Africa Day 2

Up early at 5:30 for the long drive to Gibbs Farm in Tanzania, west of Arusha. Due to extensive road work we often were diverted onto miles of dusty, rutted, slow going gravel tracks. Thus our hoped for 8 hour drive took 11 hrs!
But all was not lost we made 4 stops for birding and were pretty successful at birding from the van. Altogether we saw 57 species of birds, 35 we had not seen the previous day. Mammals were more limited, we saw giraffe and baboon again, as well as Blue Monkey. But mostly we saw many small herds of goats, donkeys, and cattle moving about under the watchful eyes of masai boys (all in traditional colorful wraps of flowing clothe). The land we drove through was very dry and according to our Tanzananian driver, Tanzania has been sufferring from a 4 month drought. It seemed hard to believe the land could support even 10% as much livestock.
Everywhere we went the Masai children gave us big smiles and waved as we drove by, so we did the same.
We finished the day with dinner at Gibbs farm a 70 year coffee farm, which operates as a tourist lodge, with many huge individual lodges and serves and excellent dinner.
Along the way I've seen many iconic Baobab and Acacia trees, as well as many huge termite mounds, I should be getting good pictures later on the tour.
Tomorrow we will do morning forest birding on the Gibbs farm land, our first birding away from the scrub and grassland habitats. After lunch we will head down to Norogondo crater.

Africa Day 1

Before attempting to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, I will be on a 18 day birding and wildlife safari through Kenya and Tanzania. After sleeping in to recover a bit from the flights, I joined my tour group (5 other folks plus our Field Guides Tour leader, Terry Stevenson). We did a half day birding at Nairobi National Park, a mostly grasslands park, with some acacia scrub as well (see photo of the park). We saw 70 species of birds and 8 mammals! Among the mammals were giraffe, zebra, eland, gazelle, hartebeest and warthog.

Gearing up

This week I completed "gearing up" for the climb. I've surely made LLBean and REI very happy.

I need to be prepared for hot humid rain forest to start, and extreme cold at the summit. I purchased a new sleeping bag (good to zero F), camp pillow, sky pants, balaclava, two layers of thermal underwear, light weight long sleeve shirts, safari sun hat, fast drying Safari pants (jeans are discouraged because they don't dry well if wet), rapid dry camp towel, duffel bags, trekking poles, and water proof pack covers. I have also bought insulated water bottles (needed to prevent drinking water from freezing on the day I will try to reach the summit), water purification tabs, isotonic salt hydration mixes, high energy trail bars, headlamp for the summit attempt which starts at 1:00 AM), extra camera and blackberry batteries.

I will carry a day pack with up to 20 pounds, including the days water, energy bars, dried fruit, anticipated clothes/rain gear, electronics, binoculars, bird book, and my first aid kit. Along with 4 hiking companions, my climbing group will include a guide, a cook, and porters. A porter will carry my duffel bag with 30 pounds of my gear I don't carry.

The end of Training!

Well its finally happened, I’ve run out of time to train. Since April I’ve biked 1200 miles, and hiked over 150 miles and on Sat I leave for East Africa.

Am I really ready? I think so, but there are still the big unknowns:
Will I acclimate to the altitude above 12,000 feet or develop altitude sickness?
Can I avoid traveler’s diarrhea?
Do I have the stamina and knees to climb for 5 days straight?
Do I have the right gear so my layers keep me cool at the start and warm at the top, but I avoid getting too hot?
If I make it to the summit, will my knees hold up on the 14 mile, 9000 ft descent on day 5 and the 5000 ft 9 mile descent on day 6?
Will the unexpected rain in East Africa this week cause heavy snow cover on the mountain that will limit the climb?
After 30 days in East Africa, will I avoid malaria?

Stay tuned, I’ll post the answers in three weeks!

To pole or not to pole?

The tour group that arranges climbs of Mt. Kilimanjaro strongly recommends that climbers use trekking poles (similar to cross country poles) to help with the climb and especially the descent.

The negative for the poles is I never used them and feel having my arms free for balance is important. Also carrying the poles means carrying extra weight, and the less I need to carry the better. Initially I was not planning on using them, after all they are nicknamed “yuppie poles” (what could be worse than a Yuppie!), in part because they became popular in the 1990’s.

However, the biggest positive for the trekking poles is that they help relieve force on the knees, and my knees are clearly a concern. They also can help with balance on the steeper parts of the climb.

My colleague Birgit Priest encouraged me to try them, so this weekend I used them on both of my 12 miles hikes on Sat and Sun. Although my right knee has occasionally caused me concern, this weekend my left knee was pretty painful on the descents. But with the poles I could shift my weight and on the final 1000 ft decent form Bear Mt., I was pain free. So tomorrow I’m off to REI to pick up the poles.

