Tag: Kilimanjaro

How we climbed Kilimanjaro

On By paulmcguire2013In Christie Lake Kids, Climb for Kids, Climbing Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro Day-by-Day, Leaning in4 Comments

I have put a few screenshots of the Garmin tracking device showing the ascent to the summit and the very long path back down. You can see the whole route and tracking here on Arcgis – really worth looking at!

When we were on the mountain, I used my Garmin device to provide live tracking of our climb up the mountain. The shots above are summary plots of the last two days. The first one shows the ascent on the last morning under a full moon. The second shows the two days of descending to get back to the gate.

I haven’t written much about the climb, probably because I haven’t processed much of it yet. I lost my voice on the mountain, part of a bad case of bronchitis I (and others) picked up before the climb. So, there hasn’t been much to talk about.

This was my second time up the mountain, but almost everything was new to me. We took a different route this time – the Lemosho Route – and this route follows a different path for most of the trek.

There is no question that this is a beautiful route, the photos I have seen so far are stunning. We hiked through rainforest for the first day and a half, totally enclosed by the surrounding flora. We heard monkeys calling out, the songs of so many porters along with the calls of exotic birds. The forest was full of sound.

we are being watched

The conditions of the climb were challenging. It was very hot on the mountain, once we lost the tree cover we were exposed to the full force of the Tanzanian sun. Above 3000m it became difficult to breathe and our progress up the mountain slowed to a crawl. This is not me complaining, this is what it is like to climb a major mountain. No one should ever attempt this unless they are in excellent shape. Most of us continued to suffer from the impact of respiratory infections, at high altitude this is a problem. There is no question I found this really hard. If it wasn’t for the guides who took my day pack after the second day I wouldn’t have been able to make the summit attempt.

By the second day, we were feeling the full effect of the intense heat in the moorland

This is a photo of one of our group members – we all felt like this.

I was surprised at how tired I was all the time. The heat, increasing altitude, and constant coughing seemed to be sucking the energy out of me. By the second day, I was beginning to worry if I could actually do the summit. Usually, for me the energy comes back, this time it was just a hard constant slog.

There are several factors that kept me going. First, it is all about humility. This is a place you don’t belong, an alien environment. Every day you are pushed to your physical limit. To make it, you have to allow other people lead the way. By the second day our head guide, Gerry, asked for my pack. He had told us at our pre-climb briefing that if he asked for your pack you had to give it to a guide. At first, this was a bit humiliating. I was supposed to be the group leader – I was the only Canadian who had actually climbed the mountain before!

I argued a bit and then I handed my pack over to Ian, one of our guides. For the rest of the climb, he was right beside me, taking my pack almost every day, making sure I was drinking enough and resting. Without Ian, I would not have made it to the top.

This is Ian. It is because of him that I made it to the summit

I continued every day and just put one step in front of the other. Soon, I couldn’t talk so it was easier to keep to myself and focus all my energy on the mountain. The ridges and valleys kept coming, nothing was flat. Just like everyone else, I continued to follow our guides up the mountain.

Base camp on the night of the final ascent – we started climbing at midnight

The last night, we were all still there. Some started earlier to allow for more climbing time. We kept together for at least the first three hours. It was all about will and determination, going slowly up. You never know how the cold, the lack of oxygen (here at 50%), and the steep ascent will affect a climber. Some had to turn back others continued. It is a surreal experience. We kept on coming up to little lighted communities of climbers huddling together to gather up energy. We passed people crying saying they couldn’t go any further, their guides encouraging them to keep moving. At one point our lead guide, Experience said we had reached the point of no return. I didn’t know what that was so I just kept walking.

The summit appears with the dawn. After 7 hours, our group crested the rim of the volcano, Stella Point – 5756m. The sun came up moments before reaching our goal.

Our group beginning to summit – climber and guide, always

I stayed on the summit for around 10 minutes. The porters gave me a hot cup of lemon water which was wonderful – I was out of water and the reserve in my pack was frozen. I had at least three cameras but I was so exhausted I didn’t bother to get them out for a summit shot. We looked around and we were organized into two groups – one to continue up the rim to Uhuru, one group to start the descent. I went for the descent, I didn’t trust myself to do any more climbing.

beginning the descent after the 7-hour climb to the top

The descent was steep, slow and dangerous. In 2017, I ended up falling and tearing a quad muscle. I think it took at least 3 hours to get back to camp – guides and porters helping me all the way.

The next day we climbed down a muddy trail for 7 hours to get to the gate. Two of our group members had to be carried away from the last camp, and both were later taken by helicopter to Moshi for medical treatment. This is pretty normal, the helicopter leaves from base camp on an average of 4 trips a day. These two climbers had been on the mountain for at least 14 hours.

I am starting to reflect on what we all did. Not everyone summited, but all of us climbed the mountain, we all did our best. Most people I spoke to said this was the hardest thing they had ever done. Some asked why I had done this a second time! At some points, I worried that suggesting this climb for the Climb for Kids group was too much. I am sure everyone at some point thought the same thing. But we did it and we did it because of the people we climbed with. The porters who carried our bags and the guides who watched over us so closely made this possible. We were in their hands all the way. These climbs call for a tremendous amount of humility and inner strength. We raised close to $50,000 for Christie Lake Kids and we returned a little more aware of how anything worth doing has greater value when you reach out for help.

