[Originally published March 2018 on personal website]
I was dreaming. It was a long blurry trance-like dream. Right? Wasn’t it? Step after step. Pole pole, my guide reminded me in Swahili — slowly, slowly. Step step. Pole pole. Sip water. Focus on your breath. Step step. Pole pole. Stumble. Catch your breath. Pole pole.
It was 5am and I was hours into the summit attempt at Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest peak in Africa. I had been roused from my fitful sleep at 11:20pm the previous night. My companions and I had fumbled with our headlamps to dress ourselves with as many layers as possible, donning several pieces of gear that our trusty porters had hauled all the way up to base camp for this one night alone. Barafu Camp was our base camp for our summit attempt, and at 15,239 feet (4,645 m), it was no joke. I was not feeling 100 percent when we started to summit.
Nonetheless, after a 30 minute walk from camp and a 45 minute scramble in the moonlit night, here I was on the switchbacks. Four hours of switchbacks. Pole pole is what the trusty guides remind you constantly, and it means slowly slowly (not to be confused with “pole” used by itself, meaning “stop,” which is not something you want to do). On a frigid night at about 16,000 feet with switchbacks as far up as the eye can see, pole pole is the best advice you can get. But I’d like to share a few more pieces of advice to help you succeed in your Kilimanjaro adventure. This post may focus on some of the struggles of this trek, but the joys far outweigh the challenges below. In the end, I promise it’s all well worth it.
First, some tips for summit night:
- It is cold
Like, really cold. When you start out from base camp, it may not feel so bad. But trust me, as you move up the peak, you’re going to be glad you layered up. I was wearing 7 upper body layers, 3 lower body layers, 2 pairs of socks, liner gloves with mittens, and 2 hats plus a hood. I was pretty comfortable during most of the hike. When I reached the crater rim at daybreak, I thought it would be a good idea to take off my shell layer and my mittens — do not disrobe. Even though the sun is out, it is absurdly cold. After about 15 minutes walking to the summit, my fingers started feeling numb, and within 30, they started really losing feeling. Mittens back on — lesson learned.
The other thing about the cold is that you really should not stop for very long on your way up. When you stop, you get cold. So keep your pace pole pole so you don’t need long breaks; and limit your breaks to peeing and eating, and then pole pole your way on up.
2. You’re going to be demoralized
It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when you’ve been walking nonstop in the dark for what feels like forever, and you decide to look up to see how much farther, and all you can see are headlamps of fellow climbers as far as the eye can see. No end in sight. I once looked way up the mountain and saw the stars — but then I realized those stars were actually headlamps. It’s a brutal feeling. So spare yourself the anguish, and try not to look for the end. Instead, have faith that step after step, you’ll get there. There is an end. And you’ll get there. Focus on your breathing, the rhythm of your steps, your water intake. And you’ll get there. And no matter what you do, please don’t check the time. Unless you’re going for a record ascent, that won’t do anything positive for your morale.
3. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
My Camelbak got me through that ascent. I had a 2L one, but I wish I’d had 3. The guides will tell you that your Camelbak will freeze after a few hours, but I realized early on that if I just keep the water flowing, it might not have a chance to freeze. So I hiked at least half the time with the Camelbak hose in my mouth, taking micro-sips. I had a headache by the time I reached the top, but I can’t imagine what agony I would have been in if I hadn’t been sipping the whole way up. And psychologically, the constant sipping helped take my mind off the discomfort of the whole situation, and really grounded my whole experience in a meditative sort of trance. Highly recommend.
In addition, get yourself a big insulated water bottle for summit night — at least 1.5L. Stick it upside down in a couple socks, and you’ll have some much-needed hydration once you reach the summit. And finally, get yourself some electrolyte powder to mix into all your water consumption for the whole trip. It helps a lot with hydration, gives you a constant supply of energy (sugar) that you’ll need, and hey, it taste pretty great too.
4. Focus on your breathing
This, combined with my water-sipping, really made the ascent psychologically feasible. Any time an ache, pain, or negative thought would enter my awareness, I would refocus on my breath. Just pay attention to one whole breath — in and out — at a time. You’ll find that the pains go away when you refocus on your breath, and the experience just gets lighter. Focusing on your breath is a great way to be mindful during your experience on the mountain. So enjoy your breathing the entire trip, but especially on summit night.
