Feb. 25, 2010

A woman who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro several years ago was kind enough to show me pictures of her hike. Near the front of her album is a picture of the Mt. Kilimanjaro summit above a layer of clouds. She said she took it from the window of an airplane. =O
Yes, I know the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro is approximately 19,000 feet. But knowing that and actually visualizing it are two different things for me.
When one of my daughters was about to turn 17, I suggested we climb Half Dome for her birthday which was on August 17. Since the hike is about 17 miles round trip it sounded like a fun thing to do. All those seventeens. Who could resist?
I have been to Yosemite more times than I can count beginning when I was a child. I was familiar with Half Dome. I had gazed up at it often enough from the Yosemite Valley floor. It had been a long time since I viewed it from Glacier Point, however. My daughter's friend came with us on the hike. She had never been to Yosemite before. We set up camp near Glacier Point, then wound our way down to the viewpoint to give the friend an opportunity to see what we were proposing to climb.
When we pointed out Half Dome, sticking out like a hitchhiker's thumb, she was amazed that we actually hoped to get to the top of it.
I must admit - seeing the 8,800- foot dome from that angle took me aback as well. Maybe there was an easier side that we just couldn't see.
The next day when we got to the base of the dome, after passing the top of Nevada Falls and continuing through Little Yosemite Valley, I realized there wasn't an easier side. Hikers were pulling on leather work gloves and starting up the final 425 foot climb to the top. Without the steel cables to grab on either side of the three-foot wide "trail", it would be impossible to tackle the nearly 45 degree angle unless climbing equipment was used.
If I hadn't already hiked eight and a half miles to get to that point, I probably would not have continued. It was a scary experience - a lot more frightening to me than crossing the windows on the Mt. Whitney trail - and one that I don't plan on repeating.
As for Mt. Kilimanjaro, I might just close my eyes if the pilot of our airplane points out the famous summit before we land at the Tanzanian airport. Maybe I will be lucky enough to be on the side of the plane that doesn't have the view at all. =)

Feb. 20, 2010

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro will not be like any other wilderness experience I have had. On most backpacking trips, the desire is to get as far away from civilization as possible, to be "alone" in the untouched wilderness. I still laugh about the time I backpacked in the Desolation Wilderness in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We had been hiking for a few days, and after the first day had not seen others on the trail. One day, we set up camp, and then decided to climb a nearby mountain. When we reached the top, South Lake Tahoe and it's many casinos were spread out just below us! I thought of all the dehydrated food, trail mix and stream caught trout we had been eating, our dirty, sweat soaked clothes, my balled up sweatshirt pillow and it was just too funny to see "civilization" right there on the other side of the mountain.
The lower section of the trail to Half Dome in Yosemite is well-traveled, populated with unprepared tourists wearing flip-flops and toting one water bottle for five. Stretches of the trail above Nevada Falls, however, are fairly hiker free, and the wilderness experience is possible.
Mt. Whitney is another popular trail, and hikers abound, but there are times when no others can be seen, the gurgling of clear water tumbling over stones can be heard, deer wander into a meadow.
Pictures I have seen of the Mt. Kilimanjaro trail show stunning scenery and varying micro climates: lush jungle foliage to scrub brush to rocks and glacier ice. We will be hiking the Machame Trail which I have been told is not as well-traversed as others. Still, our group of 13 hikers will have up to 37 support "staff." There will be three porters for each of us as well as guides for the group.
The woman organizing our trip (this will be her seventh Mt. Kilimanjaro climb) said she once passed a group of 50 hikers with a support staff in the hundreds. It is hard for me to imagine what that will look like on the trail.
A bonus in all the hikers: Mt. Kilimanjaro is a destination for international travelers. I'm excited about encountering people from other countries and hearing their stories, giving wilderness exploration a whole new meaning.

Feb. 11, 2010

Public speaking is not a favorite of mine (kudos to all those who make a living at it). My heart always races in anticipation of standing up in front of an audience,knowing that a sea of faces will be watching me, that I will be bearing the pressure of their focus. Okay, well, if I'm honest, I could get into the idea of people thinking what I have to say is interesting. =) I wonder if that is a backlash of being a mother when you wonder if anybody is listening! But, I digress.
I went to the Ruby Room in Hillcrest with some writing friends last Friday to participate in an open mic reading sponsored by Dime Stories (www.dimestories.org) My heart was thumping like mad, and I wondered...does this count as aerobic training for Mt. Kilimanjaro? I posed the question to one of my writing friends and he said it would, if I got up to speak at least four times.(Each reading is limited to three minutes).
Since that wasn't going to happen, I figured the edge of my seat nervousness of waiting for the slip of paper with my name on it to be pulled from the bucket, the walking to the microphone, the actual reading and the breathing in my chair afterwards would have to do. I can feel the increased beating of my heart even now as I relive those moments.

Feb. 5, 2010

I've been clonking around my neighborhood, striding along concrete in my new hiking boots. They are actually pretty comfortable if I manage to get the laces tightened correctly. The last two pairs of boots I had didn't cover my ankles. They felt more like shoes which actually turned out to be a problem for me. After I rolled my ankle on Mt. Whitney and stretched the ligaments across the top of my foot like a rubber band, the doctor told me I must either wrap my foot every time I hiked or get a pair of boots that supported my ankles. Which brings me to a discussion of mountain fashion.
I couldn't get any old pair of serviceable boots. I needed ones that were a good color and that didn't make my feet look huge. My neighbor didn't notice the boots paired with my sweat pants the other day - so mission accomplished.
I've written before about the four layers of clothing required for climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. My base layer is lavender, my next layer is black. My pants are olive green, my fleece and waterproof jackets are brown with black accents, my waterproof pants are black. I still need to select a hat and knit cap. The only hat I've ever looked halfway decent in is the straw hat I wear at the beach after I've been in the water and my hair is a tangled mess. Of course, I've always maintained that any woman can look good in a hat as long as she has a great pair of sunglasses and some nice lipstick. I wonder what color will compliment my outfit?