Gerry our head guide, the guides and porters of the last day – Asante sana

Our encounters on the mountain

On By paulmcguire2013In Christie Lake Kids, Climb for Kids, Climbing Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro Day-by-Day, Leaning in1 Comment

Recovering in Ottawa

We are back home now and as a group, we have done some important things. First, we have raised over $43,000 for transformative recreation programming for kids here in Ottawa through Christie Lake Kids. I am so proud of our group. All 17 climbers made it to summit night and 14 later reached the rim – around the average success rate for Kilimanjaro. On the way two climbers were medically evacuated and at least two are dealing with the lingering effects of pulmonary edema.

I want people to realize how incredibly difficult this climb is. The summit night is dark and cold, groups of people pass you and then disappear. Some trekkers huddle for warmth while their guides try to convince them to resume their ascent. All night long there is the flickering evidence of climbers plodding in low oxygen towards the volcano ridge.

Most of our group at the summit base camp a few hours before the ascent

This is a bit of debriefing for me. Heather and I climbed with serious cases of bronchitis. Many of our group had to stop just to control their coughing all the way up. I lost my voice several days before the ascent and it probably won’t return for another week. The late night 7-10 hours ascent of Kilimanjaro is the hardest physical challenge I have undertaken. The other group members say the same. This may not be possible to convey to others who have not done this. People are constantly bombarded with so many things and events that it is difficult for them to appreciate the difficulty of a real-life challenge.

I am not surprised or disappointed. The purpose here is simply to record my thoughts and feelings a week after the climb. When you choose to take on a challenge like this you are separating yourself for a little while from the daily running of normal life. After a few days of recovery, we will happily return to the familiar flow. But, for a moment, it is instructive to stay in the cold, dark instance.

Summit dawn around 7:00 am after 7 hours of climbing

From this climb, I am taking away a few things. First, a renewed sense of humility. I would not have made it to the top without our guides. For three days, Ian, one of eight guides took my pack. Weakened by sickness and altitude I had to rely on him to get to the top. The guides, cooks, and porters were always helpful, cheering us on at every step. Kilimanjaro is a relationship between African and Canadian. No account of a climb is honest if it does not put the African team first – to them Asante sana!

The next thing. These climbs only hold meaning because of Christie Lake Kids. Heather likes to say that by taking on these extraordinary physical challenges we can get some sense of the daily struggles of the kids and families supported by CLK. Most importantly, CLK is not a charity handout for their kids. They aim to break the cycle of poverty here in Ottawa and that is much more than offering a free 10 days at camp.

The only way this is worth doing is because of the people at CLK who commit every day to bring positive, permanent change to the lives of children.

If you are reading this and have not donated, we would still love your support!

Finally, I value working with our little group of 17 climbers. Some of us have been waiting to make this climb for three years. All of the group suffered especially on the last night. No one ever questioned why we were doing this and we all can be very proud of what we were able to accomplish over the past year. What an honour it is to work with such a special group!

Lava Tower climb

Reflecting on a big climb is an experience that unfolds slowly. There is still so much to process here.

Midnight in Doha

On By paulmcguire2013In Christie Lake Kids, Climb for Kids, Climbing Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro Day-by-Day1 Comment

We left Montreal yesterday. A 12-hour flight to Doha, Qatar, and an 8-hour layover here before boarding a flight to Kilimanjaro International Airport near Arusha and Moshi in Tanzania. We will be there tomorrow morning and three years of waiting will finally end. The Climb for Kids trip that was to start three years ago, just as Covid hit is finally about to happen. We will get a full rest day in Arusha then we start climbing the mountain via the Lemosho Route this Wednesday.

Our first group photo with our new Climb for Kids jackets

Lots of planning, fundraising, and training has gone into this trip. There are 17 climbers in our group and we have raised over $35,000 for Christie Lake Kids. Covid did not put a stop to this year’s trip. We will get the chance to climb the mountain and highlight the important work that Christie Lake does to transform the lives of children in Ottawa every day.

Our GPS link is ready and starting in two days, you can follow us up the mountain – share.garmin.com/climbforkids. If you do follow us, we hope you will make the extra effort to donate something to CLK. All our pages are here and you can donate to any of the climbers in this year’s group.

We have climbed in Peru and Europe (TMB) and I think this will be the most challenging trek. This time there should be lots of people on the mountain with us, this is the height of the summer climbing season. But don’t think that this in any way makes this an easy climb. The success rate for summiting Kilimanjaro is between 45%-65%, but this rate varies with the length of the route. We will be on the Lemosho route for at least 8 days – 6 days up and 1.5 days down. The slow pace allows the body to acclimatize to the higher altitude and this gradual approach is the way to heighten chances of success.

Tonight is our second overnight flight. It is gruelling and I think everyone is pretty tired. Writing this post, it’s hard to keep my eyes open. We arrive tomorrow morning and then we get another day to restore before heading out. The next week will be really interesting. I try not to say too much to people about what to expect, people need to form their own experiences.

What I can say is this. Climbing a mountain over 3850 m is really difficulty. Living at high altitude is hard to adapt to and you have to get used to doing everything very slowly. People take these experiences as an every day adventure. To generate community interest is very difficult. We were supposed to be interviewed by CBC Ottawa, but this didn’t happen. Too much hype about the new Barbie movie.

Still, we are not doing this to make an impression. There are many better reasons for climbing at high altitude. We really appreciate all those who have supported us so far.

It’s almost midnight in Doha and we are preparing to board the next leg of our flight. Whatever happens, we are turning a leaf on Covid and we are again engaged in the wonderful work of assisting Christie Lake with its Transformative Recreation programs. Hope you will be there with us – this is worth following.

