Summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro with Art Basel & David Caruso (that CSI Miami Guy)
Every so often I need to get lost in the mountains to find my way. To quote John Muir fully (rather than the various coffee mug abbreviations floating around):
“The mountains are calling & I must go & I will work on while I can, studying incessantly.”
It’s 11pm on the 5th day of my 100km Mt. Kilimanjaro trek. I’ve slept for about 4 hours, which is pretty good considering the altitude, but I didn’t so much fall asleep as pass out. In one hour, I will depart for a 7hr summit attack on the tallest mountain of the African continent — Mt. Kilimanjaro, towering 19,341ft above the savannah below. I am alone, well basically alone, except for my guide who speaks little english, and my porters who speak only Swahili. We have endured rain, snow and falling rock. We have had to re-route around the Western Breach due to snow and falling rocks and have added 30km to our journey. It was absolutely worth it for the safety of my crew, but presents its own other challenges, like additional exhaustion and rationing food and cooking gas for boiling snow.
As it did at 17,000ft the night before, my face feels like its on fire, my brain clamped in a vice as if from a tequila hangover and my eyelids seem to be the only thing…
