Here is a day-by-day record of our experience. Luckily, I took time to write a little bit each day of my journey. Hope this keeps you interested to the end - even though you know the end.

On February 28th we started our trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro. There were about 30 of us in the group. We got off to a late start. The climbers were ready, but for some reason our guides and porters were late. We started with the weighing of our bags at the hotel in the morning. There was a weight limit of 50 lbs. I don't think anyone was over the limit. But it was tight because our bags had to include most all of our personal gear: boots, running shoes, sandals, sleeping bag with extra mats, pillow and inner blanket, medicines, all clothing for a week, toiletries, snacks. I elected to wear my heaviest boots to make sure I made the weight limit. We had to carry a backpack with our daily needs: jacket, hiking poles, rain gear, light snacks, water (at least 2 liters/day), camera, and any other personal items of our choice.

We had about an hour ride from our hotel to the actual start of the trek. The trail starts at an elevation of approximately 4,000-ft. This first day we hike to 10,000 ft. We had some rain midway through the day which muddied things up and made our going very slippery. Luckily, I had the proper clothing and kept dry throughout. One of our climbers and fellow Foothill Flyer, Robbie Robinson, took a fall and hurt his arm. He had to go on though, as this route is not considered a downward route (and it is much more difficult going down). Many of our group helped him by carrying his backpack the rest of the way. We had 2 doctors in our group and they ministered to him. It didn't look like his arm was broken, but when he returned home, he found out it was broken and had to have surgery to get it properly aligned. He went all the way to the top with his broken arm in bandages. He had to have a porter carry his backpack the rest of the way up the Mt.

First Day: By the time we got to camp the first day it was dark, muddy, and still raining. I decided to stay in my tent rather than deal with the mud. I had the rest of my lunch, energy bars, and trail mix to eat. It was warm and cozy in the tent and I was not up to fighting the mud anymore. Also, when we got our bags, they were drenched. Mine was full of water. It was as if it had floated down a stream. Luckily, I had used inner plastic bags for packaging and only my sleeping bag and mat were wet around the edges. I could sleep comfortably in the dry areas. One of our gals, Carmel, was not so lucky. She had joined us late, in Moshe, and had not got the word to put her things in plastic inside her bag. Her sleeping bag was drenched. Luckily, her tent-mate had some dry liner that she was able to use. But she had to sleep fully dressed. That night one of our fellow campers slid almost completely out of his tent due to the rain and mud. The tents were placed on the hillsides. It was hard to decide where to set up your sleeping bag as it depended on which way on the hill your head would be.

The 2nd day was more challenging than the 1st. We had more rain, but this day it was a cold rain. Again I was lucky to have my excellent clothing to keep me dry and comfortable. Our other trekkers are very supportive. When assistance is there, our mates are there to help. Robbie moves well through the day and does not appear to be suffering much from his 'sprained arm'. We move steadily up the mountain and I feel that I'm able to keep up to the pace the guide is setting. We have been divided into groups according to the pace we are able to maintain. There are generally 3 groups. No one is suppose to go ahead of the guide. This is for their own safety. What happened to Robbie reinforces the idea that we should stay with our guide and fellow trekkers. This day we make it to our camp at 13,000 ft. by 4:00 p.m. and have daylight to get settled in. But it is definitely colder today. My dry, warm gear is very welcome. Luckily, our bags have been put inside tents and are dry when we arrive. We all had dinner in the 'mess' tent and enjoyed a welcomed hot meal with soup, bread, vegetable, and meat. We had fun sharing our day's experiences.

On the 3rd day we will go only a short distance, this is to give our bodies time to acclimate to the elevation of 13,000-13,500 ft. Robbie's arm is very swollen and red; it does not look good. Two of our group must go down, as they are not handling the climb well. We must go up and down through many levels today. It is a very rocky terrain. They split us into our 3 groups: the first group is those of us who are able to move steadily up the mountain; the 2nd group must go slower and take some rest stops; and the 3rd group must go even more slowly still. I am in the first group composed of nine or so people, 3 of us are women. On this day I took a fall. It could have been very serious. Luckily, when I started to fall I twisted around so that I landed on my backpack to cushion my fall as I landed on very jagged rocks. Also, I screamed out and that alerted the guide in front of me who turned around just in time to catch my head so that it didn't hit a very rugged rock below. One of my trekking poles broke in half near the neck of the shaft due to the weight of my body landing on it. Luckily, nothing else was damaged. One of our fellow hikers, Joshua, gave me one of his poles to make it the rest of the way up the mountain. He and Foothill Flyer Vinnie Torres, came quickly to my side after I took the fall. As I look up from where I landed I see the faces of our other hikers looking down at me in shock and their mouths wide open. But Vinnie and Joshua jumped so quickly they were on both sides of me ready to help in any way I needed it. Luckily, I had no body damage. I got up and continued on with no problems the rest of the way. During the night, we had lots more rain and wind. It was during this time that I again wondered: Why did I decide to do this? Was I going to be able to go on to the top? What would be in store on the next day? But I am so exhausted, I have no energy to worry and I'm able to sleep comfortably through the night.