Once again, Communities Will Move Mountains.

Hope to see you on the mountain!

Kilimanjaro Day-by-Day in the times of COVID

On By paulmcguire2013In Climb for Kids, Climbing Kilimanjaro, Kilimanjaro Day-by-Day2 Comments

I will be putting out a day-by-day post for the next eight days outlining what we would have been doing if this had been a normal year. Today we start the journey from the Ottawa train station.

This post will grow each day as we go through the days of our Kilimanjaro trek.

Departure date: 25 July – arrival Kilimanjaro: 26 July

Air France

bus Ottawa-Montreal + flight Montreal-Paris-Nairobi-Kilimanjaro

Departs with the whole group at 3:00 pm, we arrive at the airport in Montreal at 5:00pm. Around 10:00 pm, we board the plane for Paris and arrive around 10:30 am on Sunday, July 26. Soon after, we leave for Nairobi, Kenya, then on to Kilimanjaro International Airport

leaving from the Ottawa train station in 2017

Kilimanjaro International Airport

Day 2 is really a transit day. We are in the air for 15 hours, with stops in Paris and Nairobi. We will arrive very late at the airport in Arusha.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

Day Two – in transit
CDG PARIS DE GAULLE, FRANCE 10:45 am.
Arrive NBO NAIROBI KENYATTA, KENYA 20:55 pm –
Arrive JRO KILIMANJARO, TANZANIA 23:50pm (7-hour difference) – 15 hours flying time

finally arriving at the airport in Arusha – 15 hours in flight

We advise group members to wear their trekking boots on the flight over – if luggage is lost it is difficult to replace your boots. That is a long time in your boots!

 

We have added in a rest day so we can start to recover from any jet lag and hopefully spend some time getting to see Arusha. It will be good to arrive.
Always with the mountain at our back.
Day Three – July 27th, a rest day in Arusha.
This is a good day to take it easy and get your gear together. You will have to weigh your gear to make sure you are not over what you are allowed to bring with you. Extra luggage will be left at the lodge.

There should be a scale at the hotel so you can weigh your bag. Extra stuff can be left at the hotel. It took me a while to get my weight right!

 

The rest of the day will be yours to relax, maybe go into Arusha and we will have our team meeting.

A tour of Arusha

 

Team Meeting – There will be a trip briefing this afternoon/evening. Please bring with you your passport and insurance details, and your air ticket details. The briefing will cover all aspects of your trip and will include the distribution of any hired equipment you have booked.

Our group briefing with our head guide, Living Maleo

Tomorrow we start for the beginning of the Lemosho Route!

First day on the trail
To Londorossi; begin ascent to Lemosho Forest (2650m).
In the morning we transfer to Londorossi (2250 m), passing between the slopes of Kilimanjaro and the horseshoe-shaped volcanic crater of Mt. Meru
(a distance of about 120 km).
After completing the necessary registration formalities, we drive on for a short distance through farmland and plantations to reach the Lemosho road head. The last 5 km of the road to the park gate is of poor quality, particularly after rain, and the drive there should be considered part of the adventure.
We often have our lunch in the glades before starting to walk. It is an easy day of walking up a small path through beautiful and lush forest, this area has a variety of game including buffalo. We camp at Lemosho Forest camp (2650 m). Approx 3-4 hours walking.

a video of the first day showing the weighing of bags at the trailhead and the beautiful vegetation at the beginning of the trek

our campsite after our first day of trekking in 2017

 

July 29 – Day Two
Explore Shira Plateau; camp at Shira One (3550m).
The trail starts out in the lush rich montane forest before ascending into the moorland zone of giant heather. The trail climbs steadily with views across
the plains opening out as we reach the rim of the Shira Plateau. There is a tangible sense of wilderness especially if the afternoon mists come in. We camp in the centre of the plateau at Shira One (3550 m). Approx 6-7 hours walking.

Shira One Camp, the summit is in the background

If you take a look at the altitude at Shira One, you will see it is over 3000m. Once you get over that boundary, you really begin to feel the altitude. Every effort becomes a challenge and you really need to take things slowly and be mindful of what you are doing. This is the world you live in for the next week.

These short videos give you a sense of what it is like on each stage of the Lemosho Route – no commentary, just the trail.

July 30 – Day Three
Walk to the summit of Shira Cathedral to camp at Shira Hut (3840m).
A day to help acclimatization and to explore the grassy moorland and the volcanic rock formations of the plateau. We walk to the summit of Shira Cathedral, a huge buttress of rock surrounded by steep spires and pinnacles.

Shira Cathedral

The views from our camp near Shira Hut (3840m) of Mt. Meru floating on the clouds are simply unforgettable. The afternoon is free to relax. Approx
4-5 hours walking.

This is an acclimatization day – you need days like this to help your body get used to the change in altitude. You will definitely be going at a slow pace now – don’t rush and stay with your guides!!

This is a good short video for you to watch. You will notice that the trekkers are going very slowly along the caldera, but all the time the altitude is increasing. By the end of the day, you will be over 3800m. A short, gentle day like this will help you to acclimatize for the journey ahead.

July 31 – Day Four

Leaving Shira One Camp

Descend to camp at Great Barranco Valley (3900m).

A morning of gentle ascent and panoramic views, walking on lava ridges beneath the glaciers of the Western Breach. After lunch near the Lava Tower junction (4550m), we descend to the bottom of the Great Barranco valley (3900m), sheltered by towering cliffs and with extensive views of the plains far below. Approx 5-7 hours walking.

