SUMMIT DAY 7

1/24/2016

The most difficult day I've ever experienced.  I don't have any pictures of the actual summit trek mainly because I couldn't do anything other than put one foot in front of the other. The 9+ hours to the summit were the hardest hours I've ever endured. I reached Stella Point just after sunrise, and then continued to Uhuru Peak at 19,341 ft at around 8:42 am. Julie, Ryan, Bob, Alicia and I reached the summit first and then most of our team joined us. Sadly, not everyone made it. 

One guy on our team had an onset of altitude blindness at 18,000 ft and a porter took him down. ( He regained eyesight several hours later) Ramona tried her best but due to her fever, turned back at 17,000. Another team member also turned back at 17,000 from fatigue. Another member made it to Stella Point, and called it a day. One member was thought to have cerebral edema- 

I can't quite explain what it feels like to be at 19,341 ft except that many of us felt out of body. I had wanted to take all these pics, especially one for Jodi, but I couldn't focus on anything but myself, and not in any egotistical way- just self preservation. The limit to stay at that altitude is around 20 min, which We tried to adhere to, but it was more like 45. We knew we had surpassed the recommended time and were anxious to stop the killing of brain cells and feel better. Julie, Ryan and I took off back to Stella Point and waited there for a guide. Alicia finally came w/ a guide and we hightailed it down. It was just as hard , and we finally got back to Barafu at noon, slept for an hour before we had to trek another 3.5 hours to High Camp at 12,000 ft for the night. I have never felt so tired in my life. But the accomplishment is like no other. I made it to the "Top of the World"

Uhuru Peak!!!

Sunrise

The melting glacier