Many thanks to Birgit for loaning me a set of poles.

Vacation or Training?

Last week I had a lovely vacation at Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island at the Jersey Shore. Good weather; every day the ocean was different, it varied from calm to strong waves, warm to cool, clear blue to grey. It was a good time to relax with my wife, Tanya, and daughters, Laura and Emily, and enjoy fresh seafood each evening.

As a consequence, I did not do any hiking along the AT. Still I did keep up my training. Tanya and I started each day with a 2.5 mile walk to the light house and out on the Jetty. Later I did a 20-25 mile bike ride on the island. Since the Island is level, it was interesting to see the effect of the sea breeze, with wind behind me I could maintain 22 miles an hour, but into the sea breeze and I was slowed down to 16 mph. So over the week I was able to ride 125 miles.

On Sunday I set out for a 10 mile hike in the Watchungs, but because of afternoon rain, I only completed 8 miles. Still it was another chance to follow my enhanced hydration strategy: every half hour I stop and consume 330 mls of water or an isotonic salt and water mix. It really seems to keep my energy level up. Once again, my thiamine patch worked quite well to keep insects away.

My climb will be in memory of my dad, James MacNeil

Although the climb is a personal challenge, as readers of this blog (are there any?) know, I am also using this occasion to raise awareness of Lung diseases. My family has been especially hard hit by multiple lung diseases, so I have partnered with the American Lung Association, to raise money for their research and education efforts. I am still reaching out to my friends and colleagues to ask for their support.

But the more I think about what this climb means to me, the more I think about my dad. He set me on a course to become a scientist by his own intellectual curiosity about the world around us. He helped me ask the why and how about the world we live in. I remember that even at avery young age, he took me to road cuts blasted through rock so we could explore the geology, he took me to the CT parks where we looked for unuusual plants and animals, and he bought a telescope so we could explore the night sky. So I think it is most fitting that I dedicate my climb to his memory. Although he died relatively young, in part due to his life long battle with asthma, I know he would be an enthusiastic supporter of my African adventure.

Breaking News!

The American Lung Association has put the story of my attempt to climb Kilimanjaro on their web page!

I encourage everyone to click over to my donation page and support the American Lung Association.

Once again thanks to all you have donated.

Thanks for your support!

Although climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro is a personal challenge, I am also using the training and climb as challenge to raise money for the American Lung Association. Over the years my family has been especially hard hit by lung diseases. My grandmother, father, uncle and sister all suffered with severe and often debilitating asthma. Two of my grandparents died from emphysema, and my mom is battling interstitial lung disease.

During the past few weeks I have been reaching out to friends and colleagues, asking for support. So far 30 folks have become donors!

Once again, thanks for your support. It helps motivate me to work harder during training, and shows we all share a concern for others who are in need. Your donations will make a difference for people suffering from lung diseases.

If you have not made a donation to the American Lung Association, please visit my challenge page and contribute. If you have made a donation, and your employer has a matching gift program, please be sure to also complete the matching gift process.

Bear Mt. 2: Huge Improvement!

Bear Mt. Lodge

Last weekend, was very difficult, as detailed in the previous training update, for the first time I had difficulty making an ascent and had to actually stop and rest. On a day I only went 10 miles and climbed about 2800 ft I was so tired I wondered how I ever do 60 miles and 15,000 ft to climb Kilimanjaro? Later I discovered I had clearly been dehydrated as my post Bear Mt. weight was about 6 pounds less than normal, and I quickly "regained" that weight over the next 24 hrs. So I hypothesized my poor performance was driven by becoming dehydrated.

Hudson River South from Bear Mt. Summit

So this Saturday I returned to Bear Mt. to repeat the hike, but this time with a hydration plan: Every 30 min I would stop for 250 ml water, and I would rotate between pure water and water with isotonic salts mix added (sodium, potassium, and glucose). This Saturday I completed the hike feeling much stronger without any of the severe fatigue suffered last week. In fact I extended the hike for a total of 12 miles (2 miles longer than last week) , with about 3500 ft of ascent and descent (about 800 ft more than last time). I completed the longer, harder hike in 6 hrs, less time than last weeks 10. Clearly a good hydration strategy is key! Even so, I should continue to increase my hydration, as I was about 3 pounds lighter after the training hike than before it.

Clouds over Bear Mt., it was a Beautiful day for hiking!

As any reader of this blog knows, from the beginning have been concerned about how my knees would hold up. This Saturday as I was coming down Bear Mt, after the largest total descent of my training, my right knee started to hurt. Day 5 of my Kilimanjaro climb will require me to descend over 9000 ft so hopefully my knee will hold up….. I'll be on vacation at the Jersey shore (Barnegat Light) next week, and plan to do multiple lighthouse climbs to help with climbing and descending training.