New Book

So in the beginning of this trip I decided to write a new book about the experience.  We have been joking that the title will be "Climbing Kilimanjaro with Amy" - but Ben wants to be in the title too....so maybe "Chasing the mist to the top with Ben"....anyway -- here is a bit of a summary of each day and chapter titles of lessons learned from our experience.
Day 1:
Challenge- because of the rain we could not drive to the trail head and started 2 miles further away from our start point -- we hiked 8 miles this day after a 5 hour drive to get there...I under estimated the hike distances each day -- it was longer - Apparently I'm bad at conversions!
Joy - so cool to be camping in the rain forest.  We arrived at dark so it was a bit mysterious hearing all the monkeys and birds making noises and not really knowing what all was around us.
Day 2:
Challenge & Joy- another 8 mile day with new terrain at every turn. Hiking with poles became second nature and we began to get in a pattern of hiking.
Day 3 :
Challenge - we almost gave up on this day.  It rained and we all got soaked and Hannah never really recovered - her rain coat was really a wind breaker and her ski coat was also not waterproof - a rash bag saved her the rest of the trip but with no body fat -- she was cold and wet for 8 days.  Hannah also fell this day - she tumbled on rocks about 10 feet and hit a number of body parts including the back of her head with a large lump.  She recovered and we all continued at a slower pace.
Joy - Thank God that Hannah was not more hurt and thank Him also for our dinning tent. WOW -- we loved that tent.  We would all sit around a table and eat and play cards and try to stay warm while it poured outside.
Day 4:
Challenge - Altitude sickness sets in and most of us feel horrible.  Body fat is important quality to have right now -- as we are burning about 4000 calories a day and not eating enough at all - the guides keep pushing food and we are not compliant.....headaches and stomach aches and gut cramps take over.
Joy - wow is it beautiful.  This was a lighter hiking day and we had a chance to really enjoy the scenery.  We also started playing the movie game while hiking which saved Ben and all of our attitudes.
Day 5:
Challenge & Joy- The Wall - so this was one of the most dangerous times of the trip we climbed with our hands and feet over a rock face that had several places that could have been disastrous.  I just kept praying and trying hard not to think about what could happen -- Thank God for Raj taking care of Dillon -- that 60 year old man is a saint. We all loved this climb -- but it was a bit scary.
Day 6:
Challenge - this is summit day and we get to 16,000 feet where we are above the rain and clouds and the sun is intense -- breathing is a challenge and we are all fighting altitude sickness
Joy - WOW -- it is beautiful and so fun to be this high.  The whole experience is something else -- just camping in this atmosphere and hanging out in anticipation of the summit.
SUMMIT
Challenge - so so so cold and so difficult to function.  Our musccles didn't work and our minds were fuzzy and we were moving slower than molases.  |I can d anything for 6 hours| kept running through my head and I knew we would eventually get to the top if we just kept going.
Joy - THE TOP -- THE VIEWS - BEING THERE WITH ALL THE KIDS - SUCCESS...
Day 7:
Challenge - boy is it difficult to descend another 10,000 feet after having just climbed over 3,000 to summit.  Our legs were toast -- we pushed and pushed to get to the campsite -- but we were hiking for a total of 15 hours with only 2 hours break after our summit.
Joy - We made it to the further campsite that we were trying to get to and we stayed with Dillon the whole time.  Raj brought him down from the summit the first few hours and then we all decided to stay together after that -- it was a journey -- a long and slow one.
Day 8:
Challenge - pushing to get down -- plus I personally started having gut issues and needed to stop every hour to leave my DNA in the rainforest.
Joy - celebrating at the bottom with the guides and porters and enjoying the success of our time together.

LESSONS LEARNED -
Body fat counts -- store up when you are about to take on a big challene like this
Equipment counts -- duh
Climb with the right people --THEY MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE - We would not have made it
without Ryan and Amy Paterson
It is not about the destination -- it is the journey along the way -- getting there is only 5% of the equation
If you never take the challenge -- you will never learn the lessons....don't live life on the sidelines
Love and Live well.....