Africa 2014 - Moshi, Tanzania Day 0 - Arrival and Rest Day

After around 20 hours of flight time on 3 flights from Kansas City, I am standing in the streets of Moshi, Tanzania among the people of Africa who are somehow acclimated to the presence of the giant, ancient volcano that looms above them.  I thought myself ready for this task, but this is a challenging visual. Locals go about their lives seemingly oblivious to the tallest free standing mountain that sits at their back door.  You seldom see a local lift their head to acknowledge it.  The world knows it as Kilimanjaro.

I know that tomorrow, I will be on it's flanks trekking toward the 19,354' summit, yet it doesn't seem real.  Experiences like this cannot be pre-executed in your mind.  There is little in my past to inform what will transpire over the next seven days.  I'm told I will endure inescapable freezing temperatures and extreme exhaustion.  I will lose some of my ability to reason.  I've climbed mountains before, but this is a new larger scale in which I'm not accustomed.

Kilimanjaro sits above the clouds.

My journey to this place began around 25 years ago. In my 20's, I climbed Angels Landing in Zion National Park with a brother and a friend.  It was a 1,500' ascent up trails cut into cliff walls ending with a frighteningly exposed and steep narrow land bridge.  As scary as it was, I reveled in the accomplishment and many years later realized that the moment at the summit stayed with me in a way other moments did not.  It was as if it had been etched in stone rather than written on paper.  I still don't know why this happens, but it has been a common theme on all the peaks I've summited over the years.

Many years later a trip to Yosemite with my girlfriend Laura brought the next realization.  Having seen documentaries on climbing Half Dome, I decided to give it a shot. I talked Laura into climbing it with me. She was resistant, but willing to take on a challenge.  Half Dome is a 3,800' ascent, 17 mile round trip over switch backs, past water falls along the Merced and culminating in a cable aided climb up the steep side of a massive, granite monolith.  Laura bowed out of the final cable ascent, pictured here, while I forged ahead.  It was the scariest 20 minutes of my life with a real danger of death.  A man died here just a week prior to our arrival.  Upon reaching the top, I came across an adult male actually crying.  For me, a deep, resounding stillness set in while I explored the top of Half-Dome.  When I descended to meet Laura, I felt like Moses coming down from Sinai.  This was another unforgettable experience that planted the seed for more to come.

Half-Dome in Yosemite NP

After many other experiences in Rocky Mountain NP, Olympic NP and Glacier NP, Death Valley NP, Yellowstone NP, Grand Teton NP, Yosemite NP and Mt. Democrat (my first fourteener), I felt ready for something bigger.  Physical ability has never stopped me from making it to a summit.

I like to think there are two sides of me.  There is "Analytical Jeff" and then there "Adventure Jeff".  Analytical Jeff is quite responsible.  He pays his bills on time, always.  He is never late to anything, ever.  He always does the things that need to be done and analyzes everything whether it deserves analysis or not.  "Adventure Jeff" allows "Analytical Jeff" to take on all of that responsibility stuff and stays out of it.  He is allowed to dream and do things that "Analytical Jeff" would not deem prudent.  It is important to note that each of them are grateful for the existence of the other as neither would be allowed to be true to who they are without the other.

"Field of Dreams" is one of my favorite and formative movies from my 20's.  I loved the quote, "There comes a time when all the cosmic tumblers have clicked into place and the universe opens it’s self up for a few seconds to show you what’s possible."  And in "Almost Famous", Francis McDermott's character said "Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid.".  These quotes stuck in my mind and carved out space in my inner landscape that would eventually be used as an incubator for the more wild ideas to grow.  To me, these quotes beautifully explain my "wild idea incubator" and how I allow it the latitude to change my life.  Seeds are allowed to be planted, nurtured and grown.  It's the one sacred place in my psyche that "Analytical Jeff" is not allowed to second guess and repress.  This incubator has allowed me to do the larger, bolder, unconventional things in my otherwise quiet, responsible life.

Every so often in my life an idea is introduced to me and I hear and feel what I call the "tuning fork".  It's an inner "YES", that I've learned to listen to and trust.  It's why I climbed Half-Dome and rode my bike across Missouri and took an 11-day road trip to 10 National Parks towards California, and took another 9 day road trip to 5 National Parks towards Montana.  It's why I chose my career path in Business Intelligence technology and it's why I'm with Laura.  It's why I have such great relationships in my life.  When these ideas are planted they grow into something that cannot be ignored like an itch that must be scratched.  The "tuning fork" has never steered me wrong.  Some will call that God or divine providence.  I don't follow any organized religion or deity.  I only follow what I am compelled to do by mighty forces and that compulsion is informed by the "tuning fork".  It has made all the difference.

I never know where the next seed will come from.  The idea of Kilimanjaro was planted by an email from Backwoods Adventure Travel.  When the email arrived, my tuning fork rang and I began to investigate the idea of climbing Kilimanjaro.  It went straight into the incubator and allowed to grow without outside interference from "Analytical Jeff".

The days that have lead up to this trip have included many conversations with friends and co-workers that are envious of me, fearful for me, proud of me or happy for me.  Their reactions to my decision to do this thing say more about them than me, but it's quite interesting nonetheless.  Fearful people greet this declaration with fearful possibilities ("that sounds so dangerous") while adventurous people see adventurous possibilities ("that sounds like such a great adventure") and so it goes. 

Now in Moshi, Tanzania I knew the reality of this moment finally seeing Kilimanjaro for the first time would be profoundly exciting and ominous. In my speculations, I did not imagine anything this massive and dominant.  The mountain has a presence that is impossible to ignore.  Rising out of the Tanzanian landscape and reaching above the clouds it's the largest land feature I've ever seen.  It's difficult to accept that in 5 days I could be standing on the top of it.

Kilimanjaro - The low clouds are at around 10,000'

Tomorrow, I begin a 37 mile trek that I've been anticipating and planning for the past 7 months.  I've been pondering every detail of this week for so long, I'm really anxious to see if my expectations were accurate.  I imagine they will all prove to have been naïve.   One thing that's for sure, the experience, good or bad, will be remembered and somehow beneficial.

From a simplistic perspective, it's a matter of placing one foot in front of the other and repeat until standing on summit.  Sounds easy enough.  From another perspective, it's a thousand details to manage with a hundreds of obstacles and dangers (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema - HAPE, High Altitude Cerebral Edema - HACE, food poisoning, hypothermia, foot problems, leg problems, Malaria) that may keep you from the summit.  For anyone that believes this to be a long hike, is to underestimate the scope at hand.  The smallest of movements become quite difficult at 19,000'. Ultimately, for me there are only two possibilities, summit or no summit.  Time will tell, but those worries are for "Analytical Jeff".  "Adventure Jeff" is just ready to experience whatever the week may bring.

Tomorrow morning we drive to Machame Gate to begin our 7 days on Kilimanjaro.  Yikes!

Next Entry: Africa 2014 - Kilimanjaro Day 1