20 days from now, I will be on a flight to Kilimanjaro. My ‘healthy eating’ action plan has morphed into comfort eating and grumbling about how cold February is. I haven’t cycled to work since December and I am currently sitting at home when I should be at the gym after 5 days in the office. Ready or not Kilimanjaro, here I come!
Upon picking up my kitbag today, it suddenly hit me how fast my departure was approaching. Everything I need for a 8 days on a mountain, packed within the bag pictured above. Kilimanjaro has already killed my wallet. I’m bewildered by the price of outdoor equipment. Why are down jackets £200!? I didn’t even know sleeping bags went up to £1000?!
I’ve slowly accumulated equipment for the past few months, buying bits and bobs as and when I found things I needed:
- Force 10 Altitude 750 Sleeping Bag (still need to buy)
- Jack Wolfskin Svalbard down jacket (still need to buy)
- Trekmate Mittens (and glove liners)
- Lined Brasher trousers
- Icebreaker Merino wool long johns and base layer
- Columbia Snood
- Sports Direct thermal socks
- Black Diamond Gaiters
This has of course, put me in a state of relative poverty for the past 4 months.
Training
I have to admit, with 11 days to go before my departure, there will be a fair bit of blagging involved. I regularly gym (2 – 4 times a week), but my so called tailored eating plan and 10-miles-every-weekend has gone out the window. So far, my walks have been:
Sunday 18th January 2015: 9 miles from Putney to Richmond
24 – 25th January 2015: Walked 30 miles from Lewes to Eastbourne
Sunday 8th February 2015: Walked/got lost for ? miles around Riddlesdown (3 – 4 hours)
I’ve spent my second to last weekend before Kilimanjaro at the gym, cleaning up my bike and inciting fear by looking up articles and personal accounts of how hard people found their trek. Kilimanjaro has been on my mind for years. Ready or not Kilimanjaro, here I come!
Sept 2013: 200 Miles coast to coast, with 10kg on my back = The hardest thing I’ve done!
No training, just optimism. I lost toenails, but I loved it!
Days of Adventure 
Keep it up! I’m sure Kilimanjaro will pay off all the effort you have invested 🙂
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Did you do the Machame route? How was it?
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I did the lemosho route. It was wonderful, thanks! I enjoyed reading your post, my summit day was March 6th. I completely agree about not being all there/present in the moment, altitude does weird things to you. I am in the process of writing up about the trip, did you do the Machame route?
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