Debbie & Steves Big Climb

Steve & Debbie's Live Diary Blog

1 Day To Go - January 22nd:
	After an 8 hour delayed flight, we are here in Moshi - a small town where we begin at 8am tomorrow morning! Met our 2 guides tonight but they look so young! What have we let ourselves in for? A bit of inside gossip for you - Radio 1 had personal stylists and solar powered hair dryers!! So thats how Cheryl Cole did it.. Steve's thought for the day - o shit!. Plain and simple. Think of us tomorrow when you wake up - we are 3 hours ahead of you and will be well on the way!

Day 1 - January 23rd:
	After an early breakfast, we had our climb briefing. We then drove to the National Park Gate near Machame Village where we met our guides and porters. After the formalities at the gate were completed, we started our walk through the spectacular tropical rain forest. A nice gentle 8 hour walk today, and we arrived at Machame Camp (9,900 feet) at about 5pm. We walked upwards, for around 22 kilometers today, which is probably equivalent to our Snowden hike three times over in one day! To be honest, today was really humid and it was so hard walking for 8 hours. We both have really bad headaches. Lost 1 guide already. Was it something we said? Not feeling to bad. Steve said he was only cold twice today. Steve's thought for the day - How, when they tell you to drink 4 litres of water, can you wee 8 litres out and not a toilet in sight?

Day 2 - January 24th:
	We saw the peak for the first time this morning as it was clear. It looks amazing but a bloody long way away. Early this morning we left the campsite and crossed the valley. We climbed up lots of rocky ridges and hiked through dense heather. It was a fairly steep start, followed by 4 hours or so of hard uphill climbing, then 4 hours not so steep through the lower moorlands. This brought us to the top of a rocky peak, where we stopped for lunch. From the lunch stop we started westwards, up towards Shira Cathedral - one of the peaks on the old Shira volcano with some great views over the plateau. We only walked about 12 kilometers today, but it was really hard going. Tonight we are camping on a tiny ridge at Shira camp (11,400 feet), and it is our first really cold night. We cant even leave the tent at night for a wee, in case we fall off the edge! Below freezing feels so much colder in a tent, rather than back home snuggled up in my electric blanket! Hi to Jamie and Laura. Thanks for the text. We will read it every time things get really tough. Also, for those that were wondering Debbie fell over today! Steve's thought for the day - Don't fart in a sleeping bag! Debbies's thought for the day - Our guide keeps wandering ahead. Not even sure he knows we are still here. Today was really hard and I am exhausted. Lots of other people on the route but we don’t see them much as they are spread out. I think we will be leaving our dignity on the mountain as so many wee breaks it was ridicules! Now in camp and quite disappointed that we are the only ones in our group. I am going to run out of things to say to Steve! We seem to have lost one our guides already and have not seen him since the gate and our people are not much fun!!! Very tired and getting really cold. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Day 3 - January 25th:
	We woke up this morning and the tent was covered in ice. We wore two complete sets of clothes to bed plus gloves and hats and we slept in a fleece liner and sleeping bag and it WAS STILL BLOODY COLD. Today we continued east towards Kibo, then on towards the Lava Tower. We walked at an altitude of 13,500 feet, around the southern side of the mountain. There were a few steep sections today, and some parts that looked like a "moon landscape". Then we had a steep walk down to Baranco camp. It was a long and tiring day, we walked 18 kilometers today up and then down again. This was part of our acclimatisation - walking up from 11,400 feet to 13,500 feet, and then back down and sleeping at 11,700 feet (you walk high and sleep low). The night temperature at camp is cold tonight, down to -10! No fun tonight! Its getting really hard now as exhaustion and altitude set in. Debbie has a really bad tooth ache and we are nearly out of pain killers. Steve has 4 blisters and thinks he will have to come them off. Tomorrow we start at 7am with a 600-foot climb straight up the Baranco Wall. Fun Ah! By the way Debbie fell over again. Steve's thought for the day - Are we there yet? Debbies's thought for the day - Oh My God! Went up to the same level as base camp tomorrow with a ranging tooth ache. Felt really bad at camp tonight. Have not eaten and got bad head ache as well. Was not sure I will make it up the wall tomorrow, but after some pain killers I am ready! Steve has said he is cold a total of 15 times so far and we are only on day three.

