 |
Product Search
|
 |
|
Article Search
|
|
|
Resources
| |
|
Home > Neopets, Coca Cola, Steiff
We Have Found 5 Products for your search of Neopets, Coca Cola, Steiff.
Displaying Items 1 - 5:
Touch The Sky! Walk 19000 feet into the Air! Climb Mount Kilimanjaro
by Edward Vere
I remember when planes flying at 19000 were considered a pretty big deal, but when I read you could hike to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro (19340'), in Tanzania without technical climbing skills, I was stunned.
Kilimanjaro is a volcano, actually three volcanic cones formed as the tectonic plate it sits on moved across a now dormant hotspot; much like the Hawaiian Islands were formed, except on a much smaller scale.
Climbing 14000 feet out of the surrounding 5000" altitude Rift Valley, Kilimanjaro's highest point, Uhuru Peak (after whom Lt. Uruhu of the original Star Trek was named) tops out as Africa's highest mountain at over 19000 feet above sea level. Further down the Rift Valley sit Mt Meru and Mt Kenya, both volcanoes now apparently extinct, but part of the Great Rift Valley. The Rift valley represents where the tectonic plates are pulling apart and exposing lava chambers that been the source of these volcanoes, The last eruptions are estimated to have been over 100,000 years ago.. The ability to climb Kili, as it is know to locals, is predicated upon its location, 200 miles south of the equator, and a less severe upward slope as the route progress to the summit. Glaciers pose the most treacherous part of any climb and Kilimanjaro is known for it's glaciers. But these glaciers are at the very top and do not need to be crossed to make Uhuru Peak. That is not to say the path to the top is not difficult. The various routes to the summit, from the Machame Route, also known as the Coca Cola route, to difficult Shira Plateau/Western Breach Route all require good aerobic capacity, strong legs and endurance.
The Machame route is referred to as the Coca Cola Route because it is the most touristy, littered with Coca Cola signs and toilet paper. It takes 4 days, three up and one down.It is the one fewest people are successful on, due to the lack of time to acclimate to the altitude.
The Shira plateau route usually takes seven days to summit, with a two day wait at 14000 feet to acclimatize to the altitude. The routes themselves are technically different as the Macheme route has steep scree filled paths and the summiting must be done at night when the rocky debris is frozen. The Shira plateau directs you through the western breach which is the collapsed cone of Kibo, the highest vocanic summit. By taking this route, the traveler can summit during the day, but it is a more difficult rocky route up a fairly steep cliff called The Giant's Staircase.
The trek down, while not hazardous, does represent a significantly different use of muscles. If you can imagine walking down some stairs for 6 to 8 hours and the lactic acid burn one might expect in your thighs then you can be- gin to feel the fatigue of descent. The real danger of such an ascent is altitude sickness which can cause lungs to fill with fluid or cause swelling of the brain and death. Two things can help prevent it, slow acclimation to the altitude, for example don't ascend more then 2000 feet a day. The other is to always be completely hydrated. Four liters of water day consumption is the recommended amount. The rule of thumb to determine good hydration is your urine should be "clear and copious". Failure to do these things can you to be portered down. Helicopters and road do not get to this height. Once you have summitted and the feeling what you have accomplished can be euphoric. The camaraderie of a shared goal with your other travelers will form a bound that will last for years. The shared photographs, videos and stories will be worth the effort and costs. The trek itself can only be done with a guide by Tanzanian law. Make sure you hire a licensed guide who has summated a number of times. You need an experienced person should something go wrong. Do your research, be adequately equipped and just do it!
About the Author
Edward Vere loves adventure travel and spent seven days summiting Mount Kilimanjaro across the Shira Plateau and through the Western Breach for his fiftieth birthday.
For more information click on: hubpages.com/hub/Climbing-Kilmanjaro-O...
|
