Day 5 - December 15, 2013 No rain to wake up and leave to - yeah! The route was up and down, however, did not realize it was like rock climbing! Thank goodness it didn't rain through the most difficult bit. Jesse (one of the army guys wives) had 'a moment'. Her husband stood there and told her not to be so selfish because she was holding us up. Whoa…..So I shooed everyone away and got her to breath and talk. She was not used to difficult hikes, never min...

Day 4 - December 14, 2013 Chambo strongly advised us to drink 3 liters of water per day. So I have. I also had to get up in the night 2X to pee. The most wonderful sight gave me hope. The stars were out, the sky was clear and the almost full moon was shining on HER - there she was in all her glory. Bloody magnificent, both times! We awoke to clearer weather but today, I was prepared. I had dry socks, my ankle supports, gaiters, Gortex rain ...

Day 3 - December 13, 2013 THE NEXT MORNING, I came out of the lodge and said 'good morning' to Sarah - she growled 'good morning Princess". Wow. I had been toying with saying something profound so they weren't so rude for the rest of the trip. I did have another 6 days with these people. Definitely thinking this route was a mistake. At breakfast, the ELEPHANT was in the room so before everyone left, I said something….to the effect that I have had 5 operatio...

Day 2 - December 12 I've included a description of the Lemosho route. I selected this route for acclimatization - which turns out I really did not need. Hindsight. Could have used less camping in the rain. See below for my day 2. The 8 day Lemosho variation is the ideal schedule for this route. On the 8 day Lemosho route, the trek from Barranco to Barafu is broken up into two days, allowing for a short day just prior to the summit attempt. This is important ...

Day 1 - December 11 Bus ride was long, over 3 hours because we got stuck and had to all get out and walk up the road. We started about 2 hours hiking distance from proper start because it was raining so much, there is no way the bus could get through. There were 3 foot puddles and red mud everywhere. When we arrived at the 'starting point', it was 4pm and we had another 2.5 - 3 hours of hiking. The leader, Chambo, is SO slow which made it all the more frustr...