Mount Karisimbi - 14,787 ft.

Four of us guys, missionaries in Rwanda, decided a couple months ago to hike Rwanda's tallest peak - Karisimbi. This mountain is part of the Virunga mountains which are extinct volancos. Karisimbi is sometimes snowcapped, thus it's Kinyarwandan name referring to snow. So, we've been training off and on in preparation of our trip.

We started the summit on Wed., July 8th at 7,200 ft. and hiked to base camp which took us about 5hrs. Already we were pretty tired since we carried up all our gear - 26 to 30 lbs for each pack. It was also neat to have about a half dozen Rwandan soldiers with us. They carried AK-47's and one guy had a bazooka. They were protecting their borders but also us from cape bufallo, gorillas, and guerillas. We didn't see any of these three.

The next morning we left at 5:30am with temperatures around 35 degrees. The one pictuture shows us hiking up above tree line. We summited Karisimbi - 14,787 ft - around 9am. It was beautiful. You could see neighboring Congo just yards away with Mt. Mikeno looking back at us (this is the mt. behind us in the last picture). We sat up at the top for about a half hour, singing thanks to the Lord for His Creation. Afterwards, we headed down and out. Rwandan is such a magnificent country. We saw such beautiful scenery, from moss covered trees that were ancient to trees that looked like they were from a Dr. Seuss book.

For my friends and family: Drew Custer: notice my coat and Jordan Clark: my Jacko hiking pole. Both are going strong. And Haley, I'm wearing the hat you and Joe bought me for Christmas. I look good.