Liz and Margaret on Kilimanjaro

[Tony Crocker]

Our friend Margaret from our Iron Blosam group is with Liz this week and carrying a GPS tracker so we can tell where they are.

The screenshot below shows them at 13,000 feet but the steep final ascent trail is the dotted line going SW from their location this morning (here, means evening there, 11 hours ahead).

Locations I’ve seen each morning:
Feb. 10, in upscale camp outside the park at 7,700 feet.
Feb. 11: 9,150 feet
Feb. 12: 10,900 feet
Feb. 13: 13,000 feet
Feb. 14: 13,250 feet
Feb. 15: 13,000 feet
The last two days they have moved laterally from NW of Kili to NE at the same elevation for acclimatization. Scheduled are two more nights, one at 15,000 and one at 18,000. The 18,000 stop will probably be sleepless but most groups get up at midnight at 15,000 for the summit push to 19,340.

 

[Sbooker]

Your recent news that Liz was heading to do this caused me to do some looking at the mountain and climb which I had never done before. It's a beautiful looking beast isn't it?
Another thing for the 'to do' list.
Thanks for the update. I'll be keen to see pics.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Not gentlemanly to ask but it's key info: how old are Liz and Margaret? You've been mentioning it elsewhere but maybe you can move everything into this thread -- what specifically has Liz been doing to prepare and for how long? Did the two of them compare notes and prep in the same way?

 

[jasoncapecod]

I can’t wait for the real report with pics.
This was always a wish of mine to do. really the only thing that held me back was the sketchy sanitation and water. I’m a big baby when it comes to a bad belly in the middle of nowhere.

 

[jamesdeluxe]

Imagine how fit the porters need to be!

Porters are the indispensable backbone of Kilimanjaro treks -- typically numbering three per climber and carrying up to 20 kg/45 lbs of gear, tents, food, and water.

45 pounds is approximately what my ski bag weighs for plane travel. Hard to imagine what it's like schlepping that up a mountain to 19,340 feet.

 

[Tony Crocker]

I’ve done one trek with an army of porters, the Inca Trail in 2007. The Quechua porters were short in stature but tough as nails. 3 of them tag teamed carrying 200+ pound Andrew for about an hour on the third day, which was fortunately not uphill.

“I’m a big baby when it comes to a bad belly in the middle of nowhere.”

That was Andrew’s problem on day two, contributing to his exhaustion the next day.

Liz and Margaret are both 66. Judging by how I skied at 10,000 feet+ when I was that age, I’m cautiously optimistic. Liz and I have overall similar fitness routines. From the time we met she’s never been slower than me going uphill including alpine touring even though there’s a gap downhill skiing due to my far more extensive mileage in challenging terrain and snow conditions.

I’m not sure unusual training is necessary if you have a good regular fitness routine. As far as the hiking part is concerned I doubt it’s any more difficult than the Patagonia hikes Liz and I have done in 2011, 2017 and 2021. The latter two were very tough but day hikes. The W in Torres del Paine was 4 days 48 miles at low altitude max 4,500 but lots of up and down over variable terrain; I thought more difficult than the 35 mile Inca Trail which tops out at 13,800.

Liz joined a hiking group on the Westside, did maybe 6 of their Sunday morning hikes. I was with her on two of them. They are 5-6 miles with about 1,000 of elevation gain. I posted one of those because it was in the origin area of the Palisades Fire. I also posted the San Jacinto hike from the Palm Springs tram. That is a hike which will bother someone with altitude sensitivity. With my age I was half an hour slower than Liz for the last half over 9,700 feet which I would not have been 6 years ago. The SoCal 10K peaks are a good test of altitude sensitivity because you sleep near sea level and drive to a trailhead at 8,000+. I never had issues on any of those hikes under age 70.

I have no idea what Margaret’s fitness regimen is. Her brother Bruce used to do ultramarathons with Al Solish. I vaguely know she is very active though she is an intermediate skier. She lives in New Jersey near the Meisner group from Iron Blosam.

San Jacinto 10,800 is probably the highest Liz has climbed. I’ve had 3 hikes over 4,000 meters, Mt. Whitney, Mt. Shasta and the Inca Trail.

Kili is 99% about the altitude IMHO. Liz is with a very high end company that is taking it slower than most. Margaret is at 15,450 today as I expected.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Margaret’s GPS at 18,500 today.

 

[ChrisC]

Locations I’ve seen each morning:
Feb. 10, in upscale camp outside the park at 7,700 feet.
Feb. 11: 9,150 feet
Feb. 12: 10,900 feet
Feb. 13: 13,000 feet
Feb. 14: 13,250 feet
Feb. 15: 13,000 feet
The last two days they have moved laterally from NW of Kili to NE at the same elevation for acclimatization. Scheduled are two more nights, one at 15,000 and one at 18,000. The 18,000 stop will probably be sleepless but most groups get up at midnight at 15,000 for the summit push to 19,340.

I assume there is significant horizontal movement, since the daily elevation gain is relatively small for mountain climbing.

45 pounds is approximately what my ski bag weighs for plane travel. Hard to imagine what it's like schlepping that up a mountain to 19,340 feet.

Backpacks for West Coast Cascade 14k'ers typically weigh 40–55 lbs, including tent, sleeping gear, food, and heavy mountaineering gear.
However, most of the gear is left at a 10-11k base camp elevation, and Summit Day is 20–25 lbs with only essentials: water, food, layers, harness, crampons.

Mt. Whitney is a long day hike starting early morning (4 am) to cover 22 miles and 6.5-7k elevation, but you give up more than 50-65% of your weight. (I don't like the base camp/midway camp at 10k at Whitney because hikers spread too much human waste - and don't pack out).



One has less equipment for Kilimanjaro due to the lack of glacier travel, but more food/provisions to carry.

 

[Tony Crocker]

Adam and I climbed Mt. Whitney Labor Day 1999 in two days using Trail Camp at 12,000. The people using the camp at 10,300 generally take 3 days. Hauling full camping gear from 10K-12K was more strenuous than submitting with a light day pack. Both were a walk in the park vs. climbing Shasta to 13,200 in crampons with skis on my back.

This morning’s GPS shows submitting Kili then descending to about 11,500.

My guess is they are off the mountain tomorrow. Margaret is coming home directly. Liz will be home Feb. 26 after a Ngorongoro Crater safari camp and Olduvai Gorge. I think she will have WiFi at the safari camp.