This is a very long day. I remember this day very well as I went through bouts of altitude sickness throughout the day. Next time, I will be sure to take Diamox, something I didn’t do in 2017!

The guide says 5-7 hours walking, but I think it is longer than that. Remember, you are walking very slowly at this point, so taking your time is really important.

Walking away from Shira Camp – this is a long day at increasingly higher altitude
Pole! Pole!

lava tower in the mist – our lunch stop on Day Four

Day 4 up to the Lava Tower at 4,600m and dropping down to Barranco camp at 3,850m is one of the harder days. It can take between 6 and 8 hours depending on the group. It’s for days like this that we train so hard for this trek!

August 1 – Day Five
Over the Barranco Wall to Karanga (4000m).
A short steep climb up the famed Barranco Wall leads us to an undulating trail on the south-eastern flank of Kibo, with superb vistas of the southern icefields. The terrain changes to volcanic scree, with pockets of lush vegetation in sheltered hollows, and a powerful sense of mountain wilderness.

video footage from the Barranco Wall 2017. This is a tricky section where you have to hug the wall closely to get around a protruding rock

Our next camp is at Karanga (4000m) a short distance away. The valley floor has the last water point on the approach to Barafu and we camp on the higher sides of the valley with views towards the glaciers of the southern icefields. Approx 4-5 hours walking.
We are now sleeping at high altitude with one more camp to go before we make our summit attempt. The landscape now is barren, but beautiful. For me at least, the altitude sickness has calmed down. All I need to do now is breathe and keep moving one step at a time.

Karanga Camp. I don’t actually remember this camp very well. Altitude will do that to you.

 

August 2 – Day Six

This is a good day to rest – you will be getting up around 10:30 pm for your ascent to the summit

Steep ascent to Barafu campsite (4600m), with optional afternoon ascent to the bottom of S.E. Valley (4800m).
The trail follows a path on compacted scree with wide views ahead including the Barafu Ridge where our camp lies. The trail climbs unrelentingly to reach the Barafu campsite (4600m) for lunch, after which there is a short acclimatization walk to the plateau at the bottom of the southeast valley (4800m). The remainder of the day is spent resting in preparation for the final ascent and includes a very early night.
Approx 3-5 hours walking.
In honour of this day and to walk under the same moon, we will be doing a night walk tonight around the time we would be getting up for the summit attempt. This will be part of the Kilimanjaro Challenge put together by Nathalie and Remi Roy.

Heading from Karanga Camp to High Camp at Barafu. This is a slow and steady hike which takes 3/4 hours to get to high camp. Take your time as you ease your way to high camp.

August 3 – Day Seven
(full moon)
An early start to reach Stella Point in time for sunrise; on to Uhuru Peak (5895m), the highest point in Africa; descend to Millennium Camp (3800m).
We will start our ascent by torchlight around midnight so that we can be up on the crater rim by sunrise. The steep climb over loose volcanic scree has some well-graded zig-zags and a slow but steady pace will take us to Stella Point (5735m), in about five or six hours.
We will rest there for a short time to enjoy the sunrise over Mawenzi. Those who are still feeling strong can make the two hour round trip from here along the crater rim to Uhuru Peak (5,895m), passing close to the spectacular glaciers and ice cliffs that still occupy most of the summit area.

This shot was taken with my phone on a cold morning ascent of Kilimanjaro.
I took the picture then forgot about it. High altitude can easily do that to you!

The descent to Barafu is surprisingly fast, and after some refreshments, we continue to descend to reach our final campsite (3800m) at Millenium camp. Most of us will be too tired to notice the beauty of the forest surrounding the crowded campsite. This is an extremely long and hard day with between 11 and 15 hours of walking at high altitude.

Our group shot at Stella Point, probably around 9:30 April 2017. Stella Point (5739 m) is on the crater rim but it is still a two-hour return journey to Uhuru Peak (5895 m)

Once we had all gathered at Stella Point, I actually turned off my tracker. To my oxygen-starved brain, I was done. To people back home, it looked like I had fallen off the edge of the world.

Tracking the night of April 7. There is no track back…

Finally, a great video taken at sunrise going up towards the crater. Look at how slowly these climbers are going! At sunrise, they are at Stella Point. The group makes it to Uhuru – a beautiful series of shots. You can actually see the curvature of the Earth! I really want to make it to Uhuru next time!

August 4 – Day Eight
To Mweka Gate; transfer to Arusha.

You have descended 4255m in a day – it is great to be at low altitude again!

This day is a sustained descent on a well-constructed path through lovely tropical forest alive with birdsong and boasting lush undergrowth with considerable botanical interest. Our route winds down to the national park gate at Mweka (1650m); and on through coffee and banana farms to Mweka village. The shower, the beer, and the swimming pool are tantalizingly close! We return by bus to Arusha (a distance of about 100 km). Approx 4-6 hours walking.

The final day coming from Mweka camp 3,100m and exiting the national park at 1,900m. These last two days are tough going up to the summit at 5,895, to 1,900m do not underestimate this challenge.

A virtual climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro – Join Us!

