Daily Updates

Paul and Deane are happy to announce they have successfully completed their climb up the mountain! For a look back at the journey, read their daily updates they sent in from their satellite phone.

Day 6

Saturday December 6th started with a wakeup call at 4:30AM. It was difficult to sleep the night before as the winds were howling through camp, nearly knocking our tents over. After a quick breakfast, we began our assent to the summit. The day was scheduled to be a 7 hour hike to the summit and a 3 hour return.

As we crossed through camp we became very aware of just how strong the winds were. Many tents were blown over. The wind hadn't let up at all as we began. Seven hours of uphill hiking from 15,500 ft. to 19,330 is torture, especially in the wind. Imagine 7 straight hours on a Stairmaster. At times we needed to get low to avoid being pushed back by with wind, or to avoid being sand blasted. As we approached 17,000 ft. about 4 hours into the climb, the air was extremely thin and we were very tired. At that point we literally saw people being carried down the mountain due to exhaustion or the effects of the altitude. At times we wondered if we'd be next.

At 12:26PM Saturday afternoon, largely due to peer pressure, we reached the summit! It was incredible. The skies were clear and the views were stunning. The summit was long in the making, and quite a sense of accomplishment. We were both happy to be one of the few people that had made the summit that day.

We were able to make it down from our camp 15,500ft to the base in one day the next day. Thus we completed the climb in 7 days instead of 9 days. It was great to finally take a shower.

We are very grateful for everyone's support along the way. We couldn't have made it without you. We have quite a few pictures and great video of our journey. We look forward to catching up with everyone soon.

Paul and Deane

Day 5

Hello from 15,500 Ft.

Today has to be considered one of the better days of our climb. We started out after breakfast at 9 AM heading to Barafu Camp. The views of the mountain top were spectacular along the way. We had very little rain today which was a blessing. We climbed uphill nearly all day. We started out rock climbing on the volcanic rock, it was challenging and fun.

As we have gotten to know our tour guides, we are having a great time joking around with them. Lots of laughs and good times.

A warm lunch was served at 13,000 ft with the Coke and beer we "ordered" from the city. What a life. It is extremely cold tonight. We really need a good night's sleep for our 9 hour day tomorrow.

We have moved 1 day ahead of schedule and thus we leave very early tomorrow morning to try and reach the summit, 4,500 ft up where it is even colder and of course less O2. This will certainly be the hardest day of our climb. 50% of the people do not make this last push.

Paul and Deane

Day 4

Greetings from a wet and soggy 12,800 ft.

If you read yesterday's email you must be asking yourself why we went down when the summit is at 19,000 ft. Good question. Our trek started out this morning straight up hill heading to Lava Tower for lunch. Lava Tower is at 15,500 ft. which helps us get acclimated to higher altitudes. Here we were above the vegetation close to the snow line and hiking on the lava rock. After lunch we headed down to Baranco Camp at 12,800 ft for a good night's rest.

The rain started during our lunch and didn't stop until after dinner. Everything is soaking wet again and it is also very, very cold. This evening we decided to summit one day early. Tomorrow we will hike to Barafo Camp at 15,500 ft. and on Saturday we will climb to 19,500 and return to Barafo in the evening. We can't wait. As fun as this has been, the trek is physically demanding and we are looking forward to achieving our goal, with any luck. It's rainy season and we can never be sure what the weather will do. Batteries are running low. More tomorrow.

Paul and Deane

Day 3

Greetings from 13,500 Ft.

Our trek to the top of Kilimanjaro is going well. Last night after we sent our previous email, the temperatures dropped drastically and caught us off guard. It was freezing when we crawled into our tents and we awoke to frost all over the ground. We had a spectacular view of the top of Kilimanjaro from our camp and could clearly see the glacier on the summit.

Our hike today was billed as a 7-8 hour hike including lunch but we were able to finish in 6:30 minutes. At the half way point the porters setup a mini camp and served us a hot lunch. Absolutely incredible. Today's hike was much easier than yesterday's... and we are grateful.

Tomorrow we break camp at 9 and head to Barafu Camp at 14,500 ft. We have "ordered" a few bottles of Coke and Beer from town that we hope will be arriving along with the fresh food for the cook. They only replenish the food supply one time during the trip so we are crossing our fingers.

Depending on how we do tomorrow night we will decide to try for the summit either 2 or 3 days later. If we try for the summit in 2, we can take more time getting down.

Tonight it's very cold again and we are starting to feel the effects of the altitude.  Nothing serious but there is no doubt we are sleeping on a mountain tonight.

Wish us well. We'll send an update tomorrow.

Paul and Deane

Day 1 and 2

We just completed day two of our Geographic Solutions charity climb of Kilimanjaro. We are writing this from our mess tent at the Shira Campsite, 11,500 feet into the climb. This email is via satellite phone so we hope you get this. Tonight is expected to get very cold. Our first day through the rainforest it poured rain – it was brutal. We are still trying to get all the red mud off our clothes, us and everything else. Today was sunny and we hiked for 6 hours. We are a bit tired and need rest before tomorrow. The trail is much steeper than we had expected and it is like climbing stairs for 6 hours. This is more exercise than we have ever had and we still have 7 days left. We are the only 2 people in the group but there are 15 porters and 2 guides supporting us if you can believe that.

On Sunday we were able to visit the Treasures of Africa orphanage in Moshi, Tanzania and met the children. We were successful sneaking in medicine, shoes and other supplies that we donated past customs to the delight of the staff. The supplies were greatly needed. When we first arrived, the kids performed a few songs that they had prepared for us. It was priceless. Paul taught the kids a thing or two about soccer and I had the kids competing in a running race. We both absolutely fell in love with all 25 kids and hope to go back for a last visit before we leave Africa.

Tomorrow we have an 8 hour journey to 13,000 + feet. We hope to send another update when we arrive.

Paul and Deane