DAY 1 Park Entrance (6600') to Mandara Huts. 22 Feb. 1999
Warm climb through rain forest, some Blue Monkeys, to Mandara Huts at 9000' (2700m), arriving at 3:30 p.m. [3:51 elapsed]. Altitude gain, about 2400' (700+m). Distance 12 km.*
DAY 2 Mandara to Horumbo Huts. 23 Feb. 1999
Departed Mandara at 8:06, arrived at Horombo at 13:42, elevation 12,100' (3700m) [5:36 elapsed]. Altitude gain, about 3100' (950 m). Distance 15 km.
DAY 3 Acclimatization. 24 Feb. 1999
Hike to the Saddle at 4370m (14,300') between Mawenzi Pk. and Kibo, and back, 9:41-12:55 [3:14] up, 13:20-14:38 [1:18] down. Altitude gain (and loss) about 670m (2200'). Distance about 10 km.
DAY 4 Horombo Huts to Kibo Hut. 25 Feb. 1999
Departed Horombo at 9:05, arrived at Kibo (15,600', 4750m) at 14:35 [5:30]. Altitude gain about 3400 ft (1050m). Distance 15 km? Rested until 22:30, when preparations began for ascent.
DAY 5 Kibo Hut to Gilman Point and Uhuru Peak, and return. 26 Feb. 1999
Departed Kibo at 12:32 a.m. under clear skies and little or no wind. Reached Gilman Pt. (about 18,400', 5600m) after gruelling climb at 6:00 a.m. [5:30, altitude gain 850m, 2800']. After short rest, hiked to Uhuru Pk. at 19,340' (5895m), reaching summit at 7:30 [7:00, altitude gain 1150m, 3800']. Total altitude gain in 22 hours from Horombo, 7,200' (2200m). Clear, light wind, temperature -15C. Wind on Uhuru a little stronger, with a wind chill of about -5F. Spent about 15 minutes on summit, began descent, reaching Kibo Hut at 10:45. Left for Horumbo after 2:45 rest at about 13:30, arriving at Horombo Huts at about 17:30 [4:00], having descended 7,200' [2200m]. Total distance estimated at 27 km from Kibo to summit back to Horombo.
DAY 6 Horombo Huts to park entrance. 27 Feb. 1999
Departed Horombo at 8:31 a.m., reached Mandara at 11:07, altitude loss of 3100' (950m), distance about 15 km, elapsed time 2:36. After quick lunch, departed Mandara at 11:56, arrived at park entrance at 13:59, altitude loss of 2400' (700m), distance about 12 km, elapsed time 2:03. Total altitude loss for the day, 5500' (1700m), distance about 27 km.
From park entrance to Uhuru Pk., 92 hours, 12,700' altitude gain, distance about 58 km. From Uhuru to park entrance, 30 hours, 12,700' loss, distance 48 km. Total distance 106 km. Total altitude gain, including hike to the Saddle, 14,900'.
*distances from Kilimanjaro NP map.
Climbers: Jurgen Berger, Wolfgang Hubel, and myself
Guiding company: Zara International; guide Crispin Sawaky. Nights before and after spent at Springlands B&B, Moshi, Tanzania.