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Ascent of Bwahit on 2012-12-22

Climber: James Benz

Others in Party:	Maddison Tim Katya
Date:	Saturday, December 22, 2012
Ascent Type:	Successful Summit Attained
Peak:	Bwahit
Location:	Ethiopia
Elevation:	14534 ft / 4429 m
Ascent Trip Report We awoke to a 23 degree morning. We had pitched our tents away from the other parties, as we had arrived late and the camping area was crowded. The outhouse was gross, only a 9” hole in the stone floor, lots of misses and apparently never cleaned. For my morning toilet I dug a cat hole away from the camp. Finally, with everyone up, we gathered our guide (required to enter the Simien Mountains National Park) and began the hike. The guide took us cross country directly towards the peak. We did cross the road above the switchbacks at “No Name Viewpoint” and admired the views from the cliff tops, and resumed the cross country climb. My two daughters were emotionally drained from the effort, and gave up after a couple of miles. I was told to go on with the guide, started off, but then returned to encourage the girls to continue after a lengthy rest. The guide continued straight up to the summit. I tried to show the girls how to make their own switchbacks through the rocks to lessen the climb. I tried to instruct them in mountain walking to give them a rest pause with every step, but they bulled their way to the top. I loved the climb! The girls swore they would never do this again. I’ll admit they were not prepared for the altitude, and I had not packed any ibuprofen for the altitude headaches. I had collapsed the transverse arch in my left foot a few years back. I was still having problems walking over 4 miles. The rocky cross country climb had negatively impacted my taped foot, so I had the guide take us back down via the road. Back at camp, the hike over, I was headed to the tea house when I stepped on the side of a hump grass mound. I rolled and cracked my ankle. The swelling was horrendous, but my daughter in her second year of medical school treated me. I continued walking on the ankle for two more weeks, all through the rest of our 1400 mile trip in northern Ethiopia and on to 4 days in Rome, my “doctor daughter” retaping my ankle along the way. The walking on the ankle, realigned the bones, and the collapsed arch is now more comfortable up to 12 mile walks. Mount Bwahit is now measured at 14,557 feet.