Mt. Kili Trek Via Lemosho Route Day Two-Part II

"Move yourself.You always live your life
Never thinking of the future
Prove yourself.You are the move you make
Take your chances win or loser
See yourself. You are the steps you take
You and you - and that's the only way
Shake shake yourself
You're every move you make
So the story goes.Owner of a lonely heart
Much better than owner of a broken heart"
Owner of a lonely heart by Yes

All afternoon the rain poured. I was soaked to the bone right through four different layers of clothes down to my undergarments. Thankfully my feet, strapped securely in my military grade hiking boots, remained bone dry and warm. The rain was unrelenting; the temperature was dropping drastically, and our team had a few hours left before reaching our final camp.

Pelt.Pelt.Pelt. This couldn't be happening, I thought to myself in disbelief. As luck would have it, it began to hail. Each hailstone was roughly the size of a Nerds candy pebble and showered us with rapid-fire speed. Cold, soaked, and tired, now my exposed hands and skin were pelted with tiny hailstones, and it felt like a hundred different rubber bands snapping my skin at the same time. It hurt.  It is an unusual mental state when you face a physical challenge and realize that the only way towards relief is through it. There was no turning back to our previous camp, and the only way to get to the next stop was forward.  One.Two.Three.Four...I began reciting numbers quietly to myself. It was an inane, mindless activity but what I needed to turn my mind off and stay focused on moving. The continuous trekking kept my metabolic rate high and my body heat temperature steady in spite of the piercing numbing sensation.

After another hour or so, the hail and rain subsided, and I began to feel a sense of relief. I was drenched to the bone, and my daypack was heavy from the excess water weight.  In spite of my predicament, I managed to keep pace and stay right on the heels of our trek leader. We stopped for a short break and waited for the rest of the team to catch up. The guide eyed me up and down.

"How you feel Yolla?" he asked

"Fine," I answered quickly. I didn't want him to think I was a softy.

"Just a little wet?" he remarked with an approving smile

"Only a little" I answered proudly. Denial can be healthy in certain situations, and this was one of them.

"We get to camp in 30minutes" he answered reassuringly.

Our team regrouped, and we set forward for the final leg of the trek. Without the rain and hail, I now had only to contend with the cold freezing wind. One.Two.Three.Four... I stayed focus on the numbers and moving my limbs. After what seemed to be 45minutes, I noticed in the short distance a camp with army green tents and I felt a wave of elation wash over me. I quickly got my second wind and trekked speedily to the camp. My teeth were chattering, and limbs were convulsing with shivers. I jumped into my tent; hurriedly opened my duffel bag; and thanked God everything in it was bone dry. I barely managed to inflate my sleeping pad, roll out my down sleeping bag and quickly peel every wet layer of clothes off me. I jumped into my bag, zipped it up to my head. My body began to thaw, and my eyes grew heavy with exhaustion, I was proud of myself for enduring the ordeal and completing the day. But heck, I had another six days of this?! I sure as hell better learn something about myself.