In Tanzania:Day 1 of Hiking Kilimanjaro

[garyp]

Hi everyone
Forgot to post this before I left, but I am hiking Kilimanjaro with my family (wife Lisa, Brianna age 16, Kyle age 15) and brother Joe. Today is day one currently in five hour drive to drop-off point for 8-day Rongai route. If all goes to plan, will summit in 6 days then spend night in crater.

While I have been at altitude three times before, this is my first time at high altitude on Gilenya and with it's attendant, lower heart rate, and for me reduced max heart rate and VO2 max heart rate. Hoping this will not impact me too much.

Will post more as able depending on connectivity and battery power.

[Fit Paul]

Have fun, stay well.

[ActiveMSers]

Keep us posted, Gary! And good luck, be careful, and be smart.

[garyp]

Successful!

Unfortunately, was not able to post while hiking up after all! Was relying on my brother's service (he lives in the UK) to connect to the network available on Kilimanjaro....turns out the network is run by Vodafone, and his provider is AllTel (he was on Vodafone until only a month or so ago).

We (brother, 2 children and wife) were all successful - summitting the 19,200 peak, then spending the night in the crater.....saw a just amazing view of the sunset from the crater. I had no problems at all (other than normal strain from hiking up a 16 degree slope for a half day to reach summit) - so no impact from the lower heart rate resulting from Gilenya.

Reaching the peak together was a truly special moment for all of us. And for myself 18 years post DX - words cannot describe.

We took in a week of Safari immediately after - then a few days on the beach on Zanzibar. Got back yesterday, after about 30 hours of traveling...so first time online since the original post!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Congratulations Gary, that is fantastic! I live at 5,000 feet but still feel a little altitude sickness above 12,000. How do you train for something like that?

[ActiveMSers]

Woah, very awesome, Gary! Can't wait to hear more about the adventure and glad that all made it to the top. That's a big deal. And if you are going for the Seven Summits, you only have six left!

[garyp]

AMFAdventures: Nothing special to prepare, though I do play indoor soccer regularly and run a lot over the cold winter months. Also proactively took diamox to guard against altitude sickness. Our children are both physically active types, my wife exercises regularly. We are very fortunate in that we can all go to high altitude and function fairly normally....this was our third time hiking at high altitude and we have had no problems to date. It also helped that we took a longer than typical route up Kilimanjaro - 8 days...the more days you take, the higher the chances of success.

Dave: If you can fund a 7 summits attempt, I am in Seriously...no plans to to 7 summits...while have been to Everest Base Camp, no plans to climb up Everest.

[HETA78]

That is awesome and inspirational! I want to go back to Oregon and hike the waterfalls again but have been a little hesitant. To think, a year ago I hiked down to the water line at Crater Lake and back with my biggest issue being the absolute WRONG shoes for the sandy soil!

[Fit Paul]

Hats off to you

[Diana]

Congrats on your successful trip!