Day 4 - January 26th:
	Steve – I really don’t want to talk about how cold the tent was last night. Lets just not go there! We made it up the wall and all the way to base camp. I thought Debbie was amazing today considering she is afraid of heights. I don’t know how she did it. I think she is still shaking now. We have just arrived at camp and it is 5pm local time. We will get some food and then a few hours rest before starting for the summit at midnight. That is midnight tonight – mad! We will walk for 7 hours in the dark at temperatures of minus 30. We then spend 10 minutes at the summit, any longer and you will freeze. We then have to walk down hill for 10 hours to below altitude. If we make the top we will try to send a text for this blog but batteries are a problem. Debbie’s phone is dead and mine is on low. It will be about 4am English time. On a personal note Debbie has developed Jedwood hair and has started to smell really bad. I think I will need to ask for a separate tent tomorrow! Today was probably the hardest day of my life and I dread to think what tomorrow will be like. One final push to the top! Steve's thought for the day – Why? Debbie – I did it. I climbed the wall and I didn’t whinge or whine. Jamie and Laura your text helped me say that I could do it. It was a very long day and I am exhausted. My headache is back but I will try my hardest to make it tonight. I couldn’t of done it without the diamox dugs and the diamox huts! Will explain another day. Steve has been my rock-climbing lion. He carried my water, my lunch and just about everything else so that I could make it. Our guide was very good and helped me a lot. It was a very very very steep climb into the camp and on the steep climb I thought about everybody who has supported us along the way. Especially Jamie and Laura for their texts of support and also for Stuart for the blog. PS Happy Birthday Jackie. Save us some cake please! PPS. 4 days of walking and the bit that hurts most is my nose – sunburnt, runny and sort!

Day 5 - January 27th:
	We were woken at 10.30pm last night to get ready to leave by 11.30pm. We thought we would not be awake in time but we didn't actually sleep at all, even though we were so very tired from the long day yesterday. With head lamps on our foreheads, 6 layers of clothes each and a down jacket to top it all off - we headed for the first steep climb of the night! Debbies worst fears are the dark and heights, and she was doing both! The climb to the top (Uhuru Peak) took 7 1/2 hours and we reached the summit at 7am (4am English time). After a really gruelling trek up, ridge after ridge, and 6 hours and 20 minutes, we reached Stella Point (the volcano rim). This is the point where some people just give up and think they have had enough climbing and go down! We cannot descibe how hard this climb was. It was easily the hardest thing either of us has ever done in our lives, and this includes giving birth and watching United loose! After looking into the snow and ice filled crater rim, we headed for the summit, passing spectacular glaciers along the way. We saw the sun rise over the glaciers and the clouds! Words cannot describe the view at this point - it was just amazing and something you will not understand, even when you see our photos! We took some very quick photos, but it was sooooo cold that we couldn't get our hands and camera to work in co-ordination! But when we got to the summit, of course we had to take a couple of photos for you all - just to prove we were actually there and not sitting by a lovely pool somewhere! Steve did try to text people from the summit to wake you up but he had no battery and the signal kept going, and his phone froze with the cold. After around 10 minutes at the summit, Debbie's lips were blue because she was so hot from climbing that she took her down jacket off 5 minutes after leaving the camp, and forgot to put it back on once it started to get cold. We decided to go down as quick as we could, but that was easier said than done. The climb down was in two sections - first there was a very steep descent over loose rocks and scree, which Debbie found very difficult. She fell over THREE times!!! This took around 3 1/2 hours. Then after a short break we went down a very rocky path and this took another 4 1/2 hours. By the end of the day we had been walking for 16 hours! We then had a dinner of bean stew and rice (nice!) and literally fell into our tent to sleep. Steves thought of the day - Mountain - What Mountain? I am the king of the mountain! Debbies thought of the day - it was such a long day yesterday and I was totally exhausted by the end of it - I had a very bad head ache again and really thought I wouldn't even start the day. I also found out Mountain Lion Steve also had one but gave me all the drugs! Ahhhhh how nice! He also carried most of my stuff again today, knowing how petrified of heights I am and he was afraid I would keel over up there! My knees where shaking when we left the camp - I was walking in the dark, the cold and rocky landscape. When I got to the first sheer rock face and our guide, Emmanuel jumped up it and expected me to follow him, I just stood there. How could anyone WALK up a steep rocky incline like that? He was like one of those mountain goats - trip trop all the way up without any effort at all! I can't put into words how hard I found today. Half way up I kept asking Emmanuel are we nearly there yet? Just like a kid in the back of the car going to the beach!! But when we reached the top nothing else mattered - WE MADE IT - and I didn't believe I would really do it. I must be sooooo fit now!! On the way down it was much harder than I thought - if I could ski I would have been OK! Emmanuel had to hold my hand the whole way down and I don't what he thought of that - not exactly Britains next top model am I?! Oh well - that's his job and I'm sure he would want to deliver me to the exit gate alive with no bones broken! WE MADE IT....Hakuna Matata..

