The Roof of the World

When I was 46, I climbed Kilimanjaro - the highest peak in Africa and second tallest mountain in the southern hemisphere. It was a difficult physical effort but an adventure nonetheless and one worth doing. It took 8 days and our party covered more than 100 kilometers on this, the world's largest free standing mountain.

Th peak has very little oxygen, is covered by glaciers and protected by a relentless freezing wind, but it is filled with exhilaration. The road to the summit is slow and winding and dotted with those that couldn't make it and the scars of those that did. We saw people give up mentally, fail physically and push themselves to as yet unforeseen limits. It was a vivid, realistic example of a group of people all trying their best, and testing their limits.

Our equipment failed and yet we didn't. We witnessed what will be regarded by those in our party as the most sublime sunrise in history standing atop the world. Looking across the great rift valley at Africa's third highest peak, well above the clouds and earthbound concerns, we each celebrated our accomplishment personally. We have the requisite photos but an observation by one in our party struck me deeply. The peak itself wasn't a matterhorn of jagged rock to cling to precariously but rather a small rise above the surrounding area, sitting on top of another small rise and another. Peaks are not always clear to us when we see them, and yet we know they have been reached when we look at our achievements in context of how we had to push our-self. This effort that I have heard described by many as "the most difficult task of their lives" was very real to each of us there, and so the summit was defined and imaginable as we climbed and climbed. Life isn't always so clear-cut though, and our everyday mountains come in ranges and not just as as freestanding, conquerable tasks.

I learned more about myself in this adventure than I had thought and I urge you to seek out your own personal Kilimanjaro - but remember to prepare thoroughly and wear a base layer, it's cold and unforgiving where you dare to go.