The Flying Fish

14 February 2016, Sunday Day 7 Final Climb Day Mweka Hut – Mweka Gate 3100m (10 170ft) - 1828 m ( 6,000 ft) 3hrs I woke up very stiff, and very sore. I somehow managed to ease my boots on without putting too much pressure on the blisters. Deep heat applied on my legs, and anti-inflammatories taken, I steeled myself for the pain to come... The route down was beautiful, but tough, as the day before. At one point I discovered that jogging down put less strain on my legs than walking. So, I would let the group go ahead, then jog and catch up, then walk slowly and let the group go ahead, and catch up again. It still hurt, but it was better. With about 1-1.5hrs to go, the path changed to wide forest track. I wish they supplied mountain bikes; it would have taken 30 minutes to make it to the gate. When we got to the gate, I managed a quick photo, stumbled to some chairs, and flopped, my feet throbbing. They gave us a p...

13 February 2016, Saturday Day 6, Part 2 Summit Day Uhuru Peak – Barafu Camp -  Mweka Hut  5895m (19 341ft) – 4550m (14 920ft) – 3100m (10 170ft) About 7hrs to the summit, gaining almost 5000ft Then 3hs back to Barafu, and a further 3hrs to Mweka Hut If getting to the top was the toughest mental challenge I had faced, then going back down was the toughest physical challenge. After almost 15 minutes at the peak, the visibility deteriorates and it's time to turn around Glacier near the peak. It is huge! With the photos taken, and hugs and high-fives shared between another group that had summited, I was ready to return to more oxygen-rich air. With ever step I took, I forced myself to believe the air was getting thicker. And I started to feel a little better. We retraced our path to Stella Point, where I snapped a few more photos, and then carried on the same path we had followed on the way up. I was glad we had summited at ni...

13 February 2016, Saturday Day 6 Summit Day Barafu Camp – Uhuru Peak – Barafu Camp -  Mweka Hut 4550m (14 920ft) – 5895m (19 341ft) – 4550m (14 920ft) – 3100m (10 170ft) About 7hrs to the summit, gaining almost 5000ft Then 3hs back to Barafu, and a further 3hrs to Mweka Hut I hardly slept a wink. And when I did doze off, I had very weird dreams. 11pm rolled around far too soon. I got up, kitted up, and managed to force down a cup of tea and a biscuit. Midnight. Let the summit begin! It was cold, and there had even been a bit of snow. The tents were covered in a layer of ice, like a sparkly scene straight of the movie Frozen.   My ice-covered tent Leaving camp, we could see trails of headlamps winding their way up the mountain, disappearing into inky blackness. Gulp. The sky was clear and there was hardly a breath of wind. Having slept at 4600m, it wasn’t long before we were out of breath because of the altitude. ...

12 February 2016, Friday Day 5 Karanga Valley – Barafu Camp 4-5hrs, about 4km Start: 3950m (12 960ft), End: 4550m (14 920ft) I slept surprisingly well, despite my leaky tent. When I woke up, it wasn’t raining and there wasn’t much wind. Yesterday I hit a low. I was fed up. Not even food cheered me up. I like the rain and the outdoors, but not sopping wet clothes. In Botswana if you get caught in a rainstorm, it is still warm enough that you will be dry within an hour. I don’t know what the temperature up here is, but it’s cold!   ^ Waking up to a beautifully clear day! v    At one point yesterday, I just sat in the mess tent with S and read my book while he fiddled with his iPad. Then we got chatting. He is from the States, and I am planning a holiday there in 2018. So we spoke about things to do. Amazing, sitting at almost 4000m, discussing a world that by now, felt a million miles away. We also spoke about the hierarchy of nee...

11 February 2016, Thursday Day 4 Barranco Camp – Karanga Valley 4-5hrs, about 4km Start: 3950m (12 960ft), End: 3950m (12 960ft) Last night we feasted on carrot soup, spaghetti bolognaise, pancakes and watermelon. We went to sleep early; I think I was snoring by 21:30. I slept better last night as I had my snow pants on and my nalgene bottle was filled with hot water and acted as a foot-warmer (for a few hours at least).   Beautiful morning! We woke up late today; 06:30. We will only climb from 09:00 as it is a short day; less than 5 hours of climbing. But it will be tough. All of my climbing clothes are damp from yesterday. Gross.   The Peak. The ledge to the right is a portion of the Barranco Wall Today we take on the Barranco Wall. About 3000m up. A mix of bouldering and rock climbing had us scaling rock faces and negotiating big boulders. It was fun. At one point we had to shimmy along a narrow ledge, while pushed up again...