Day 6 - January 28th:
	We were woken at 5.30am to begin our final trek, down 20km through the rain forest. This was actually one of the easiest walks, and Debbie was like a Cheetah running down the path. I think it was just because she wanted to get to the bar!!! We have now arrived at our guest house for the night, showered (twice) and feel totally refreshed with a nice cold bottle of Kilimajaro beer. It is going to be a long night! We would like to thank all the people who texted us both during the climb, and once they found out we had made it to the summit - it really did mean a lot to us. We would also like to thank everyone who sponsored us. We are not sure we would have made it without the incentive that we were doing it for a very worthwhile cause. The donation page is still open and if you would still like to donate, then please do. We even met a couple of ladies from Sunderland in Rwanda who gave us some sponsorship money! One week to realx, then home sweet home! Steves thought of the day - BEER Debbie thought of the day - The best night's sleep I've had for 5 days! We just fell into our sleeping bags and passed out - not even the cheerful camp crew, celebrating their last night could keep me from sleep tonight! After the steep climb down this morning all I could think about was the hot shower and beer that we get when we arrived at River Trees! Now, hair clean etc - I feel human again!!!! Steves Overview of the week - I couldnt of done it without my pee bottle! Debbies Overview of the week - When we started this adventure, we thought a bit of gym work and a few weekend treks and we would be OK. Nothing can prepare you for this - not unless you have climbed large mountains before and we don't have anything in the UK that can compare. It was not just the height that we climbed but also the different temperatures - not just day by day, but also throughout the day and night. Everytime Steve got his sun hat out, he put it away again and had to put on the warm one, then change it again 5 minutes later! Debbie thought this was the most amusing part of the trip! I really couldn't have done any of this without Steve - he has been my rock, my mother and my wife!!!! You really don't know someone until you have spent time with them in a tiny tent - even after 21 years of marriage! Every day he made sure I was comfortable and that my ruck sack wasn't too heavy for me and if it was - he carried it! I would never have even attempted the Barranco wall without him - my first biggest fear of the climb! We cannot believe how friendly and cheerful EVERYONE was. Not just the crew we had - they were amazing, but also the other climbers along the way with their own private stories and thoughts. Every day we were woken promptly by the crew who were looking after us. When we left the camp each morning they had to pack everything away and carry it the same way we climbed - most of it on their heads and walking/running all the way to the next camp to be ready before we arrived. We were totally in awe of these people - and they get paid next to nothing for this! It was an amazing experience and we are both delighted we have done it - but we don't think it is something we will be doing again any time soon!!! What we have learn't from this week - WE DON'T EVER WANT TO SPEND ANOTHER NIGHT/DAY/HOUR in a tent with each other or anyone else EVER AGAIN!!!! We are not cut out to be campers!!! LOL xxx