It's all about the Climb

Since Molly had not yet steered me wrong, I fully trusted her when she said I could easily climb Gahinga, the smallest in a chain of 3 volcanos, the others being Muhabura and Sabynyo.  Seemed like a great way to spend 4th of July to me!  We had packed lunches, some beef jerky, and a driver for the day who took us down the long barely existing road to the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park where he would wait for us. We paid our permit fees and listened to a briefing on the climb. This was considered a moderate climb and we would be joined by a guide, an armed gaurd, and a porter we hired to carry our packs. 

The guide told us to expect a 4-5 hour hike up and 2 hours down.  I was instantly asuming we would taking 6 hours up since I am not in the best shape. Turns out that the altitude was the biggest hurdle.  Most people do not attempt to climb until they have been in the area for a month to adjust to the approx 7,000 ft that we live at here. I had been here for exactly 8.5 days.  The height of this volcano is close to 12,000 feet above sea level.

As we started the 8km trek up the mountain, it was slightly sloping, inviting, and beautiful.  As we dodged the buffalo poop (yes, there are buffalo, elephants, golden monkeys,and bushbucks in these forests) our guide found the first of 3 tiny chameleons that we came accross. 

As we continued, the air became noticably thinner and I was having to start taking some breaks.  I heard Jan's voice in my head "take you time, stop often, do not be embarassed."  I was certainly embarassed the first 2 hours, but after that, there was no choice.  My legs burned with every step, my chest ached with pressure, my mind was unfocused.  As we went from grassland to bamboo forest to virgin forest, the hills turned to makeshift steps, which turned to a series of unstable ladders amist steep hills. It was hard for me to take the time to look around and realize just how unbelievably gorgeous my surroundings were. There were no breaks in the steepness as we went up.  Molly was so patient and encouraging every step of the way, taking time to stop and discuss the different flora when I needed to catch my breath.  At several points I really thought I wouldnt make it, but Molly's assurance that I was doing well and my stubborness must have taken over. Towards the end, I think I was stopping every 50 feet or so and offered to let them go on ahead but the guide told me we were close, that I could make it.  I was a little delerious and at the brink of tears at this point, but just tried to take one step at a time. 

Finally, we reached the top!  I was so excited I just wanted to lay down and take a nap! This was definately the hardest thing I have put my poor body through.  I asked for a time check, thinking I had slowed us down quite a bit, but we actually made it up in almost exactly 4 hours!  The air was cold and crisp, I could see my breath as Molly and I chatted.  We enjoyed our time at the top taking in views of the swamp and the forest. It felt like a fantasty movie with the mist periodically creeping over the swamp, birds singing, and bees surrounding us. It was easy to picture the gorillas snacking up here when there were no tourists to bother them. As I ate my hard boiled eggs and beef jerky (hey it was independance day, we had to have something american!) and the bees crawled all over us ( I repeated the mantra show no fear and they will not sting over and over) I couldn't help but be proud of myself.

As we descended down the mountain, my knees groaned and my muscles burned, but my mind was sharp...could be all that oxygen once we reached a lower altitude, but I like there think there was a little something special in the air that afternoon.