TRANSFORMATIVE TREK

BY JIM GRANT PHOTOGRAPHY BY ERIC ADSIT

Northwood’s L.E.A.P. (Learn, Engage, Apply, Perform) program, an experiential learning curriculum launched in 2017, takes students and faculty out of the classroom for collaborative, firsthand experiences. Perhaps the most physically and psychologically challenging L.E.A.P. offering of the year was the ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro, which at 19,321 feet is the highest peak in Africa and the tallest freestanding mountain in the world.

After they learned the FISU games would require our students to be off campus in January this year, an adventurous group of Northwood faculty got together and planned L.E.A.P.’s most ambitious trip ever. NOC Director Bobby O’Connor, Dean of Academics Noel Carmichael (who married her husband, Chisondi, on the summit of Kilimanjaro) and Director of the L.E.A.P. program Maroy Fagan teamed up to plan a NOC-style trip.

With proper planning and the combined experience of the trip’s ten students (Uma Naima Laguna-Curtis ’26, Colton Cushman ’25, Gus Garvey ’25, Alex Randall ’25, Sophia Sherman ’25, Brian Brady ’24, Ashely Guevara ’24, Avery Novia ’24, Wyatt Wardlaw ’24, and Finley Donahue ’23), faculty Noël, Chisondi, Bobby, Marcy, Tait Wardlaw, a parent who is a backcountry expedition leader and wilderness expert; Eric Adsit, expedition photographer; and Dr. William O’Connor, expedition physician, the group embarked on an adventure and transformational learning experience.

The group arrived in Tanzania after a 15-hour flight from JFK to the city of Arusha and met the guides and porters who would assist the group. The Lemosho Route, which is often considered the most beautiful of all the trekking trails up Mt. Kilimanjaro, crossing the entire Shira Plateau from west to east, was chosen for the ascent.

The next day, a four-hour drive from Arusha to Kilimanjaro, introduced the beauty of Tanzania including many giraffes in the distance. The following day, the group’s adventures, which they share in the following timeline, began.

DAY ONE of the undertaking was a four-hour climb to Camp Mti Mkubwa. Marcy shares, “I think our first day was one of the most memorable because we were so eager to get going and to see what it would be like to be at the first camp, see how many people would be there; just the anticipation of it all. Kilimanjaro is made up of five major ecological climate zones, and the first camp is in the Cultivation Zone where among other things, we saw monkeys.” Day One also included the first meal of the expedition. For the duration, food was prepared for the trekkers which included soups, stews, chicken, beef, lentils, potatoes, rice, and eggs.

DAY TWO saw the Northwood team cover approximately ten miles to Shira II Camp located on the Shira Plateau, and a gain of 4,000’ in elevation, reaching camp at 12,700’. Junior Avery Novia says, “While I was hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro, I had amazing experiences. I believe that the most special moment was sitting on a rock in the Shira II camp with three of my friends. There wasn’t much to it, and we weren’t doing anything but sitting there, but the silence was so loud and beautiful. I sensed the pure excitement and awe of my friends even though none of us were verbally expressing it. Being able to sit there with people I value while being in the most amazing place and taking in the most amazing view was something so special and so once-in-alifetime, I will never forget it.”

DAY THREE had the team ascend to 15,500’ to the famed Lava Tower, a 300-foot-tall rock formation formed from lava when Kilimanjaro was still an active volcano, and then trek down to Camp Barranco, which is at 13,100’ to aid in acclimatization to help avoid altitude sickness. Sophomore Alex Randall shares, “We hiked from our second camp, Shira II, up four thousand feet to Lava Tower, and then back down four thousand feet to Barranco Camp. I was walking with one of our guides, Tim, and he was telling me about all the different forms of animals up that high. We talked about guiding, and he was really supportive and told me that I would be a great guide. It was super inspiring. Also on Day Three I was able to walk with two different sections of our group and later by myself, and all I heard was the wind and the sound of my breath. A large field of debris extended down the mountain into the clouds and there was a cliff to my left. I was alone in this MASSIVE environment, and it was the most spectacular feeling I have ever experienced. I felt small but also a part of something.”

DAY FOUR saw a chilly, rainy day and after four miles the team arrived at 13,200’ Karanga Camp, a name derived from the Karanga Valley which cuts through the southern side of the Kilimanjaro National Park. Senior Finley Donahue says, “The thing I got out of this trip that I really didn’t expect was how much closer I got to everyone I traveled with by sharing moments of simple joy during a life-changing experience.”

DAY FIVE challenged the team with a four-hour climb to Barafu Camp. Barafu is Swahili for “ice” and the camp is rocky with sparse alpine desert vegetation. The group stayed overnight at 15,200’ preparing for the final push to the summit. They had lunch, tried to sleep a bit, enjoyed dinner together, rested and then gathered for the last ascent at 12:00 midnight. The next four miles included 4,000’ of elevation gain, mostly over loose stone scree and a windchill of near zero to Stella Point. Physically fatigued but elated, a stunning sunrise greeted the Northwood L.E.A.P. team. As sophomore Colton Cushman recalls, “At Stella Point, we observed the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen.” Junior, Wyatt Wardlaw, shares, “On the final day when we began to push for the summit, we started at midnight. It was snowing and pitch black. We trekked for hours through freezing temperatures and an increasingly steep pitch. As energy levels within the group plummeted, after six agonizing hours the sky lit up orange, and morale was quickly growing. To see the sunrise over the grasslands of eastern Africa 19,000 feet below us was truly special, and a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

As famed naturalist, John Muir, said about mountain climbing, “We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”

Noël agrees, “This experience, both on the mountain and in Tanzanian culture, is something these students and faculty will take with them the rest of their lives. I am so proud of this accomplishment and feel blessed to be able to take students on learning experiences to some of the most amazing places around the world.”