Once you’ve gotten through the most challenging portion of your trip, you will be well rewarded with incredible views and a sublime sense of accomplishment:
So that’s summit night. I’d also like to share some advice on the trek in general, to help you set the right expectations and to have the time of your life:
5. You’re going to be dirty
All the time. Just embrace it. For the 5 to 8 days you’re on this mountain, you’re going to be sticky, grimy, sweaty, and smelly. Everyone else will be too. If you’re finicky like me, you can bring along some eco-friendly wet wipes to keep yourself somewhat fresh. And that warm bowl of water you get twice a day for washing? Well, it has limited functionality, but it’s not going to get you clean in the way you want. But your clothes and sleeping bag can be washed, and you can take a nice hot shower when you descend. But until then, don’t sweat it. You don’t have to live like this all the time, so just don’t worry about it! Hakuna matata.
6. You’re going to be tired
After 4 to 8 hours of hiking at altitude, your body needs a lot of rest. And no matter how much rest you give it, you’ll probably wake up groggy and tired. But somehow, after some breakfast and 30 minutes of walking, you’ll be right back into it! Muscles will be sore and achy, breathing will be heavy, and sleep will be frequently interrupted. But this isn’t forever, and you’ll be fine! (One of my companions had a terrible time sleeping. The two nights before summiting, he barely slept. And yet, very much to his credit, he successfully summited and achieved his goals!)
7. You will be affected by the altitude
Some of us in my group were very fortunate to have only limited symptoms of altitude sickness until the very end. But even so, when taking our oxygen saturation reading, they were in the low- to mid-80s (normal readings are 95 to 100%). So unless you live in the Himalayas or the Caucuses, the altitude is going to affect you in some way. Don’t sweat it! It’s normal, and you’re going to be fine. Even if you have more severe symptoms like nausea, loss of appetite, and headaches, don’t worry. Still normal. Getting anxious about it is only going to make things worse. The human body is an incredible machine, and it will adapt with some time, rest, hydration, and nutrition. So give your body all four of those things, and power on through.
I’ll tell you that, even those of us who powered through the altitude for most of the trek, we all succumbed to some misery of the altitude by the time we summited and descended back to base camp. Look, your body is not designed to suddenly be thrust into thin air. So when it detects that you’re only getting 80% of the oxygen that you need, your body is basically going to say “Oh crap, this is it, we’re dying, time to go into survival mode.” And that’s where the symptoms come from. But you’re not dying! You’re doing this on purpose! And you’re safe! You’re not going to die. Your oxygen is not going to plummet to 0. So don’t listen to your body! You’re so much smarter than your stupid ape body that thinks you’re living in a prehistoric world. You got this.
8. Diamox is annoying, but important
Known as acetazolamide in the generic, Diamox helps prevent altitude sickness and is generally recommended preventatively. Obviously, I had no way of running a controlled experiment, so I don’t know how I would have done without it, but I did pretty well with the altitude. But side effects of Diamox are a nuisance. In particular: the frequent urination (Dia-tinkles!). The first night I took it (before the hike), I woke up FIVE times to pee! It got better after a couple days, but peeing twice a night was pretty normal (see below for tips there). Additionally, Diamox causes tingling in your extremities (Dia-tingles!). It isn’t dangerous, but it’s unsettling. We found that it would most commonly onset when there were changes in blood flow, particularly related to temperature (e.g., using cold hands to pick up a warm cup of tea).
9. Peeing at night is a burden
I caught some flack from my companions about using a pee bottle, but I have no regrets. With the Dia-tinkles waking me up a couple times a night, getting fully dressed to leave your tent to pee is a real pain and genuinely takes away from the time you have to rest and recover from your intense days. I suggest buying 2 pee bottles to use at night, and to be emptied each morning. Oh and a tip: have a headlamp handy to see what you’re doing when using them; there’s not much room for error when availing yourself of your pee bottle!
10. This will be one of the most incredible adventures of your life
By the end of the long summit day, and the 7-day trip, I was exhausted, and it all felt like a surreal dream. But I know this is going to be a dream I will never forget, and I will never regret experiencing. Journey on!
