Bill's Mount Kilimanjaro Climb

Mount Kilimanjaro - The Attempt to Climb!

Photo of Bill at Stella Point on top of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.
In 2013, Bill climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. This climb took Bill to Tanzania in Africa, where he rendezvoused with 11 friends to make the climb. It took Bill 6 days to make it to the top, and 1 day to come back down.

Bill signed up with the team and began training for the climb in March 2012. His training has focused on long distance, slow paced/slow heart rate walks in day after day after day sequences.

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Climbing Kilimanjaro

Up and Up .... day after day.
There is so much up, every day, day after day, that it becomes all you expect and know. If you're interested in knowing what it is like, get on the tread mill, set it at a steep up and begin walking. Do so for six hours, for 5 days straight. Then on the 6th day, set it even steeper and do it for another 5 hours. If you can do this, then you have an idea of what it's like.

While up is hard, it is the down that is really tough. Once you've climbed the final 5000 feet, you still have to come down that 5000 feet (adding another 4 hours), rest for 30 minutes, and then down another 5000 feet for another 3-4 hours. The constant pounding of the down is tough on the knees!

Kilimanjaro Machame Whiskey Route
Some hand over hand climbing
Always let Porters pass on Kilimanjaro
Kilimanjaro Ranger stations
Final summit night briefing

Camping on Kilimanjaro

Camping above the clouds is awesome!!!Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.
Kilimanjaro Preping.
Looking out the tent in the morning
Rocks and rocks and rocks
The usual camping shower

Pooping on Kilimanjaro

The bathrooms available on Kilimanjaro
One of the common questions about hiking Kili is around the bathroom situation. It is certainly, not like using Western toilets! The following photos give you some of the best representations of what you can expect on the mountain. Of course, this is in addition to the rocks. :)

The bathrooms available on Kilimanjaro

Porters for Kilimanjaro

The porters work very hard
Our team consisted of 12 people, and required 45 support team members (e.g. porters and guides). With minimal equipment, these folks carry their own stuff plus some of our stuff like tents, food, and water.

Breaking camp after the first night
Propane on the head
Checking the weight
Guy who took care of my stuff
Balanced on the neck
Balanced on the head
Congratulations

Equipment for Kilimanjaro

Gear packed
While we have some gear already, some things (like a sub-zero sleeping bag) we didn't. So, with the credit card in hand and Amazon.com online, new equipment was purchased. If all goes as planned, my experiences with this new stuff will be shared here.

New Stuff Bought for the trip:

Moshi Tanzania

The main square in Moshi
Moshi is the closest, most modern town at the base of Kilimanjaro. It has about 200,000 people in it (as of 2010), and serves as a hub for radiating out all over Tanzania. I felt incredibly safe everywhere I went, and freely walked the city. There were some peddlers who would try to sell stuff, and follow you around, but no where near as bad as some of the Caribbean countries I've been too.

Some bush people roaming town.
Markets in Moshi
Looking up a random street
Discussing the events of the day
Pineapple for sale

How high can you go?