On By paulmcguire2013In Christie Lake Kids, Climb for Kids, Climbing Kilimanjaro, Life in the Times of COVID - 191 Comment

We are organizing an event for all of you starting on the first day of summer – June 21st – a virtual climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Here is your opportunity to climb to the Roof of Africa under your own COVID roof!!

climbing the Barranco Wall

 

Each day for seven days we will put out to those who are interested 1) a step count that approximates the steps you would take on that particular day (8-10,000 steps); 2) a commentary embedded for you to listen to that goes over what that day on the trail is like;  3) a video log of that day by Arienne Parzei; 4) a conditioning follow-along video by Chase Tucker; 5) some music to inspire you for your day; 6) some Kilimanjaro interesting facts and; 7) a fun African recipe.

This will be sent to you in the form of a google slide that we will add to every day. Of course, it is up to each of you how many days you take to complete the challenge.

This is a screenshot of the day 1 slide

We will create a spreadsheet so you can record your steps every day. We will use our Facebook pages so you can record how you are doing, any inspirational messages for people or any group challenges you want to put out there! If you are new to all this, we will add you to our Kilimanjaro 2021 Facebook Page – an added bonus!!

 

We want to raise some money for Christie Lake Kids, but we are not emphasizing the fundraising nature of this experience. We are suggesting each participant contribute $58.95 – the height of Kilimanjaro in meters. If this works out well, we might do this as a full fundraiser this fall. We are still committed to raising over $40,000 for Christie Lake Kids before we actually climb Kilimanjaro in 2021. Right now, we are at $26, 722.

If you want, you can get sponsors to raise more money – we leave this up to you. With the pandemic, Christie lake Kids stills to raise money – most of its regular fundraisers have been postponed, but they still plan to run a really cool virtual camp this summer called Camp in a Box.

This is a good opportunity to invite more people into the Climb for Kids experience. If friends and/or family join, we will add them to the spreadsheet, to our Kili FB Page and make sure they get the link to our climbing slides.

Our poster for the virtual climb!

So, please let us know if you are interested and we will get you signed up! Write me here – mcswa1@gmail.com

Remember – Communities Move Mountains!

Make it a Story – Climb for Kids Kilimanjaro

On By paulmcguire2013In InnovationLeave a comment

So yesterday I got this encouraging note from Allan Neal of CBC Ottawa.

This was in response to my tweet about wanting to get some media coverage for Climb for Kids – a pretty difficult thing to do in the very crowded stage of radio and television coverage. I do agree, telling the story is what it is all about. Having a hook that will get people’s attention is a challenge, when there are so many stories out there in our city.

Elia Saikaly, an Ottawa native shot this video of the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro using a drone – this is where we plan to be in early August 2020

So, here we go. Here are some of the stories:

  • in 2017, middle -age, freshly retired and very tired principal climbs Mount Kilimanjaro with an organization that has raised over $1 Million for Ottawa organizations;
  • family decides – in collaboration with Christie Lake Kids Foundation (CLK) – to initiate Climb for Kids combining philanthropy with travel adventures and personal challenges;
  • over $67,000 is raised in two years;
  • 17 climbers ranging in age from 21 to 72 trek Apu Ausangate (Rainbow Mountains) in Peru reaching heights of 5200 metres; the next year, 14 trekkers trek 170 km around the Mont Blanc Massif, walking for 11 days through difficult terrain and heatwaves;
  • kids living across Ottawa, ranging in age from 8 – 16 years, benefit directly from the fundraising in sports and STEM programs;
  • local bands, businesses and individuals contribute time and money to Climb for Kids, including “Barry and the Blasters”;
  • in 2019, a growing group of new and old trekkers prepare for the climb to the Roof of Africa, July 2020.

The full story we wrote for CBC can be found here.

There are so many ways to start a story like this. From Paul’s perspective, he comes at this from a few angles. First, the climbing. “I am 61 years old and I fell in love with trekking in 2017 when I joined a group of 31 trekkers who climbed to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise money for programs for local charitable organizations here in Ottawa. The climbing was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I was able to raise over $9,000 for local programs. “

The following year, my partner, Heather Swail, and I decided to develop our own program so we could channel money and support to Christie Lake Kids (CLK) – an organization here in Ottawa that supports children in low-income families across the city. CLK has been and continues to be an important part of our own family story.

We know Christie Lake Kids through many perspectives: all three of our own kids have worked at the camp; Our eldest, Liam, currently is the associate director of the organization; Heather and I have taught and worked with many of the CLK kids who attend recreation programs and summer camp. We know firsthand what a difference caring adults and skill-building programs make to kids and their families.

Poverty and bad luck are situational: they should not define and restrict opportunities for kids. Through truly transformative, recreation programs – e.g., hockey, music lessons, cooking, leadership programs, they are doing something unique – day by day, trying to break the cycle of poverty firmly entrenched here in Ottawa and empower children to change the direction of their lives.

Because Christie Lake Kids is really a social justice venture we are propelled to recruit people every year to bring them trekking. We help them with their training, we pick the routes and we put on a series of great fundraising parties throughout the year.

Our year I team at our first fundraiser at Fatboys in the Market

We know we are going in the right direction, every year we pick up new partners and friends who are helping this to become a really dynamic project here in Ottawa.

Our group members really make this special. We have some people who have been with us for three years now, others join us for a year but continue to support us and spread the news. Our group members support each other and learn to work together, not only to train but to raise money. In the first two years of Climb for Kids, we have raised close to $60,000. This year, we plan to raise an additional $40,000.

Here is a short video from Tara Howlett, one of our trekkers in Peru – Year I of Climb for Kids

Our climbers are great. The video above was taken by Tara Howlett, one of the trekkers who joined us in Year I. Tara took many more videos like this during the five-day high altitude trek in the Ausangate Range in Peru. Her journal became the basis for the film we created about the first year journey.

