The climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is fast approaching for me. I signed up for this adventure about a year ago, and it seemed like a distant goal at the time. Now, it is just around the corner. If all goes well, we will summit on October 20, on the seventh day of hiking. This is a group trek, led by a young couple that I had the pleasure of trekking with in Spain two years ago. They have hired local guides, assistant guides, cooks, and porters who will accompany our party of about ten.
Our leaders have been preparing our group with great information about what to pack, what to expect, and how to prepare here at home. I have been purchasing the needed equipment, visited the travel medicine clinic for immunizations and prescriptions, and have become immersed in the training schedule.
The training involves strength, endurance, and hiking with full daypacks and lots of elevation gain. I have been unable to hit all of the goals, but I’m close. It feels like this training schedule is for younger people with younger knees. The hardest part is getting in the elevation gains in the time frames given. If I could just keep climbing uphill without taking the time to go back down, I could do it. Jogging down the hills would cut time, but my knees can’t take that abuse.
All of this training doesn’t include high altitudes, which, of course, are nonexistent in Alabama. The summit of Kilimanjaro is 19,000 feet. Colorado has peaks that reach 14,000 feet. To that end, I, and the two friends that are attempting this with me, flew there to experience the thin air, just to get a taste of what it will feel like for our bodies.
We spent two days hiking challenging trails at lower altitudes of about 7000 feet. Then we hiked a trail that took us from 12,000 feet elevation to 13,220 feet over the course of 1.8 miles, and with an aggregate elevation gain of 1555 feet. The longest, and steepest section of the trail was at the start, and it was daunting. Because the entire trail was above the tree line, we could see the narrow path as it ascended, then followed the ridge of the mountain to reach its crest. We could see the tiny ant-sized hikers further up the trail.
We felt the impact of the thin air fairly quickly, our breaths coming faster as we climbed the slope. We maybe climbed one hundred feet before having to stop to catch our breath. It didn’t take long to recover, usually less than a minute, then we were back on our way. It certainly helped to slow down and just place one foot in front of the other as we made our slow, dogged progress. It was a little disheartening to have people pass us by as they seemed to scamper on. However, we realized they were all much younger than we were. We saw one, maybe two people on the trail that appeared to be of our advanced years.
What really showed our age was the downhill descent. Old knees do not skip down steep slopes. It was a slow, careful creep, using our trusty trekking poles. When the trail was wide enough, I employed the downhill skiing technique of crossing from one side to the other. I only fell once, when my boot hit rolling pebbles. I’ve got a bruise on my right hip as a badge.
So we learned a lot on that foray onto a high altitude Colorado trail. The air is thin up there, and it will steal your breath. We are no longer young, but we have endurance and fortitude to get it done. Slowing down and taking it one step at a time was the best option, as was keeping our eyes on the present so as not to be overwhelmed by what we needed to accomplish.
I think there’s a life lesson or two in that.