7742 feet – 9250 feet
3 miles, 3 hours
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| Our ride - stuff got piled higher as we went! |
So the hike began today –
I think I was very stressed out, but I can’t quite remember it, which is
probably a good thing. Jen, Sandi, Marc
and I were picked up at the SG Premium Resort at 8:30 by our guides, Meckson
(Mad Max) and James (00) and our driver to begin our three hour drive to the
Londorossi Gate where we could sign in to begin our hike. We picked Tim up along the way, since he was
staying at another bed and breakfast (which was really quite cute). We made a stop for water at the Rotterdam
Market, which brought back memories of our layover in Amsterdam and made me
laugh. We all bought enough water for
the day – about three liters apiece.
We also picked up a few
others along the way, ending up with three people in the front seat and an
extra person in the middle of the back seats, sitting on a propane tank. It was close quarters, but not as close as
some of the buses we drove by – they really pack them in. Like a clown car! We picked up our stomach engineer (Yay!) and
another assistant guide, Anderson. Other
supplies were also picked up and tied to the roof, which was very entertaining.
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| The sign at the Londorossi Gate - Don't hike if you're not in perfect shape. |
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| The sign-in book |
The Londorossi Gate was
very crowded, porters and climbers everywhere getting ready for their big
adventure. We waited in line to sign in,
wrote our names and passport numbers in the book, then went to join the rest of
our party. The sign in procedure was
something we would repeat at every camp – they kept good track of all the
climbers on the mountain. Made me feel
pretty good to know they were marking the times of arrival for each group,
making sure everyone made it to where they were supposed to be. And if someone didn’t sign at the following
camp, at least they would know where to start looking for the lost!
I earned my stripes here
by peeing in a very dirty drop toilet – Jen gave me a big gold star. They all waited for a cleaner one, but when
you gotta go, waiting is not an option.
No, I did NOT take a picture of the toilet – it was nasty.
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| Drop toilets. The bucket of water is for cleaning up after yourself. I don't think people bother. |
Following the sign-in, we
had a very tasty lunch under a picnic enclosure, with a table and chairs, which
is more than I can say for other groups that were sitting on the ground. We had sandwiches (cucumber, tomato, and
cheese) and mango juice, as well as sliced avocado. A good omen for meals to come.
After lunch, we headed for
the beginning of our trail, which was another good hour away. The road was very rough and the guides and
driver joked that this was an “African Massage.” That stuck with us the whole time and became
a standing joke. At one point, we were
at such an angle, I actually thought it might be possible for the car to fall
over on its side, so loaded was the top and so deep was the rut.
We met another truck on a
particularly narrow stretch of road. He
was unloaded, which should mean that he would back up and allow us to pass, but
he refused. After a few minutes of
arguing and waiting, our driver decided to back up grudgingly to let the other
guy come past and we taught everyone a new word: asshole. This would be used many times by our guide in
the coming days, mostly with a big grin on his face. It soon became his favorite word.
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| Ranforest View |
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| The trail - pretty much three hours of up! |
We started the climb about
3 PM and it was a VERY steep climb. All
through rainforest, which was beautiful – the plant life was incredible to see. Boy do we have to walk slow – pole pole. We’ll be glad of this pace as we get higher,
but for now it seems difficult not to walk faster.
I tried using the
Freshette (she-wee) today, but I think I need more practice. It’s harder than I thought it would be, even though I DID practice at home. I made a mess. J More information than you
needed, but there you go!
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| The Freshette - you get the idea. At least I cleaned it before the picture! |
It was only three hours,
but I was exhausted when we reached camp, which was very crowded. We were camped next to a British group,
though they had one American among them (Phil) and many of them would become
recurring faces.
There were several shoe
emergencies that night – Sandi’s soles had begun flapping on the hike and since
it was the first day, this wasn’t good.
Phil was also having shoe problems.
Luckily, we had duct tape with us, so Marc did a quick fix on both,
though there was someone in camp who managed to sew them back together enough
that they would work for a few more days.
Phil ended up with someone’s spare shoes a few days later and Sandi
summitted in the boots from one of our porters, Gaston, since her shoes were
about to die.
Dinner was delicious –
cucumber soup and sandwiches. Our
stomach engineer was amazing and always produced the best meals. We had sliced mango for dessert. I was really hungry after all the expended
energy, which was a good thing!
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| Our first tea together before dinner was served. The popcorn was always awesome! |
After dinner, Marc and I
talked in the tent while. It was a new
experience to be together without interruptions – no kids, no phones, no real
connection to the world. It was
fantastic, really. We made an attempt at
sleep, but were up every half hour or so thanks to the diamox, which is a diuretic
and kept us going to the bathroom. We’ll
have to do something about that in the next few days – no sleep for a big hike
the next day was no fun!!
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