On the Year II trek around the Mont Blanc Massif, another one of our climbers, Jodie Beyer actually broke her foot on the fourth day of a twelve-day trek. She kept on trekking in incredibly hot and dry conditions and only realized she had broken her foot when she returned to Canada.

These treks are really hard. Our first trek in Peru was over 4800 m for five days. Many suffered through the cold and high altitude, but everybody made it. Last summer, we trekked over 170 km through France, Switzerland and Italy, camping the whole way. It was simply beautiful but many times it was also a real struggle.

A video
paul took at the top of the Col de Tricot – one of the hardest climbs we did on the TMB

So this year we are taking on Mt. Kilimanjaro. This will be another great challenge. Kilimanjaro is very hard for a regular trekker. It is a long seven to eight-day trek, all at high altitude. We will climb through five ecological zones. While we start in the rain forest, by summit day we are living in arctic tundra. The summit is at 5,895 metres (19,341 ft) and as we climb altitude sickness becomes a real concern for everyone.

Our group in 2017 – scrambling up the Barranco Wall

I know this will be a very challenging climb and we are hoping to bring lots of trekkers with us. This is not for everyone and the process of recruiting people to take on the trek is a very slow one – one that drives me a little crazy! Right now we have 13 climbers and we would love to eventually have 20 people on the journey. We want to make it to $40,000 this year so we can reach the $100,000 mark for Christie Lake Kids.

In all of this there is lots of adversity, but maybe this is just a reflection of the challenges many of the kids CLK supports face every day. There needs to be change, there needs to be hope – this is why we do this – Communities Move Mountains.

Paul McGuire, Heather Swail Ottawa, November 2019

Climb for Kids Year II TMB

Christie Lake Kids Goes to Peru

On By paulmcguire2013In Christie Lake Kids, Climb for Kids, Climbing Kilimanjaro, Leaning in, slow travelLeave a comment

In a few days, we leave for the mountains of Peru. We are 17 climbers all raising money for Christie Lake Kids – transformative recreation for low-income children here in Ottawa.

A year ago we started putting this experience together. Our small team recruited hikers, planned fundraisers and over the space of eight months raised over $25,000.

This is the big idea. Come up with an exciting experience then recruit fellow adventurers who are willing to raise money for kids and work together to train for a demanding physical experience.

Climbing in the Peruvian Andes is an arduous experience. We will trek for 5 days and 4 nights reaching as high as 5200m (Mt. Everest is 8,848 m). Over the five days, we will never go below 4300m which means we will be living in a high altitude environment for an extended period of time, more than most of the group has attempted before.

We are a new group, we didn’t all know each other before this whole thing started. We have trained together and have held really fun fundraisers together, but the first time the entire group will be together will be in Cusco, Peru. We are united in our love of adventure and the willingness to support a truly wonderful organization that is changing the lives of children every day.

We are supported by Christie Lake staff, three different travel agencies, a wonderful local artist (who just happens to be one of our daughters), two outdoor gear stores which have sponsored us and given us equipment discounts, two physical trainers, various corporate sponsors (whose logos we will take to 5200m) and a tremendous number of individual stores and donors who have supplied silent auction items and venues for our group fundraisers. We also have so many contributors who have helped us surpass our original funding goal by $10,000. We now stand somewhere over $25,000!

just some of our sponsors from our first group fundraiser

So, with such a large community of supporters, I think it will be important to let people know how we progress through the mountains.

To do this, we will be using a great tool first suggested to me by Ottawa adventurer, Elia Saikaly. We will be using the InReach satellite tracker. Once activated, the tracker will send out a waypoint every ten minutes.

The InReach track I created on the way up Kilimanjaro last year. You may notice, there is no track down the mountain. For some unknown reason, I turned the InReach off once we reached the summit!

The link you can use to follow our progress is here: – https://share.garmin.com/climbforkids

I will also be able to use the InReach to post messages on Twitter and Facebook. We have some preset messages ready to go and I am able to send other messages during our trek. Here’s the tag #climbforkids.

We have also tried to catalogue most of the events that have taken place over the past year. For this, we are using an Esri Story Map, a great communication tool that allows you to tell a story using maps, video, audio recordings and pictures.

One of our Esri Story map pages highlighting an earlier fundraising achievement by the group.

I have a bunch of cameras that I will use to document the trip. The most important part of this will be to get the stories of the individual group members – why are they doing this, what are the challenges they see ahead, how did it feel to put yourself out there as a fundraiser?

The training is over and so is most of the fundraising (we are still happy to take donations here!) The story gets really interesting now as we pack our bags and get ready for a gruelling 11-flight from Ottawa to Cusco. We have a great group and we are raising money for a wonderful organization.

We all hope you follow us up the mountain!

The Importance of Team on Kilimanjaro

On By paulmcguire2013In Climbing KilimanjaroLeave a comment

our group photo on the Stella Point summit

Every day new impressions come to me about the Dream Mountains Kilimanjaro experience. Today I am thinking about the importance of team in our success in making it up the mountain.

Team is something that Shawn Dawson and the other leaders emphasized throughout our seven-month training period. We did group hikes in the Gatineau, we climbed Mt. Marcy, we got to know each other through team socials and events throughout the fall and winter. The importance of ‘team’ was pounded into us.

We actually only really came together as a group once we were all together in Tanzania as our team came from locations across the country.

