Dave Ford Does Earth

Posted by Dave Ford

11:40pm

It is freezing. The wind is howling. We are waiting on some of our group to get up out of bed. Somehow Marv and I are awake, changed, and ready to go in ten minutes. Most of our group is here. What could possibly be taking Isaac so long? We are currently at 4600 meters high. By sunrise we need to get close Uhuru Peak. The highest point in Africa is 5825 meters high. That is a long way up.

Marv and I are layered up like a pair of 4 year olds going outside to play in the snow. 3 pairs of socks. Long johns. 2 pairs of pants. 2 sets of gloves. T-shirt. Undershirt. Fleece. Ski Jacket. Hat. Face-mask. It could get as cold as 20 below tonight. I hope we are prepared.

Most importantly, we need to be ready mentally. Minds can play tricks at this altitude. Sub zero wind chill does not help either.

12:30 am

The ascent begins. Finally everyone is ready.

1:30 am

We have only been walking for an hour. But, it feels like longer. Our 12 man group is walking together. Only, we are going too slowly for our liking. Marvin and I are both freezing. I ask our guide Obote if we can walk faster. To our delight he splits the group in half. Marv, Myself, and Eva end up in the fastest group. Daniel is now our guide. Fortunately for us, Daniel likes to sing.

2:40 am

We are walking much faster then before. It is freezing. I cannot feel my fingers or toes. Daniel has been singing the entire way. Marvin and I decide to join in. Eva does not as she is listening to her iPod. We sing some local songs and a little Bob Marley. “No Women No Cry”, helps us take our mind off of what we are doing. All I can see is Eva’s feet. Whenever I look up there is nothing but the headlamps of the groups in front of us, and the stars. An upside down Big Dipper is off to the right—and the Southern Cross is in the distance to our far left.

4:40 am

We are now on the zig zag/switchback portion of the climb. The scree–loose dirt and rocks– that we are walking on now is a pain in the ass to navigate. We slide back a bit with every advance.

5:20 am

We reach the end of the switchbacks and now start our last ascent–straight up. Marvin gets furious at “the way I am walking”. Clearly he has been staring at my feet for too many freezing hours. Later he says that the altitude was getting to him. Something must have been going on as I might be the most graceful walker since Fred Astaire.

5:40 am

We reach the toughest stretch of the mountain. We are almost there. Marvin, Eva, and I begin to scream at the mountain. Marvin stabs hard with his poles to inflict as much pain as possible into the 5825 meter tall monster. “F you mountain”, he screams. “Double F you Mountain”, replys Eva. Except they did not say F.

We reach Stella Point. It is very dark but we begin to see the clouds in the distance turn a bright orange. The sun is coming up. Daniel is still singing. His presence helps make the entire experience bearable. Hopefully with the sun will come warmth. We have another 45 minutes to go to get to Uhuru Peak and the summit. People around us begin to crumble. It appears that we are surrounded by altitude zombies. Not everyone here has had 8 days to acclimatize like we have.

6:00 am-6:45am

We hike the last section of the trail as the sun rises above the clouds. I feel euphoric. The three of us are all out of breath. To the left we are joined by mountainous glaciers, to the right we can see the volcanic crater. For the first time I get first hand evidence that this is an actual volcano. More zombies stumble toward us and behind us, coming to or from the summit. In comparison, our little crew seems to be doing very well. Nonetheless, we have to stop to breath deeply every three or four minutes to get oxygen in our system. Damn this altitude! In the distance behind the glaciers the clouds stretch to the horizon. Our group of 4 is high above them.

Th

6:45am

The sun is above the horizon. In accordance, we reach Uhuru peak. A wooden sign informs us that we are on top of Africa. It also relays the fact that we are on the tallest freestanding volcano in the world. I give Marvin and Daniel huge man hugs. Eva gets a lady hug. We are only allowed to stay for 15 minutes at the top. At this altitude, after that much exertion, that is just fine with us. Amidst the commotion and the picture taking I try to stop for a minute to take it all in. I feel loopy. But, I want to remember this moment. I have to make myself stop and take it all in. We did it! We made it to the top. Euphoria sets in.

Notes:

Marv gets most of the photo credits here as my camera broke. Good work Marvin.

Share This