Kilimanjaro Climb '06

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WINNER: 2004 MNLA Award for Residential Rear Landscape

Kilimanjaro 2006

by Chris Axel

9/5/05 Update

This winter, it will be three years since my last major climb. Yikes! What's happening to me?!? Hehe, not to worry. With the time and energy spent building this business and focusing on my life in Minneapolis, it's been a lower priority to get away and do a big trip. But things are starting to fall into place now, and my mind is frequently drifting back to travel.

Around February, I saw the Imax movie Kilimanjaro at the Science Museum in St. Paul. It's a beautifully made film which shows very accurately the experience of climbing the mountain. For those of you who don't already know, I want to at least attempt to reach the highpoint of all seven continents during my lifetime. Kilimanjaro is one of them.

So far I've reached the highpoint of South America, which is Aconcagua (22,841'.) One continent down, six to go! The other continental highpoints are McKinley (North America, 20,320'), Kilimanjaro (Africa, 19,340'), Elbrus (Europe, 18,481'), Vinson (Antarctica, 16,067'), Carstenz Pyramid (Australia/Oceania, 16,023'), and *cough* Everest (Asia, 29,035'.)

Pipe dream? Maybe. But then again, I have a lot of climbing experience. The two winters I spent skiing after college (in Chamonix, France, and Whistler, B.C.) were more focused on climbing backcountry mountains and skiing back down them to town than on resort-style skiing. I pretty much walked uphill in snow every single day those two winters. And loved it, I might add!

I know from Aconcagua that I have the physiology to be able to climb at high altitudes. This is not to say I felt GOOD at nearly 23,000 feet on the summit... it just means that I was able to get there and not feel like I was pushing myself beyond where I could safely get back down. The worst part, actually, was knowing that if I had a pair of skis I could have been back to High Camp in about a half hour. Instead, walking with the group, it took about four hours. (Of course, other years there's no snow on the summit of Aconcagua. It would have been much worse to have carried skis that far and then been unable to use them, like some people do.)

Anyway, upon seeing "Kilimanjaro: To the Roof of Africa" in February, I decided it was time to get back in the peak-bagging game. My father and his wife are also climbers, and as soon as they saw the film, they were ready to go, too. Along with my girlfriend (also a big hiker) we already had a group of four. We put out an invitation to everyone we could think of who ever expressed an interest in climbing or in Kilimanjaro, and ended up with a total group of nine. This allowed us to deal directly with our mountain guide service of choice, International Mountain Guides, to put together our own privately guided trip.

The trip will be from January 15-29, 2006. We'll spend about a week climbing the mountain, then come down and transfer by air to the beginning of a three-day photo safari. Hopefully the animals will come around so we can see the "Big Five" of safaris-- Lions, Rhinos, Giraffes, Hippos, and I forget what the 5th is, hehe. Oh yeah, Elephants. The safari alone will be a great experience--- imagine if it comes right after summitting Kilimanjaro. Woo hoo!

Check back after January to see how we did!

Kilimanjaro Climb & Safari Itinerary
Directed by: Eric Simonson and Phil Ershler

Day 1	Depart USA on Northwest/KLM to Amsterdam via Detroit. Arrive in Amsterdam early on the morning of Day 2 in Amsterdam. (Some team members may choose to depart a day or two earlier than the group in order to explore Amsterdam and to avoid jet lag.)
Day 2	Transfer in Amsterdam to flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport (JRO). Flight leaves at 10:35 am, arrives JRO at 8:20 pm. We will meet in the arrival area at JRO and arrange group pickup at the airport and vehicle transfer to Keys Hotel in Moshi. Overnight at Keys Hotel.
Day 3	Free morning to relax, stroll around Moshi and explore a bit. Group meeting in afternoon. Pack personal gear into duffel bag for porters (up to 30 pounds or so). Leave one bag with travel and safari clothes, etc. at the hotel in storage. Dinner / overnight at Keys Hotel.
Day 4	After breakfast, we'll drive by 4WD vehicles to the Machame or Umbwe Gate, where the climb begins. The first day is a nice hike through the rain forest to Machame Hut or first Umbwe camp. (10,000').
Day 5	We climb out of the forest to the Shira Plateau (12,000') or go to the Baranco Hut (13,000') on the Umbwe route, in the zone of "weird plants" native to high mountains of Africa, ie. Lobelia and Groundsel. Wild!
Day 6	We climb to over 14,500' and then drop back to 13,000' on the Machame route. On the Umbwe route, we will take another day at Baranco, both of which are great acclimatization. We'll camp at Baranco Hut (13,000'). This is really neat hiking.
Day 7	Cross the Baranco Wall (a bit of pretty steep scrambling in a few places, sporty!) and traverse below the Southern Glaciers. This is our favorite day on the approach, with great scenery and rugged hiking. Overnight at Karanga Valley (13,000').
Day 8	By now we're well acclimatized and we move up to High Camp at Barafu Hut (15,000').
Day 9	Summit Day! Start climbing around Midnight with about 8 hours to the true summit (Uhuru Peak at 19,340'). Descend to Mweka Hut in the forest. A long and rewarding day.
Day 10	Continue descent via the Mweka route to Mweka Gate. 4WD vehicle pickup and transfer to Keys Hotel. Shower and celebrate our climb! Overnight at Keys Hotel.
Day 11	Drive to Arusha for lunch. In afternoon, fly to Serengeti from Arusha. Afternoon game drive (best chance to see a leopard near Seronera River.) Dinner and overnight at Serena Lodge.
Day 12	Drive across Serengeti Plain with many opportunities for wildlife viewing. Picnic Lunch. Visit Olduvai Gorge. Overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge.
Day 13	Morning Ngorongoro Crater game drive with a picnic lunch. Afternoon transfer (game viewing en route) to Lake Manyara Park or Tarangire Park (depending on season). Dinner and overnight at Manyara Serena or Tarangire Sopa Lodge.
Day 14	Morning activity (depending on season) options include hiking, mountain biking, more game viewing, or relaxing by the pool. After lunch transfer to Arusha for shopping, re-packing, and dinner. Transfer to JRO airport for evening flight to Amsterdam.
Day 15	Connect in Amsterdam for flights back to USA.

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