Through six days of hard climbing on the mountain things changed. We really became a solid unit. We were all that we had. On the mountain we added 93 porters and guides to our ever expanding team. We were becoming a unit moving towards the summit.

another day of trekking up Kilimanjaro – we always climbed as a group

This is where team becomes real. I remember one day near the Lava Tower. I was totally exhausted mainly due to the effects of altitude sickness. My group headed out and I just couldn’t keep up with them as we scrambled down steep scree. I should have stayed behind, but that was my group and I needed to be with them. After a few minutes of scrambling, dizzy and head aching, I saw just ahead of me a smiling Jason Colley, calming waiting for me. ‘We saw you on the scree, so I thought I would wait for you’.

Saved by the group! I formed up with the others and made it down the steep descent to our next camp. Jason, our group leader stayed behind me the rest of the way to make sure I made it down safely to camp.

On the summit night, I was part of a group of climbers who found ourselves together, alone on the mountain slope. The sun was just coming up, but we were chilled to the bone and exhausted. We sought shelter behind a big rock and tried to figure out what to do. Some of us – including me – suggested turning around. We really didn’t know where we were on where we were heading. We were immobilized as more climbers piled into our shelter equally exhausted. Then a super duo, Megan and Heather Benoit (twins no less), told us all to get our act together and get climbing. No one had a better idea so slowly we started following Heather and Megan up the slope.

On the slope close to our group’s ‘moment of truth’

This was the ultimate team moment. Shawn couldn’t do any more for us. He had trained us well, now it was up to us. We all turned toward the summit and every member of our group summited within the next two hours.

This was for me the most dramatic moment in the climb. We were a true group, formed through challenge and hardship, totally trusting in each other. We encouraged each other for the next two hours and then happily embraced when we finally made it to Stella Point.

Another moment. Much later in the day we descended from the peak to a rain forest camp. I had injured my leg on the initial descent and was very slow getting down. The other climbers, equally exhausted had gone ahead and I was alone on a steep and rocky trail.

A porter, carrying another mammoth load saw me and stayed with me all the way down to the camp. It got very dark on the trail and I didn’t want to stop to find my headlamp. No need, the porter lighted my way down all the way to camp. Once we finally arrived, he made sure I signed in and then passed me off to another porter who led me to my tent in the pitch darkness. I thankfully collapsed into our tent so grateful again for the wonderful team who shared the mountain with us.

Our wonderful team gathers for a photo on the last morning of our descent to the park gates

Do the best teams develop through adversity and challenge? I am not sure. I only know that I feel closer to these people than I have felt to any group for years. Obviously, I don’t include my family and the people I worked with at my last wonderful school, but apart from these people, I can’t think of another group of people that I feel a closer bond to.

What a wonderful privilege to have experienced this level of closeness with people who were complete strangers only a few months ago – what a true gift. Maybe this is the true meaning behind this experience, there is huge value in working closely with people in situations of true adversity – this is where you really can define what it means to be a member of a team.

If I decide to climb again, the group experience will certainly be one of the main reasons for going through all of this again!


a wonderful, joyous celebration with our porters and guides the morning of the final descent

Lessons learned while climbing Kilimanjaro

On By paulmcguire2013In Climbing Kilimanjaro5 Comments

On Mt. Kilimanjaro, we climbed for 8 days, usually 6-8 hours a day, not including the 16-hour summit day.

That gives a climber lots of time to think.

Now that I am back in Canada, I am trying to put together some of the lessons I have learned while on the climb. There are several I am mulling over now, I am sure there will be more later.

First, take risks. Its a short life and it is very easy to get caught up in the comfortable routine of everyday life. I sincerely believe that you need to be looking for the risks out there that will make you a stronger person, that will help your school, that will enhance learning and that ultimately will stretch you out of the comfort zones we all enjoy too much.

For me, I needed to get out of the destructive cycle of work and I needed to challenge myself physically and spiritually. In some ways, I needed to find some way to cleanse myself from the corporate education world. Bitterness and cynicism were seeping in and I needed a totally new challenge to break a destructive cycle. Climbing the highest mountain in Africa seemed to be the ticket.

The Barranco Wall – looking down

If you are not taking risks, what are you doing? What are you waiting for? Why are you wasting your time waiting for something to happen – nothing will unless you make it happen.

Second, your body is your vehicle. I have taken part in some challenging physical ventures over the years. As a youth, I planted trees in the mountains of British Columbia. Later, I ran marathons and more recently, I took part in bike touring events stretching over two days and over 300 Km.

What I learned from these experiences and again on Kilimanjaro was that without a well-maintained body I was going nowhere. I trained hard for six months to build up my muscles and lung capacity, I was careful about what I ate, I drank up to 6 litres of water every day on the mountain. All of this because I wasn’t going to make it if my body shut down – it was the only way I was going to summit.

This is a great thing. We really don’t have to depend on our bodies very much. We may appreciate them more when we get sick, but generally, we live a pretty sedentary life and we make few demands on our bodies. It is liberating to turn your focus on your own body and see it as the only vehicle that will help you reach your goals. I appreciate my body more now and am committed to keeping it in good shape to be ready for the next challenge.

Tough morning of steep climbing on the way to Shira Camp

Third, what is your social mission? We are all connected and many of us in the Global North are very privileged. So when choosing a venture or a project, ask yourself what is the social good I am creating as part of this project. For us, this was easy, each of us was connected to a charity through the Dream Mountains Foundation.

