Kilimanjaro, Part 6: Mweka gate and wrapup
March 25th, 2008
After the incredible difficulty of day 8, when we climbed from Barfu (15,000 feet) to the summit (19,000 feet) before descending to Mweka (10,000 feet), day 9 promised to be a figurative walk in the park. Sure, we were exhausted and sore and dirty, but we were starting out at a mere 10,000 feet, where the air was thick and warm and easy to breathe. And we knew we’d end up in actual beds in the evening, which made any amount of hardship entirely bearable.
Read the rest of Kilimanjaro, Part 6: Mweka gate and wrapup »
Today’s installment really begins at 11pm on the previous day. That’s when we woke up to start getting ready for our summit attempt. Getting ready, in this case, basically entailed trying to wriggle into almost every bit of clothing I had brought with me: several stacked sets of thermal underwear, two pairs of heavy pants, waterproof pants, a few fleece jackets, my rain shell, a heavy balaclava / muffler, and two pairs of socks under my boots. I felt a bit like the Michelin man, but I was determined not to be cold. And midnight at 15,000 feet feels very cold indeed.
After spending the night at Barranco camp, we had the almost 1,000 foot tall Barranco wall to look forward to. If we could manage that, we’d spend the next night at Karranga valley, another camp that some people skip in favor of getting right to Barfu camp, which is the base camp most people use for their summit attempts. We’d hit Barfu a day later, again favoring a leisurely approach and acclimation over speed. But, first, Barranco wall.
Waking up at Moir hut, both Luke and I were feeling pretty refreshed. This altitude thing, we thought, isn’t so bad after all. After all, we had spent the night at 13,500 feet, and while it was certainly a bit chilly, it wasn’t all that bad. And the view was just getting better day after day. So we were ready to move on to Lava Tower, a little-used camp at 15,000 feet.
After getting a good night’s rest at Mti Mkubwa, we were ready for our first real day of hiking. Our route for day two would take us from Mti Mkubwa to Shira Camp, and our schedule called for a 5-6 hour, 7-mile hike that would take us to 11,500 feet. The hike started in the same dense rain forest, which was still very warm and humid.
Well, that was certainly an experience. I have just returned from climbing Kilimanjaro with my friend Luke. I’m going to try to control my natural verboseness in writing about the trip, but if you want the no-words-at-all version, the pictures are available here: 
Some projects make sense because they’re likely to be profitable. Other projects justify themselves by making life easier. My DMX project, though, is all about “oooh, pretty lights.” I’ve always enjoyed theatrical lighting, and the couple of years I was involved with lighting and lasers for raves were fantastic. And now, with the advent of affordable LED-based, DMX-controlled lighting fixtures, it’s finally practical to do some cool interior lighting on a hobbyist’s scale.
For all that driving the truck was pretty exhausting, the next few days were far, far worse. With driving, at least you have adrenaline and urgency. After handing the truck over to Jim and Doug, though, the adrenaline was gone and it was time to keep moving to support the truck on its way to (we hoped) the finish.
After all of the confusion and delays, my turn to drive had finally come. As I climbed into the truck and got the air and comm lines plugged into my helmet, I was definitely suffering from some jitters. There’s always a bit of adrenaline in any kind of race situation, but this time it was compounded by the fact that I had not yet done anything more than driving the truck 50 feet forward at 3mph through crowds during