Climbing Kili..I passed the test!

So I made it to the top of Kilimanjaro though it wasn't without some struggles. Here is the following info about the trip and tips too. I hiked the 8 day Lemosho route with Duma Explorer. It is not easy due to altitude and I don't know if I would do it again. But I am glad I did it (I don't regret it) and am proud of getting to the top.

I took with me hiking poles (recommended), 3 fleece shirts- Old Navy, 3 pairs of Patagonia capillene long underwear (top/bottom)-midweight, 2 fleece pants- Old Navy, 1 set of wind/raingear (top/bottom)- REI, 2 short sleeve running t-shirts, 1 pair of quick dry hiking pants- Patagonia, fleect hat- Old Navy, fleece scarf- Old Navy, fleece neck gaiter- Old Navy, 3 fleece gloves- Old Navy, 1 waterproof mittens- Old Navy, 5 pairs of wool socks- Smartwool, 1 pair of backpacking Gortex boots- EMS Summit GTX Women's, 1 pair trail runners- Gortex Salome, Petzl Tikka headlamp, extra batteries, digital camera, GU Energy Gel (for summit night), Diamox, daily contact lenses, 0 degree down Women's Sleeping bag (Marmot), Down Jacket with hood-Mtn Hardware, and other stuff. I used all the clothes I brought during the 8 day hike. I used the trail runners the first 4 days of the hike and on the last day. I used the backpacking boots all other days including the summit attempt.

I took Diamox 125 mg twice a day starting the day before the trip. Took it for first 4 days and then started taking 250 mg twice a day and took the last dose the night of the summit attempt. Took it during breakfast and dinner- experienced nausea, dizziness and slight tingling of fingers during the days I took Diamox. Summit attempt got a bad headache but once I started drinking more water it went away. Tried to drink at least 3 liters of water a day- normally I never drink water. Took lots of Chocolate flavored caffeine enhanced GU every 1-2 hours during the summit attempt till the sun came out and then I had energy again.

The hike overall is not too bad in terms of technical difficulty. There are some parts like Barranco Wall with scrambling and some parts where short people really need trekking poles to go up and down. The major difficulty is altitude and you really need to force yourself to go slowly to acclimatize. On summit night the major difficulty is exhaustation (not enough sleep during the day) and altitude. The going is steep but you are going slow so you don't feel your muscles hurting as much.

Preparation wise I ran 3 times a week about 5 miles each time in hilly terrain and I live at 1700 meters. The 2 months before I did not do any physical activity but living in Tanzania you are forced to walk everywhere so I think this helped. Also the fact that I had good physical fitness previously (I am able to run 13 miles without stopping and ran a marathon the previous year) helped even though I didn't run as much. Also I didn't get to do any day hikes on the weekends.

What really helps if you want to reach the top is doing a longer climb to acclimatize, and having good guides who set a good slow pace and give you help if needed during the climb. Diamox helped as well at least for me and drinking lots of water. Having some basic level of fitness is also important.