... Uhuru Peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. 19,340 feet or 5,895 meters. For a moment, we were the highest people in Africa. Huzzah!
After four days of "enhanced walking" and one day of brutal climbing, we reached our objective. Our emotions when we reached the summit were interesting, in that our outwards appearances did not reflect our inner sentiments... sort of. Inside, I was personally ecstatic. When we finally stopped ascending and reached the flat plateau at the top about 50 meters from the sign, I immediately threw off my pack and "walked briskly" over to the sign to touch it. Outside, I was severely winded from that last bit of "brisk walking," and I started getting a bit light-headed. Up to that point, I had been pretty fine physically, aside from fatigue, but it seemed like my body was saying to me "alright, I got you here. The rest is up to you." Deal.
One common theme William and I had heard from people who had climbed to the summit was that they wished they had taken more pictures. They said that when they reached the summit, they felt so weird and were so fatigued that the only thing they could think about was getting down. So, they took maybe a picture or two before descending into oxygen heaven. Perhaps partly because we had kept this mind our entire journey, and perhaps partly due to stubbornness, we were determined to get our fill of pictures. And get our fill we did.
It was first William's turn to play Vogue model. I kind of bummer was the tattered flag ribbons and random metal bar with box in the background. It kind of made some of the shots weird, but no way in heck we were going to waste energy moving them.
He certainly felt well enough to remember to make a Cornholio appearance. Related note, did you know Beavis and Butthead is coming back?
And of course, the gnomes. I don't think I am going out on a limb when I say that this is the highest that the Virginia Tech and Maryland gnomes have ever made it... or for that matter, any gnome from the new and expanded ACC.
I was next. I don't know exactly what that expression is, but I think it was mostly frozen face. I am happy on the inside... really!
From another, worse angle.
I also don't think I am going out on a limb by saying that this is the highest Obama yard sign (or really any U.S. campaign yard sign) ever. I do hesitate to say highest political yard sign ever, since a "Mao in 66!" probably made it somewhere in the Himalayas. Or something like that.
There is a back story to this one. Back at wonderous sea level prior to our journey, I had conceived of this great plan to replicate my moves made on top of a rock in Chesler Park of the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park in Utah.
So, I had dutifully loaded my crappiest MP3 player with appropriate tunes, brought my no-battery needed speakers, and taken it to the summit with the full intention of busting out the running man and lawnmower once again. Alas, when I got to the top, I realized that gettin' jiggy wit it at that pace would have made me collapsed. So, I settled for the jumping shot above... which still took all of my energy as it knocked the wind out of me.
And finally, we have Resha. She really was as fresh and springy as the picture above shows, with Brutus.
In fact, she was the most appreciative of all making it to the top, as evidenced by the above.
This is looking back at both the glacer and the road we came on, which winds to the left. The guy sitting down is our guide Jonas, hanging out with another guide for the french group that summitted about the same time we did. They came from the Machame Route.
Jonas with Mawenzi in the background. Again. I think I have a Mawenzi addiction.
Great picture of the closest glacier and its ice profile.
Even closer photo. The deep blue in the glacier was amazing.
A panorama of the whole glacier.
And different panoramas of the summit, with the central cone to the right on the top photo. Behind the sign is actually a steep ridge drop of about 200 meters.
>You can see the falloff a little better here. And the central core is still ugly.
This was kind of cute. So, William's girlfriend (now fiance) Bonni had written and sealed a letter for every day William was going to be in Africa and Dubai. And William dutifully opened a letter on every day. Bonni even included one specifically for when he summitted (guess she knew something even we didn't know), so the above is William opening that particular letter. As you can see, he is beside himself with joy.
What a long, strange trip is has been, Barack.
The sign by itself, in case you couldn't actually read it before.
And with that, we say adieu to Uhuru Peak, a culmination of almost a year's worth of planning. See ya Kilimanjaro. We hardly knew ya... and we have no interest in coming back.
But don't think this blog is over folks. While this is perhaps the culmination, there is still more to come... like the very, VERY interesting descent. Until next week...
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