Possibly the steepest climb of the day was the ascent path to the next campsite where the 7 day trekkers would stay tonight. If I had stayed here and rested for the extra night, I think the following day I could have made the summit attempt with no real problems, however, as we had opted for the 6 day trek, we had a brief rest here, only to attempt the bleakest leg of the day 4 climb. The path out of the campsite was steep, winding and dull. We couldn't see any scenery (we should have been able to see the peak, but after lunch it was entirely shrouded in cloud) and once again there seemed to be no end to it. After climbing slowly upwards for an hour we reached a rest stop and Alex told me that according to his guide book, the summit attempt we would make tonight would be just like we had just done for the past hour...but would instead last for 6 and a half hours! Again, I wasn't convinced I could do that...I was feeling drained, exhausted and demotivated and all I wanted was to arrive at the campsite so I could rest before tonight. But it would be some hours before I made it. The familiar pattern continued across barren and ugly terrain: I would push myself on towards what I imagined to be the top of a slope, before an even steeper slope would present itself and I wouldn't have the energy to carry on. I would sit on a rock alone feeling exhausted and defeated...and there was no-one else to give me any encouragement, just me. Finally, Juma realised that I was beginning to become irreversably motionless and started to get angry with me. Sullen and unwilling, I dragged myself to my feet and continued somehow in a daze stumbling across rocks towards the campsite, barely able to put one foot in front of the other. At some point Juma took my daypack from me and I finally arrived at our tent and collapsed inside with the nagging knowledge that in just a few short hours we would be attempting the summit. The afternoon
Possibly the steepest climb of the day was the ascent path to the next campsite where the 7 day trekkers would stay tonight. If I had stayed here and rested for the extra night, I think the following day I could have made the summit attempt with no real problems, however, as we had opted for the 6 day trek, we had a brief rest here, only to attempt the bleakest leg of the day 4 climb. The path out of the campsite was steep, winding and dull. We couldn't see any scenery (we should have been able to see the peak, but after lunch it was entirely shrouded in cloud) and once again there seemed to be no end to it. After climbing slowly upwards for an hour we reached a rest stop and Alex told me that according to his guide book, the summit attempt we would make tonight would be just like we had just done for the past hour...but would instead last for 6 and a half hours! Again, I wasn't convinced I could do that...I was feeling drained, exhausted and demotivated and all I wanted was to arrive at the campsite so I could rest before tonight. But it would be some hours before I made it. The familiar pattern continued across barren and ugly terrain: I would push myself on towards what I imagined to be the top of a slope, before an even steeper slope would present itself and I wouldn't have the energy to carry on. I would sit on a rock alone feeling exhausted and defeated...and there was no-one else to give me any encouragement, just me. Finally, Juma realised that I was beginning to become irreversably motionless and started to get angry with me. Sullen and unwilling, I dragged myself to my feet and continued somehow in a daze stumbling across rocks towards the campsite, barely able to put one foot in front of the other. At some point Juma took my daypack from me and I finally arrived at our tent and collapsed inside with the nagging knowledge that in just a few short hours we would be attempting the summit. 
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