called out, anticipating my answer. “I’ve been waiting for 2 hours!”, I said. In fact, I was ready for a while and as we proceeded, Berundi and I were the only ones left. As we began to scale the wall Berundi behaved with extreme caution. He would point to an outcropping rock and call out “Left Foot”, then after climbing up he would reach down to give me a hand. I laughed at the notion and explained to him that I do most of my hiking in New York’s Adirondack mountains. This stuff is common there. Berundi would continue to point to outcroppings and offer a hand. My response would always be “My home!”. From that point on and till the end of our hike, any of the several dozen climbing sections suggesting the assistance of a hand hold, or that were particularly steep, one of us would call out “My home!” as an indication that, “I got this!”.
We scaled the 500’ wall quickly and peered over to see wide open terrain that went on for a mile or so with Kibo in the backdrop. From that moment on we could see the face of our destiny though partially obscured by clouds that early in the day, and complete with her beautiful lines of glacial definition. It was a short and easy day by comparison to anything we had done before, with a perfect breeze. Since my body had reached a high level of acclimatization, I felt great! Before you knew it, we reached KARANGA Camp by around 1:00 and the clouds were burning off.
KARANGA CAMP. Now in Alpine Desert Zone it is spectacular and I feel like a true Mountain Man. The face of Kibo looked upon us and the summit didn’t seem that far. I settled in my tent for a bit and was amazed to find out how hot it was in there. I unzipped all of the vents and shed down to a t-shirt. A few minutes later the sun would go behind a cloud and things got so cold that I needed to zip up all vent flaps again and put on my puffy. This activity of transition happened several times but it was never too cold. As night 4 approached it all became a waiting game now. Tomorrow morning, we would climb 3,000’ to BARAFO Camp, more appetizingly referred to as BASE Camp, and a mere 12 hours after that it would be midnight and be time for the BIG PUSH!
My pattern for the evening didn’t change though. Breath, Drink, Pee, and try to sleep in between. My disastrous dinner repeated as anticipated and I looked forward to the 3,000’ climb to the BARAFO BASE Camp the next morning. Berundi used a finger monitor and my oxygen level hovered around 76. “That’s good”, he said. On 2 occasions I experienced mild headaches and responded by drinking more and popping Ibuprofen. I felt I was rising above the altitude challenge.
Now ready to pick up that 3,000’ to the 15,000’ base camp the next morning, we knocked it out without incident. The mountain landscape is spectacular and I feel sufficiently acclimatized. It’s perfect visibility with a perfect breeze and it wasn’t too far, about 4 miles. And regardless of my lack of sleep I loved all of it! This is one of Gods greatest gifts to mankind with the Kibo summit seemingly close enough to reach for. As we shuffled over the obstacle free trail we steadily scaled the forgivable incline. I asked myself where in the world I had been that may replicate the natural beauty of this place? Adrenaline raging, I couldn’t come up with an answer. As we passed the Ranger Station entering the camp area there were a few hikers that had arrived earlier and were passing on Kudos as we passed through. “Good Job!”, “Welcome!”, they gestured with their thumbs up and other congratulatory notions. After all. THIS WAS BASE CAMP!!
I decided to take the sign seriously, knowing that post COVID rescue procedures were no longer in place as normal. There were about 9 sites occupied and I may have been the only solo hiker to occupy one.
It was now time to think about the BIG PUSH. The sun will be down in a few hours and at 11:00PM my team will wake me up to prepare for Game Time. Unfortunately for me, eating, sleeping, and general living conditions remained unchanged. I ate what I could and drank all that I could but sleep remained futile and I found forcing food to be too unappealing. But once we set off at midnight, other than carrying sufficient water for hydration during the last 4,000’ BIG PUSH, nothing else mattered. THIS IS IT!!!
