The Redding Pilot, February 17, 2007
Three Reddingites Hike Kilimanjaro
Over the course of eight long days in late December and early January, three Redding friends — Albert Viscio, Bradley Kocka, and John Gelinas — hiked Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa.
Located in tropical Tanzania in East Africa, and just three degrees south of the equator, Kilimanjaro is so high that there are glaciers on its peaks. Hemingway made the fact famous when he published the short story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” in which he described the mountain as, “...Wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun.”
At 19,340 feet, Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-standing mountain in the world. Created by the collective forces of three volcanoes in the Great Rift Valley that extends from the Middle East to southern Africa, Kilimanjaro rises from just above sea level, through lowlands, cultivated countryside, rainforests, heath and moorland, desert, high desert, and a frozen alpine zone.
Trekking on the Lemosho Route from the west, through days of rain, and sloshing through tracks of mud, the friends (along with four other friends not from Redding) got a reprieve from the tiresome precipitation when they enjoyed a glorious sunset from Shira Plateau at 12,000 feet above sea level on New Years’ Eve.
Four days later, after braving more rainstorms, mud, snow, and an unrelenting blizzard with winds topping 70 miles an hour while they hiked from the Barafu basecamp to the summit, Mr. Gelinas and Mr. Kocka — who have been local Boy Scout leaders in Redding for many years — flew the international Boy Scouting flag at Uhuru Peak, Kilimanjaro’s highest point.
“We were ecstatic,” said Mr. Gelinas. “It was a thrill,” added Mr. Kocka. “The Boy Scouting movement was started by Lord Baden-Powell in England in 1907. Scouts and scouters from around the world are celebrating its 100th anniversary, and we started the year by flying the flag from the top of Kilimanjaro!”
While in Tanzania, the friends also visited a local orphanage, and camped and toured the famous Serengeti Plain, Ngorongoro Crater, and Lake Manyara. Although there were many highlights of their wonderful opportunity to visit Africa, for which they are grateful, the greatest was the Kilimanjaro adventure, they agreed. “We are Kili brothers!” the three cheered.