As many of you know last month I embarked on a journey to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Mount Kilimanjaro, also known as the Roof of Africa, is the highest free-standing mountain in the world and ranks #4 on the list of the Seven Summits at 19,340 feet. I was joined by 11 other climbers for this adventure, including four other senators. Those who joined me were Senator Ben Hansen of District 16, Senator Dave Murman of District 38, Senator Justin Wayne of District 13, Senator Anna Wishart of District 27, Dalton Boden, Hunter Armstrong, COL (Ret.) Van Joy, Michael Ferguson, Jeff Bolton, Blaine Bolton, and Mike Wilkinson.

Our climb began on Friday November 12th. We had a team of 53 Tanzanians aiding our accent up Kilimanjaro, consisting of six guides, two camp masters, two chefs, two servers, and the remaining team members were porters to help carry equipment from camp to camp. We selected to take the Machame Route, which is the second hardest route up the mountain. At about midday we stepped off from the Machame gate, elevation 5,905 feet and hiked 6.8 miles to Machame Camp, elevation 9,875 feet. This hike took us through the beautiful rainforest of Tanzania.

Day two consisted of a 3.1-mile hike from Machame Camp to Shira Camp, elevation 12,614. This day we saw the charms of the rainforest fall away as we entered the alpine zone of Mount Kilimanjaro. Our view turned from trees stretching high over our heads to seeing out for miles looking at the Shira Plateau.

The third day of our adventure featured a challenging 6 mile hike to the Lava Tower, elevation 15,190 with many accents and descents. Lava Tower is a 300-foot tall rock formation that formed when Kilimanjaro was still and active volcano. Our crew had lunch at Lava Tower and continued to Barranco Camp, elevation 12,992 feet.

We began day four by scaling Barranco Wall. This was the most technical portion of our climb. After reaching the top of the Wall we continued to Karanga Camp, elevation 13,238 feet. The hike for the day was 3.1 miles long. The trek from the top of Barranco Wall to Karanga Camp was another stretch that featuring many ups and downs on the trail.

On the fifth day we climbed to the summit base camp, Barafu Camp, elevation 15,223 feet. It was 3.7 miles from Karanga Camp to Barafu Camp. After reaching camp we immediately turned in to relax and get some sleep before we began our summit hike the next morning.

Summit day was day six of our trek. The crew woke up at 10:30 pm. After a meal and getting dressed we stepped off for the summit at 12:40 am. It was a seven-hour hike to Uhuru Peak. Our accent was difficult, the wind and freezing temperatures fought us every step of the way. Our guides sang and lifted spirits while we marched on and we reached the peak at 7:45 am. For an hour we stood on the Roof of Africa taking in the beauty of God’s creations. There were many hugs, handshakes and fist bumps congratulating one another on reaching the summit. When our time at the summit had concluded we began the decent to Millennium Camp, elevation 12,532 feet, covering a total of 9.3 miles for the full day.

Day seven concluded our mission to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. We hiked 7.4 miles to Mweka Gate, elevation 5,380 feet, where we exited Kilimanjaro National Park. That evening we were able to have dinner with our guide team where we were presented with certificates of completion and medals to commemorate our journey. The journey was filled with many great discussions, laughs, and smiles. I am thankful to have done this climb and for the team I had with me doing it. It was an amazing experience.