In January 2026, I’ll be climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. I’m organizing a group of intrepid adventurers from the Social Hikers community for to climb this mountain via the Machame or “Whiskey” Route. And as of June 18th, we have room for additional group members. Join me!
At 19,341 feet above sea level, Kilimanjaro is the highest peak on the continent of Africa, making it one of the Seven Summits. It’s also 4,836 feet higher than the tallest peak I’ve hiked to date, Mount Whitney.
There are a number of factors that make this challenging. The weather can be wet, cold, snowy and windy. I don’t mind cold — I’ve experienced that on Mount Rainier — but I’d be very pleased if it didn’t rain on us.
The elevation is the big wildcard. I’ll be talking to my physician about a prescription for Diamox to help prevent altitude sickness, and I’ll be summiting at least four 14ers this year to see how my body responds at higher elevations. It’s been seven years since I last summited a 14er.
Then there is the hiking itself. I’ve estimated the daily milage and the gross elevation gain (and loss) each day, and the actual mileage is not bad. The gross elevation gain is non-trivial, but nothing I haven’t done before. Just not at 19,000 feet.
The table below shows the approximate mileage each day as well as the gross elevation gain. As you see, our mileage each day never goes over 10 miles, and our elevation gain does not exceed 4000 feet.
| Day | Itinerary | Mileage | Elev. Gain (ft) | Energy Miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base to Machame Camp | 7 | 3951 | 14.9 |
| 2 | Machame to Shira Camp | 3 | 2849 | 8.7 |
| 3 | Shira to Barranco Camp | 6 | 2687 | 11.4 |
| 4 | Barranco to Karanga Camp | 3 | 1404 | 5.8 |
| 5 | Karanga to Barafu Camp | 2 | 2096 | 6.2 |
| 6 | Barafu to Summit to Mweka Camp | 9.75 | 3993/(9200) | 17.7 |
| 7 | Mweka to Base | 5 | (4718) | 5 |
| TOTALS | 35.75 | 16,980 | 69.7 |
What are Energy Miles?
What you might not be familiar with is the last column, labeled Energy Miles. In 1976 Paul Petzoldt the founder of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) created a formula for hikers to calculate their energy needs. The formula estimates “energy mile” units. One “Energy Mile” is the energy required to walk one mile on flat terrain. The formula adds two more “energy miles” for every 1000 feet of elevation gain.
Using this formula, the energy miles approximates the effort of walking a level route. So the first day’s 7 miles and 3951 vertical gain would roughly equate to hiking 14.9 miles on a flat trail.
This does not account for the increased difficulty (or more accurately, the diminished efficiency) of hiking at higher elevations where there is less oxygen available. But it does provide a way of normalizing the daily mileage numbers into something a little more realistic.
My Kilimanjaro Training Plan
In my experience, the best training for hiking is… hiking. The reality is that it’s not always practical to devote 6-8 hours hiking several times a week. And so, my training incorporates three key components:
- Hiking and Backpacking – I’m aiming to do at least one long hike each weekend, as well as back-to-back day hikes and backpacking.
- Cardiovascular Fitness – My go-to for this is a 45 to 60 minute ride on my Peloton 3-4 times each week.
- Strength Training – Legs, core, back and shoulders 2-3 times each week.
My workouts are logged on Strava, so feel free to follow along.
Because my climb is in January, most of the higher mountains here in Central Oregon will be covered in snow from November onward, so it will require some creativity to get those long hikes with vertical gain in, and probably more snow hikes up Black Butte.
Have you climbed Kilimanjaro? Any tips to share for training? Is Kili on your bucket list? Leave a comment and let me know.