Day 4 we hiked again just a short distance and on up to 14,500 ft. This gives our bodies more time to acclimate. We camp on a plateau. It starts to hail and snow around 2:00 in the afternoon becoming cold and we must put on our warm gear. For me that means 2 pair of socks, 2 pair of pants, 2 pair of gloves, and my warm jacket with the head warmer that Mary Ann O'Hara loaned me. Although our group took its time getting to this level, our guide tells us we made it in better time than expected. There are many behind us that are in our party, but some of them don't get to this level for 3 more hours. All arrive before dark though. We will stay at this level till around midnight, when we start our final trek to the top of the mountain. There are two who are having more problems with the elevation and will not be able to go on. They wait here till we return from our trek to the top.

For our final trek we rest after arriving at this level and will be dressed and ready for the final assent at about 11:00 p.m. We will continue in our sub-groups. So that we can all get to the top together, the slowest group, with our injured hiker, Robbie, starts first at 11:30. Then the next group starts at 12:00 midnight. And another small group leaves at 12:15 a.m. I am in the 'fastest' group of about 14 and we start at 12:30 a.m. We hope to all get to the top for sunrise. It is hailing and snowing. The trek up is in 2-3 ft of snow all the way. Luckily, all I have to do is put my feet in the steps of those ahead of me. I am able to make it without too much difficulty. We are going very slowly: Polee, Polee (Swahili for slowly, slowly) the guide tells us. Our group passes several other groups on our way to the top. We also pass all of the sub-groups in our party on our way up. One group passes us going down, saying they have had it and can't go any further. As we press on 3 of our members leave us to join the slower groups. Now there are 9 guys and 2 women going on ahead of the others. We didn't make it to Stella Pt., a point with good views about 500 ft. below the peak, by sunrise, but it was snowing and hailing so much, there wasn't much to see from the top anyway. We stopped at Stella Pt. for about 10 min. and a snack. Then it's on to Uhuru Peak and jubilation. .

I feel great since I'm the oldest woman in the group and the other is half my age. Along the way to the peak we get great views of the glacier, but due to the conditions we didn't stop for pictures, a mistake as the snow and clouds completely engulf it as the weather gets worse and we can't see the glacier coming back. We again see all the members of our large party still heading up the mountain. I suggest to Robbie that he go back, as the conditions are severe now, but he continues on to the summit. It ends up taking him 22 hours that day going up and back down to the next camp. Our group made it to the top in 7 hours, while most others in our party took 9-11 hours.

Going down the mountain is almost as difficult for me as it was going up. My knee that is without cartilage is feeling the downhill pressure. Luckly, I brought a knee brace to use just for this purpose. We are slipping and sliding all over the place in the snow and scree (volcanic debris). Vinnie got hit with problems to his equilibrium and our guide rushes him down to a lower level. That appears to help him as he goes down 2-3,000 ft. very quickly, but it takes 2-3 hours for his body to return to normal. We are all feeling very tired as most of us did not sleep since the previous morning. We have been up 24 hours. Our bodies are weary and due to the exhausting physical experience that we have put them through, they are not responding as we would expect. We still must navigate through rocks and other hazardous terrain as we decend the mountain. We are lucky though, though: we will have 4 hours to rest and have lunch before we head on to the next camp. Those who are still on the mountain, will have much less time before they must make the trek to the next camp, Millenium Camp, at about 4:00 p.m. Later I find out that not all made it to the peak. A few had to stop at Stella Pt. - about 500 feet from the summit.

Hiking to the next camp has a gradual downhill after the initial decent from the peak. It takes me about 2 hours - I'm last in our sub-group this time as my 'good' leg has started to hurt from an old injury from 1994 when I had broken it in 2 places. It's probably due to the many hours of downhill pressure. One of our fellow hikers helped me out by carrying my backpack for at least a mile. This really took the pressure off my sore legs. I'm totally exhausted and the only one of our whole party has made it to the camp. I weigh my needs - food or sleep. I decide on sleep. I'm in bed by 7:00 p.m. I've been up since 7:00 a.m. the previous day - 18 hrs. I hear the next morning that Robbie got in about 2 hrs. later. He has been out on the mountain the whole time, probably close to 22 hours. The next morning I hear that only 10 people decide on dinner over sleep, everyone else calls it a day and heads for the hay. We all agree - it is the most exhausting thing we have ever done.

We get to our hotel and it's great to have a warm shower - the first in 6 1/2 days. Later there is a celebration with toasts and congratulations all around. Those of us who made it to the top receive certificates.

Post Script: I would not advise anyone to do this if they have any medical problems. No one should rely on having EMT type trained assistance, doctors, or ambulances. The porters and guides are like rangers in our national forests, they are not necessarily trained in first aid and it did not appear that they were carrying any first aide equipment in their packs. Assistance had to be sent for. Also, there aren't cell phones to make emergency calls - isn't it like that when we go off to the back country?

This activity is definitely only intended for the fit. The year before, the group that had done this same route had very good weather conditions - no rain at the lower level nor hail or snow going up the last section. So, preparation for all weather conditions is very important. Also: train, train, train. I was able to make 4 hikes in the San Bernardino Mts. during the winter with snow on the ground and temperatures between 30 & 40 degrees. I carried my pack, wore the clothing I expected to wear, and used the equipment I would use on the hike. I think it made the difference. I had no illness and all gear worked out well. I also took Diamox as recommended to help my breathing adjust to the altitude. It was an exhilarating experience. There must be another mountain I can climb!