June 14, 2010

Why am I attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro?
I’m not sure I could give a definitive answer. I first thought about climbing it when I learned people I knew were headed up the mountain. I asked them about their trip, and was invited to come along. For several years, the possibility of hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro would arise, but the timing was never right.
Maybe it’s the exotic location of Mt. Kilimanjaro just south of the equator. I’ve never been to Africa, and I am looking forward to experiencing a different environment and culture. We will pass through four different vegetation zones and accompanying microclimates ranging from tropical to freezing temperatures.
Maybe it’s the legendary nature of Mt. Kilimanjaro, and how Ernest Hemingway wrote about it in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.” -although I have read the mummified leopard is no longer on the mountain. Maybe it’s simply because it’s there, and it’s a mountain I can hike without any technical climbing skills. All that’s needed is aerobic training, appropriate clothing and sheer determination.
Why have I climbed Half Dome, hiked up and down Mt. Whitney in a day, and run three-half marathons, yet I have no interest in running a full marathon, or bicycling fifty miles on a regular basis as my husband does each Saturday? I did participate in a fifty mile Rosarito to Ensenada bicycle ride once, but only to say I did it and check it off my list.
My daughters like to remind me that I vowed to never volunteer to do anything hard again after a taxing backpacking trip in the Sierras Nevadas.
I remember when Astronaut Neil Armstrong took his giant stride for mankind onto the moon. I always thought space travel would be fun. When NASA announced it would bring civilians along as space shuttle passengers in the early 1980s, I was excited to submit my application to be the first journalist in space.
But hand me a pair of ice skates or downhill skis, and I will turn away with a shudder. I have no idea why anybody would want to scale Mt. Everest or sail around the world alone.
I doubt the entire hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro will be fun. Our leader has warned us we will reach a point where willpower will be the sole force driving our feet forward one painful, breath- laboring step at a time.
Why am I attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro?
I suppose it comes down to a mix of things – personality and environment and that ONE BIG SNOW COVERED ITEM that somehow bubbled to the top of my list of things I want to do.