GGP Perimeter

Run home from 🏄‍♂️

Ocean Beach Surf

Afternoon Run

Turkey Trot 🦃

Including 4 days on the mountain, a 5:55 base to summit speed run (a record for the Rongai route!), and the bougiest camping one could have!

There are a lot of regulations requiring guides, permits, and pretty much anything you do on this mountain. We had a bus full of 14 people (guides, porters, cooks, etc) just for the two of us. But hey, why not have a little luxury on your honeymoon! 

The first day and a half we made our way from the entrance gate around 6,000 feet up to camp at around 13,000 ft. Our second morning, we ascended to 16,500 and this is where things get interesting! 

I then said goodbye to Xtina and left her to sleep at the last camp before the summit. I ran all the way back down to the bottom with one of our guides (who talked our way with the Rangers). We stopped a few miles from the bottom, had a couple hours to sit around, and then at 11:00 we descended the rest of the way and I started my ascent straight back up!

I felt amazing for so much of this. I never pushed too hard, and never got any headaches or anything. I nailed it on layering and food/water intake for the first few hours. I could see so many stars and when the moon came out it may as well have been daylight. Probably more than anything I had no stress about time splits or anything and was just able to just enjoy the whole experience. 

I didn’t encounter any people until basically the crater rim, but I did turn a corner and come within about 15 feet of two MASSIVE buffalo. We had a stare down, a stomp off, a grunt off, and ultimately they ran off. Then not two minutes later I saw three more, but this time 50 feet away up the trail. All the African animal encounter I needed!

I caught Cristina as she was almost at the crater rim (she also started in the night). We were stoked that we were both crushing it. I ran up to finish at the summit. At this point the lids of my water flasks had frozen over and I was too cold to care about eating, so my stretch of feeling great came to an end. I doubled back and met Cristina near Stella Point, and summited for the second time with her. 

We started our long descent, and I came back to life when we got to run down thousands of feet of sandy scree. We took the long descent route down Marangu because a Rongai ascent requires it apparently, but we did have a good time walking down the moon-like saddle between the main peak and its little brother Mawenzi, and seeing some more animals in the rainforest.

All in all a great way to start off the Honeymoon! Now off to safari

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Rory Beyer

Honeymoon on Mt. Kilimanjaro

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GGP Perimeter

Run home from 🏄‍♂️

Ocean Beach Surf

Afternoon Run

Turkey Trot 🦃

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