For the Sake of Science

This is more of a formality than anything since I already posted the epicness of day 7, but there was a day 8 on the mountain. We had already descended below 10,000 feet by the end of day 7, so we didn’t have terribly far to go. Of course, going down is tougher in many regards because it really kills the knees, but reciting Mitch Hedberg’s repertoire half the time made things go quite a bit faster.

Here is everyone walking through the rain forest.

And here is goodness.

(Picture by Mike.)

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This is day 7. We left camp at 12:15am. We were told it was in the 30’s, but I’m from Maine and I’ve been in the cold. It was at least in the 20’s, if not a little lower. Combine that with the low oxygen and relative lack of sleep and a tough night was ahead of us. And of course, it was worth every uncomfortable moment to reach that summit.

This first one is from just below Stella Point.

I’m not sure of the name of the peak in the distance in this one. Sure is purdy, though.

Here’s one of the remaining glaciers atop the mountain – the only place glaciers make an appearance in Africa. They used to be much larger, extending well down the side of the mountain. Gee, I wonder what’s to blame for their demise.

This next one doesn’t do the landscape justice. (Really, none of these do.) Despite the glaciers shrinking over the years, they are still quite massive. If a person stood next to this, he would be a small speck.

And of course,

And finally, everyone. I honestly could not have picked a better group. (Sorry, people I personally know. These guys and gals were better.)

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