By Dave Logan
For Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES — The summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania was sunny and dusted with snow, said Port Angeles resident Lucy Nordwell.
From 19,341 feet, she and her husband, Steve Nordwell, “could see glaciers nearby like in Olympic National Park,” Lucy wrote in her journal.
“It was stunningly beautiful and we really felt like we were on the top of the world. “
Mount Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano, is the highest mountain on the continent of Africa and almost a mile taller than Mount Rainier.
The Nordwells made their climb up Kilimanjaro in February, during the dry season, Lucy said.
“I can think of several Port Angeles people who have earlier climbed Kilimanjaro,” Lucy said, saying that Gene and Norma Turner, Twila and Bruce Springer and Erika Ralston came to mind.
The Nordwells’ interest in Africa was piqued while they were students at Port Angeles High School — Class of ‘72 — and a teacher, Clay Rennie, who had spent time in the Peace Corps talked about his experience in East Africa.
“He … made Africa sound so interesting and exciting to us, Lucy said.
The two had seen Kilimanjaro from a distance while on a planning mission with Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in 1993.
“So the main reason we went on this trip is that Steve loves to hike and climb and the idea of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro never quite left his mind,” Lucy said in her journal. “And he persuaded me to come along, naturally. Knowing now what we have learned from climbing over the years we were hopefully prepared.”
The climb took a week.
“It’s possible to do the climb in fewer days, but we chose to do a longer trip to help us get used to high altitudes and to decrease the chances of altitude sickness that could have prevented us from reaching the summit,” she said.
“There were no oxygen tanks in use. Our trek of hiking started at a mile high, which is as high as Hurricane Ridge.”
Five and half days were sent climbing up. It took only 1 1/2 days to get down.
“The trip down was a toe-pounder,” Lucy said. “I’ve lost one big toenail and expect to lose the other eventually. I also twisted my ankle slightly. These were the only minor injuries and we had no blisters at all. “
The couple hiked with a guide and assistant guide and had a total of nine people, all from the Chagga tribe of East Africa, helping them.
“A guided trek to the top is the only way you are allowed to hike Kilimanjaro,” Lucy said. “Also no fires using wood were allowed on the trails.”
The hike was about 37 miles round-trip with temperatures at the base from 80 degrees to 90 degrees and from 10 degrees to 15 degrees at the top.
“The mountain itself has five distinct climate zones,” Lucy said. “After the second night, we awoke to frost on the tents each morning. We had rain, hail and snow each afternoon and the mountain was white with snow the day after we had climbed to the top. And this mountain is just 200 miles south of the equator.”
On the final day of the ascent, they began at 15,300 feet, leaving at midnight with headlamps and moonlight to reach the summit of 19,341 feet at 7:20 a.m.
The success rate for climbing the volcano — referred to as the “roof of the world,” the tallest free-standing mountain (not part of a mountain range) in the world — is only 65 percent, the couple was told.
“The oxygen level at the summit is about 50 percent of that at sea level, and that is what causes the potential for altitude sickness,” Lucy said.
The guide’s nickname “was Mr. 100 Percent since he always got his clients to the summit. Fortunately, Steve and I were able to keep that number unblemished,” she added.
On the way down, rain soaked their sleeping bags.
“I slept in my big coat and several layers of pants and was nice and warm with no sleeping bag on that last night,” Lucy wrote.
“Probably we were so tired, we would have slept no matter what.”
Lucy said that helicopter landing sites were set along established trails for emergency evacuations. Many of the porters had cell phones and some were wearing solar panels across their chests so the sun would charge their phones in the daylight.
“Climbing the mountain is a big tourist business in Tanzania,” she said.
Lucy said the two hiked the 500-mile Camino de Santiago across northern Spain in 2015. Steve recently climbed six peaks in California and Oregon.
“Yes, we are adventurous, but still find much enjoyment hiking and climbing in our own backyard in the beautiful Olympic National Park,” Lucy said.
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Dave Logan is a freelance photographer living in Port Angeles.