It was tighter space availability and this altitude placed my support teams tent a mere 8 ft from mine. Within earshot of their interaction, I sat there marveling at these wonderful men. They had good reason to celebrate because the rest of their commitment was all downhill! Burundi and I were climbing the final 4,000’ to the summit without them. They just had to hang out awaiting our return and anticipate the plan for our exit strategy. More than any other night they were interacting at high volume. Laughing, telling stories, and carrying on like drunken sailors but without any booze or hangover. A sure advantage to their situation was that 7 men in a small tent will generate plenty of heat. Temperatures would drop to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit that night, so in this case I would have loved to share my tent with as many people as would fit!
I lie awake, dozing off seemingly momentarily from time to time, but I needed to crash heavily. The wind picked up significantly and rattled my tent. “That can’t be good”, I thought. Climatic conditions from in this place are completely unpredictable. Wind may be a blessing compared to an ice or snow storm and very low visibility. At 11:00 Jesse unzipped my tent and offered the thermos of steamy water and my choice of coffee and tea. I made some caffeinated coffee and began to drink it while becoming very drowsy. Then I fell asleep, out cold. At around 11:30 Burundi unzipped my tent to make preparations for the final assault only half hour away. He tested my oxygen level – 62. I was concerned but hadn’t felt any altitude issues and Berundi said it was OK. All of my winter clothing was laid out to the left of my sleeping bag. It was carried here all the way from New York, only to be needed this morning. I crawled out of my sleeping bag and donned every bit of my winter clothing and moved out to the dark and frigid <20 degrees Fahrenheit blackness. Though lacking of a good night sleep for 5 nights, and barely any sleep this night, I felt ready at that moment.
Berundi unzipped and popped out of their tent. “Are you Ready.” He said, knowing my answer. “I’ve been waiting for 2 hours!”, I claimed. And so, it began. I was slow to begin but this is normal. The beginning of any hike requires “Getting into the Groove”, or “Getting your Mojo”, particularly when you immediately start off heading up a steep incline at 15,000’. I felt exhausted. While I wasn’t sure if it had been the altitude or shear exhaustion, I knew this wasn’t going well. I should be gaining strength as my body and blood flowed and regenerated. I struggled. Berundi could sense my weakness and we slowed down the pace. After climbing about 1,000’ I needed a longer than normal break. I felt like dozing off, or was it passing out? I wasn’t sure, but it scared me. I resigned myself to move forward and we were off again. I began to do better and Berundi commented on my progress. “You are doing great Richie”, he proclaimed. I agreed, but still felt significantly underpowered. We trudged on and I pushed myself while my exhaustion continued to creep up on me.
At about 18,000’ I was feeling disoriented and this was no place to do it. I confided with Berundi. “I need to rest Brother”, I said. “You seem OK”, he responded. “No.” I spoke. “I am disoriented and am either going to fall asleep from exhaustion or pass out”. He then shared my concern. Passing out would trigger a set of circumstances no guide on Kilimanjaro wants to contend with. Was it an altitude issue or was I exhausted? If I am suffering from altitude sickness I need to Get Down! If I am exhausted, I just need a good rest. I will likely fall asleep and have a power nap at 18,000’, and it is Very cold, but I would be safe and able to move on. Berundi reached for the oxygen sensor that would determine the cause of my issue. I thought it was exhaustion and the sensor will verify that. The sensor. Where Is The Sensor? Berundi came up empty. “Where is it Berundi.” I asked. He said he could not find it so it must be at our camp site. I have no choice now but to get out of elevation. “We must go down”, I said. “We are not far”, Berundi said. “I cannot go on. My safety is more important. I need to get out of altitude”, I said. Berundi agreed and we turned around.
I staggered down as the sun began to rise over the flat horizon. It was beautiful but I had other priorities to attend to. I didn’t even stop for a photo but Berundi took a few photos as he was guiding me down. All I am thinking is, “Get Down!” I was tempted to stop but afraid I may pass out. I stumbled at times and it felt like forever. We finally got back to our campsite and I anticipated Berundi getting the oxygen sensor. Turns out, it was NOT in his tent. It was in his pack, but not where he thought it would be. He tested my oxygen level. Normal. Relieved, I went into my tent to crash. The second I hit the pad I was out cold.
Rich Citro Adventures 