Hiking Mt Kenya - chose courage over fear

For five days towards the end of December of 2002, I hiked the second-highest and steepest mountain in Africa.

Why did I do it?

1. Because I was told I couldn't do it.

2. The thought of climbing #MtKenya was too terrifying - I just had to beat the fear.

3. I needed a reference point - a reminder that if I could conquer one of the most challenging mountains in the world, I could overcome anything thrown at me.

To say it was tough is an understatement. Any climber will tell you that the higher you go, the thinner the air gets - breathing becomes laborious and the body starts to get weak.

We hiked through scorching heat, heavy rains, hailstones, glacier, carefully inched across cliff edges such that whenever I dared to glance 14,000 ft down, all that was visible were pointed brown and whitish rocks jarring through the blackness.

Still, I hiked that mountain and have a broken toe to show for it??.

A moment that stands out was when we came across a stream in the middle of nowhere. It was wide and the water was fairly high rushing downstream while making this haunting noise that made me feel a certain way.

Everyone on the team but me walked or swam across. I froze. I'm not a swimmer (that's another story). My team cajoled, begged, screamed yet for the life of me I could not move. Then my friend and team lead Kanja Wa Mungai said to me, "I know you are afraid but I want you to understand that one of the reasons you came here is to push through your fears. I can see moving water scares you but I can never let anything happen to you. So, climb on my back and I will carry you across". The whole 1.75m of me piled myself on Nelson's back. It was less emotionally daunting than keeping everyone waiting. Plus, I have never declined a piggyback, so, I let Nelson carry me across the river. The biggest lesson was - never be too proud to receive help, there will be times when I will need to put my pride aside to lean on others and there's always a community cheering you on, you just need to look beyond the challenge.

I picked up so many lessons during the climb. I am a fast walker - my stride is quite long so the actual hike was fun for me often finding myself right behind the team leader. Though at times, I 'd slow my pace and check-in with others. I enjoyed and valued the climbing much more than reaching Point Lenana which is the third highest peak at 16,355 ft. The day we got to the summit was when President Kibaki came into power defeating the late President Daniel Arap Moi in an unprecedented election.

On the summit tired as we were, we sang, danced, prayed and celebrated the new era, new year and ourselves for choosing courage over fear.

Whenever life happens and it is trying - what I call the pruning season, choose courage over fear. Take that risk, ask for help and permit yourself to receive it. I hope my experience will cause you to push harder, your dream or goal is within reach??