Summiting the Roof of Africa

DAN LEVITT

In September 2011, 10 Vancouverites began their journey to raise awareness of the impact of Alzheimer disease by hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, considered to be the highest freestanding mountain in the world and the highest mountain in Africa. To date, the group has raised more than $125,000 and, since the Ascent Team program began in 1998, more than $2 million has been donated. This is the second half of the final diary instalment in a three-part series from one of the trekkers.

As we continue our hike around the crater rim toward our ultimate summit goal, Uhuru Peak, I stare mindlessly into the vastness of Mt. Kilimanjaro’s crater. I begin thinking of the training our team completed over the past six months and the $125,000 we have raised for the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia. I think of the residents at Abbotsford’s Tabor Village who suffer from Alzheimer disease, their family caregivers and how their dementia journeys have inspired each member of the Ascent Team on our own journey. Our team has endured the effects of altitude sickness, which, in many ways, presents itself like the dementia experience by those with Alzheimer disease. Of course, members on our team are fortunate that, when we descend from the summit, the symptoms of altitude sickness will vanish.

It appears that we are getting closer to the other side of the crater rim, as we stop for a break to drink some water. A sign marks Stella Point, at an altitude of 18,652 feet. From this vantage point, I can see the less-traveled Machame Route descending down thousands of feet. It is deceiving, as it feels like we have reached the top of the mountain. I take a moment to test my acclimization to this altitude with a simple mathematical test. Stella’s Point is 18,652 feet, Uhuru Peak is 19,340; we still have 688 feet in elevation to gain.

At this point, I feel as though we could easily head back down, but this is not the official top, the place where climbers get their picture taken, smiling at the summit. Sue tells us we still have another 45 minutes to go. The crater rim is a relatively easy walk, but we are painfully tired and we are all ready to make our descent.

With our eyes focused on a rock outcrop around the crater rim, I start to reflect on the reality of what we have done, namely, walked and walked for days and days. I ponder the fact that we started our final ascent to the peak just over eight hours ago. This has been the hardest, most difficult part of the trip and our guides keep saying that we are getting close, but it seems like an eternity has passed. A few hours go by, you think you are almost at the summit and you’re told that it’s a “mere” hour away. Then, we finally reach the lip of the crater: Relief! We made it! But, wait, not exactly.

As we walk along the trail, pushing toward the 19,340-foot summit, the enormity of what is transpiring hits me. This summit is an astonishing feat and our entire group has made it, even though some of us, before joining Ascent Team, were doubtful that we’d come anywhere near the summit. I start thinking about this new reality. How do I answer someone back home when I am asked what it was like to hike up the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro? Do I feel happy? I suppose I do, but this feeling might be more due to a lack of oxygen at this altitude than a feeling of happiness. Instead, I feel a sense of relief that there isn’t too much more elevation to gain.

The quality of the light up on top is extraordinary, very crisp and clear, but, as you stare straight up, the sky appears dark, as if we are close to outer space. Maybe I am hallucinating. It’s not easy to describe. I feel a sense of communal exhaustion. I think of my family back home and I feel my emotions overtake my resolve to advance toward our ultimate goal. I hear a member of our team crying, and look over to see other team members with their arms around each other, supporting one another through the final turn toward the top. We are supporting each other in reaching this goal together.

Finally, we see a large wooden sign at the very top of Uhuru Peak and an outpouring of emotions starts. We stagger up to the sign that reads, “Congratulations! You are now at Uhuru Peak, the highest point in Africa, 19,340 feet.” Our team is elated that we have reached the “Roof of Africa” and we have finally run out of mountain to climb. We embrace and there is not a dry eye in the group.

We pose for pictures as a team with the guides and then we each have an individual moment with the sign as a backdrop. Before heading back down the mountain, I reach deep into a well-insulated pocket in my parka and pull out my iPhone to play a live recording of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” from their 1979 album, The Wall. It is a moment that will be etched in my memory for many years to come: being at the Roof of Africa, where you can see for miles and miles. The summit of Mt. Meru, some 43 miles away, is clearly visible and, at 14,977 feet, appears like a large hill from the vantage point of the top of Kilimanjaro.

Before heading back down, Sue asks us to gather in a semi-circle around Anjulie, the youngest member of the Ascent Team, who reads “Desiderata,” a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann. I feel like we are praying in a devotional at the top of a sacred mountain:

“Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”

After the reading, Sue gives us some instructions about the hike back to Kibu Hut and reminds us that hiking is the only sport where, when you reach your goal, you are only half way – we now have to hike all the way down to the base of the mountain, where we started five days ago. We have taken just 30 minutes at the summit to bask in our accomplishment.

We turn our backs on the summit and begin the return hike. There is a collective sense of euphoria from our accomplishment. We reached our goal together, as a team. We did it!

Dan Levitt is executive director of Tabor Village, a seniors care community located in Abbotsford, and a member of the 2011 Alzheimer Ascent Team. As a signature event for the Alzheimer Society of British Columbia, Ascent raises funds for education and services to support the more than 70,000 individuals and their families across the province who live with dementia every day. Dollars raised also fund vital research into the causes and the cure. To make a donation to the Alzheimer Society of B.C., visit alzheimerbc.org/Get-Involved/Ascent-for-Alzheimers.aspx. Ascent Team is currently recruiting for 2012. If you have what it takes to hike Mt. Kilimanjaro, contact Angie Kok, provincial coordinator, community events, via e-mail at [email protected].

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