Pitch black. A snake of head torches moving up and up, never ending. One foot. Come on Karl! Then the other foot. Shuffling along in the dark. On our first break I gobbled down some anti-nausea pills, kindly provided by our chief guide. To be honest it could have been anything, I was just relieved to have anything to take away the compressing feeling. At that point our group started to splinter, half unhindered by altitude, half struck.
One guide stayed with us through the dark, literal and metaphorical. Joseph. Our hero. At various stages through the night I found rocks collapse onto and fall asleep, just for seconds before he woke me, but what seems like minutes, even hours. He'd unlid my water and make me drink, keeping me hydrated. He'd tell me not to worry, that I was strong, I could make it. At that time it was hard to believe. When I was at my weakest he took my bag from me and carried it himself as well as his own.
All through this night my aunt, who we climbed the mountain in memory of, was never far from my mind. I'd mouth dry lipped, "this is for you", over and over, it gave me the strength to carry on. Lifted me. After hours we arrived at Jamaica Rocks. Steep, jagged and awkward. By far the worst part of our trek.
But then, from nowhere, Gilman's Point. And behind us... Sunrise. The most beautiful sunrise I'd ever seen. At this point it's your choice to decide. Do you carry on to the top? To Uhuru peak? After all the pain there was no question in my mind.
Yes. Yes I carry on. Yes I get to the top. There is nothing, nothing in this world that would stop me now. Stumbling, in light now, to Stella point, a moments rest, move on. Passing so many shattered yet ecstatic people going the other way. "You're so close", "Come on! You can do it!". Thank you strangers, you helped more than you realised. Eventually we made it. We reached the top. We hugged the rest of our group, we hugged our guides, me and my partner hugged eachother. Tears of joy and relief dampening our cheeks. It felt amazing, such elation, such joy, there is no actual word for how I felt.
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