If I ever do this again (I can’t believe I just wrote that), I will do it because the expedition will allow me to give back to the community – in my case the Sens Foundation.  Everything we do is social and everything we do should have some social good attached to it. When I worked at my last school, all our projects were designed around the idea of helping students and families that did not have the same opportunities as most of us enjoy. All of the Dream Mountains charities try to address this imbalance.

Finally, listen to people who know what they are talking about. As a principal, it was easy to disregard the advice I received from many people. Part of this was plain arrogance, part of this was based on the fact that I didn’t always receive very good advice that could help our students and our school – very few people at the district level had a good understanding of the roadblocks to progress that existed for our children.

So, it is important to discern. Who has valuable advice. Who is motivated to work with you to make you and others successful? This is a challenging process and you may be disappointed – many times over. Having said this, there are good, wise people out there who will work with you and will ensure that you are successful.

On Kilimanjaro, we had three people like this – Shawn Dawson, Kristi Johnston and Jason Colley – our Canadian guides. Each of these people consistently gave us all important advice that prepared us for this incredible climb and that protected us on the mountain. I can’t say I always liked their advice, but they were right, they were experienced and most importantly they knew how to lead people – a very rare commodity in my opinion.

I can say I listened to them, I took their advice and I have immense respect for all three of them. In your own ventures and work, try to seek out people like this, people you can really trust who will not let you down.

If you are a leader, try and do this yourself. Don’t disappoint the people who work with you. Strive to give them advice that will empower them and help them grow.

Make sure they make it to the top of their mountain.

Our Dream Mountains Team at the beginning of the climb

Summiting Kilimanjaro

On By paulmcguire2013In Climbing Kilimanjaro3 Comments

Very early in the morning (around midnight), we begin our push to the summit. This is the most mentally and physically challenging portion of the trek. The wind and cold at this elevation and time of day can be extreme. We ascend in the darkness for several hours while taking frequent, but short, breaks. Near Stella Point (18,900 ft), you  will be rewarded with the most magnificent sunrise you are ever likely to see coming over Mawenzi Peak.

Ultimate Kilimanjaro – Machame Route

This is a challenging post to write, but it is the post that needs to be written now – how we summited Mount Kilimanjaro on April 7th and 8th.

We trained very hard for this climb and our training never let us down. We were able to trek for days up the Machame Route, considered a high difficulty route, especially in the rainy season.

Because of the roundabout nature of the route, we saw the summit almost every day, although for days the summit seemed elusive and distant. How we were going to summit such a massive peak remained a mystery.

Our route up the mountain recorded by my InReach tool and translated to Google Earth

The summit in the distance

We worked our way up through the camps, dealing daily with less oxygen, to the point where it was a major struggle to put your socks on in the morning. Scurrying up a short incline would leave you breathless and all our Canadian and Tanzanian guides had to warn us not to rush – ever.

Our approach to the summit involved a 5-hour climb to Karanga Camp (elevation 13,106 ft). We realized that we would never sleep at this camp. We ate a great lunch (the food was always great!) and then rested for the afternoon. At 6:30 PM we all gathered for dinner and were organized into three summiting groups, each led by a Canadian and Tanzanian guide. I was part of the first (slowest) group and we were instructed to be ready to summit by 11:00 PM that night.

Karanga Camp

At the appointed time, we gathered up in a straight line in complete darkness, illuminated only by our headlamps.

We were in utter darkness, totally dependant on our guides, heading now to a summit that was invisible. Soon, the weather turned vicious. The group was buffeted by very strong ice cold winds that cut through all of our clothing layers. We hid behind rocky outcrops to get respite from the wind and to layer up. Eventually, I was wearing everything I had with me – two tightly woven merino wool layers, a hard rain shell, my down-filled Kilimanjaro puffy and another hard shell.

This bizarre combination seemed to do the trick, allowing me to move without being cut in two by the winds.

We climbed very slowly through the night, sometimes with our guides who encouraged us to dance and sing to keep warm, sometimes on our own. The night went on forever. Far below, we could see the second group coming up the trail by their bobbing string of lights.

At some point, probably around 7:00 AM, we found ourselves on a broad, steep slope. We were scattered all over the mountain with no real sense of where we were heading.

dawn on the mountainside

This is when high altitude really began to kick in. Nothing can prepare you for this. It is very easy to get disorientated above 18,000 ft and as a group, even with the encouragement of our Tanzanian guides, we really didn’t know what we were doing.

We decided as a group to continue up the mountain face, even though it was impossible to see the summit! We were reaching for the crater rim – Stella Point (elevation 18,884 feet). The summit was really a long ridge and I really didn’t know we were at the summit until I stumbled up to it.

The crest of the summit – Stella Point

We had probably been climbing for around 11 hours at this point and our little group was totally exhausted. We could have continued to move on the Uhuru Peak, but almost all of our group was wiped by the night climb and only three of 30 climbers made it to the next peak on the volcano rim.

This was an incredible feat. As I wrote about the Barranco Wall, it takes a few days to realize what an achievement this is. It is starting to sink in at this point, especially the incredible will power it took to make that night climb.

We did really well – 28 climbers summited at Stella Point. The general overall success rate is around 65%, so we did much better than the average. I think our success has a great deal to do with the incredible training and leadership of our Canadian guide team – Shawn Dawson, Kristi Johnston and Jason Colley and the amazing support of our families and friends back home.

The climb is over, we are safely home, we have achieved something special.