To the top!!!

Prior to setting off , my " rest" was punctuated by 2 consultations so was not particularly restful, so I set off a bit behind the team at midnight in the cold moonlight. A steady pace saw Rajab and I warm up adequately but as we caught our group of 30 we also caught up with several other sizeable groups and there was a bit of a slow traffic jam of 100 or so inching there way upwards. It felt a bit like the south ridge of Everest , without the bodies to step over...Either way, the slower pace allowed our temperatures to drop and it was hard work keeping warm enough. Water bottles were freezing. All clothes were being worn. Still cold. Otherwise, I felt pretty good , no headache, vague nausea only- until dawn at 6.30.
For a variety of reasons I've never been a big fan of dawn😴 and usually find it's a bit of a disappointment but today was pretty special watching the sun emerge from the sea of clouds and, thank god, bring a little warmth with it.
Unfortunately around the same time I started to feel the lack of oxygen., I'd had a bit of interaction with 4 of the group on the way up and shortly after dawn they had all started descending. They were exhausted going into summit day and , not surprisingly, had nothing left in the tank. A bit of altitude sickness on top and not unreasonably they were happy to go down. Soon after I was suffering too and not really in a place to offer any medical advice. I could see Stella point, on the crater rim and all I could do was focus on getting there, "pole pole".
The view from Stella point opened out across the crater with icy remnants of the glacier strewn amongst the barren scree strewn moon scape. However the summit was in sight , and I finally took Rajab offer to carry my bag and at about 9am we made the summit-9hrs after i had set off. Asked later this undoubtedly was the high point of my trip, in more ways than one, but the severe lassitude made it equally the low point.
After the customary summit photos I was relieved to find that downhill was 100% easier than uphill and progress downwards, into that thick oxygen soup was relatively easy- albeit over tough ankle twisting loose scree and slabs.
I passed Hels and Mark and their team maybe 90mins from the summit, looking strong after a 5am start.Read more