Erin completed the climb of Kilimanjaro on March 8th, 2018 (International Women’s Day).
Continent – Africa
Country – Tanzania / Regional airport: Arusha
Cost: $2,800 (Whiskey route)
Peak Season: May-September
Length, Days: 8 days
Elevation – 19,341 feet (5,895 m)
Kilimanjaro’s Machame Route (Whiskey Route) provides a rolling path up the sides of Kilimanjaro giving views of all sides of the mountain by the time a climber has completed. There are two days that stand out as more difficult for climbers along the route: the Baranco Wall and summit day.
Not long after leaving Baranco camp and climber faces The Wall. Baranco wall is a steep section of trail where a climber is expected to scramble for the first several hours of the day. Because of the steepness of the trail and popularity of Kilimanjaro the wall creates traffic jams as travelers, porters and guides compete to pass through narrow bottlenecks. This section of trail is the only stretch that is of significant risk to a climber or support staff.
Summit Day is also a well-known climb-stopper. On summit day a climber will face a 3,800’ climb over the course of 3 miles. While that’s an average grade of about 25%, the most of the climb is much steeper. Base Camp, at 16,500’ is higher than the peak altitude of several of the 7 Summits, and nearly all basecamps in the 7 Summits. Spending a night at 16,500’ has given many aspiring climbers a strong dose of self doubt and acute mountain sickness.
In Erin’s words:
“I had only been home from Mt Kosciusko for 8 days, but my will to lift and prove myself was still intact, and my thirst for adventure more intense. Now I also had a small reserve of esteem and confidence in my own body that I’d never known.
I had booked a trip to Africa with some fear. I committed my next exploration to taking on a trip I’d completed before, into Tanzania, and to the top of Kilimanjaro. Seven years earlier, I’d watched the sun arise on the “Rooftop of Africa”, the summit of Kilimanjaro. I was ready to do it again, to prove I could go back, and to prove I was just as strong as I’d ever been. I wantonly booked the ticket, knowing I had connections on the ground in Tanzania, and then was struck by the reality that Tanzania wasn’t known as an LGBT friendly destination, nor was Africa by and large. As proof, Tanzania still had a law on the books that provided for intense fines, and 30-year prison sentences for anyone convicted in court of being in a same-sex and male relationship. And, while woman in same-sex relationships faced only 5 years as a possible prison sentence, rape was known to have been used as a deranged form for conversion therapy for those thought to be lesbian.
My limited budget made the convenience and cost of the connections and resources I used in 2011 an attractive option, but I knew I needed to be stealth in entering Africa in order to assure my own safety. The problem was the African tour providers remembered me in my former life as “Aron”, and remembered my name, and I couldn’t reasonably explain my transition as I didn’t want to negatively affect my chances of survival as I proceeded on my quest to summit Kilimanjaro.
I informed my tour provider that I (Erin) was the cousin of his former client (Aron), and that my cousin had directed me to him. It worked. I arrived at the airport, and found the same face that met me just 7 years earlier.
Kilimanjaro is an 8-day hike both ways I had chosen to climb it over 2 attempts. While my first summit attempt went off without delay, now in my female form I found roadblocks to my progress. As I arrived, the tour failed to come together as planned. For 2 days I watched miscues and scheduling mistakes delay my departure. I’d transferred my money and trusted my guide, but I faced challenges now as a woman that I never had before. And in this male dominated culture where I was also fearful to being discovered my ability to move forward depended on me adapting. I manifested a more nurturing, patient, and supporting posture while staying firm. This was almost out of necessity, as they quickly tuned me out if I took a more aggressive or demanding approach. My patience yielded results, and 5 days later, on International Women’s day, I found myself watching the sun ascend over from the rooftop of Africa. This time as my true self, and this time the feeling meaning so much more.
By the end of my tour, I’d grown a healthy appreciation for the challenges woman face in around the world. While I don’t have time to discuss that now, what I can say is that the marginalization of being ignored, patronized, and often even talked down to and intimidated is something most men may never know or experience on the level I did on that trip. I can definitively say that I certainly hadn’t known those tribulations before going on that trip, and had taken for granted my ability to effortlessly move through the world before.
7 years earlier I climbed to the summit of Kilimanjaro hoping to convince to myself and prove to the world that I had it all. I left Africa in March of 2018 knowing that I’d never been closer.”