Thursday, June 10th: Physical and Mental Stamina

This morning I woke up from the cold in my sleeping bag at 4:00 am and was pleasantly relieved that I had a few more hours to sleep! For breakfast at 6:00 am, Julia and I ate cereal and passion fruit. Passion fruit comes in a hard brown shell, is pink on the inside, and is absolutely delicious. It is about the same size as an egg.

We began our hike at 7:00 am and finished at about 3:00 pm. We covered 16 miles, mostly uphill to an elevation of 4,200 m (13,780 ft). The mountain is massive in height and width. The majority of the hike was down and up two gigantic valleys, then up to a steep cliff, and past a few powerful waterfalls. We carried our lunches with us to eat on one of our breaks. Since we are in such a small group, we are free to take breaks for water whenever we want. For me, I don't like taking breaks that are too long because then you lose some momentum.

We faced the elements of nature today. First it was cool, then hot, then we were hit with torrential downpour for about an hour! My yellow poncho was a lifesaver :)

When hiking, I have had a lot of time to think. Hiking is both a challenging and soothing experience. Right now, I feel like if I can complete this hike in its entirety then I can do anything I set my mind to. During the toughest parts, rather than getting frustrated, I found myself laughing that we were slipping in ankle deep mud in the pouring rain on Mount Kenya! Laughing at ourselves and each other along the way is an essential ingredient to this hike.

Tonight we stayed at Shipton Camp. After arriving, I changed into clean socks and a warm sweat-shirt. I never thought that I'd be so happy with simply having a fresh pair of socks to wear! Once the rain subsided, I went outside to look around at the magnificent view we had! The rest of our team is terrific and very positive throughout the days and nights. We had tea and coffee, as we do each day, once we arrived at our camp. The higher we get, the more our appetite has been decreasing which is normal. Its important though to stay well nourished. After dinner, we went to bed around 8:00 pm since we have an early start tomorrow. I can't wait to share my stories with everyone at home!