Journey to the Top of the world, Part 2 The push for the summit Dr. Ryan Iverach is a chiropractor and Registered Trigenics Practitio- ner practising in Vancouver, British Columbia. He has been in practice for 10 years in Canada and the United States and is currently enrolled in the CCSS (C) sports chiropractic residency program. He can be reached at drryan@back 2health.ca” Ryan Iverach and his trekking group atop the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. BarranCo wall and BEyond On the morning of Day 4, we awoke to clear skies and saw that our camp was in the shadow of the cinder cone that now loomed 6,000 feet directly above us. The day’s first task would be ascending the Barranco Wall – a steep, unforgiving maze of switchbacks and thigh-high steps that rises 800 feet. at a very aggressive angle. Some team members had difficulty with the trail’s close proximity to scary drop offs that would surely put an end to one’s trekking for the day, if not for a lifetime! At the summit of the wall we found a number of porters encouraging us with singing and clapping. It was a feel-good mo- ment that brought the porters and trekkers together in celebration of a job well done. With the Barranco Wall behind us a rather bizarre, relatively level moonscape lay before us. The flat terrain made for an easy 4 km traverse to the edge of an 800 feet gorge that we needed to descend and then immediately ascend to reach Karanga Camp (13,500 feet). The gorge left many of us asking, “Where’s the suspension bridge?” and dreaming of a zipline that would spare our weary legs. Bedtime at Karanga Camp brought with it a fair amount of anxiety with the thought that the next day would be the start of our bid for the summit. Sleep apnea and general restlessness were now beginning to make me not look forward to “going to sleep.” The night was a frustrating experience of repeatedly glancing at my watch only to realize that mere minutes had past since the last time I had glanced at my watch. An agonizing 32 • CANADIAN CHIROPRACTOR | FEBRUARY 2010 Continued on Page 34 www.canadianchiropractor.ca Ryan Iverach, DC feature
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