Mandy Moore Just Checked Mt. Kilimanjaro Off Her Bucket List

For This Is Us star Mandy Moore, the number-one adventure on her travel bucket list was to climb Mount Kilimanjaro — and now she has accomplished just that. In a series of Instagram posts, the 33-year-old actress shared highlights of her climb up the highest mountain in Africa.  

Moore shared with her 2 million Instagram followers that she’d dreamed of climbing the 19,341-foot peak since the age of 18. On March 23, the actress decided to started her journey alongside her fiancé Taylor Goldsmith and a group of her friends. 

She described her journey was tricky, but she had “never felt more determined to tackle such a physical challenge before,” describing the hike as the most “rewarding and challenging experience.” 

Check out her Instagram journey to Mount Kilimanjaro below.

I have dreamed the dream of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro since the age of 18. Thanks to @eddiebauer, my partner in this adventure, this past week saw #1 on my bucket list come to fruition and I lived out one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences of my life with a few of my best friends. There was no reception on the mountain so I’m going to dole out some pics of our trip over the next few days. Stay tuned-it’s worth it! #liveyouradventure #ebcontributer #whyihike #sponsered

A post shared by Mandy Moore (@mandymooremm) on Mar 30, 2018 at 10:40am PDT

And we’re off. #CountdowntoKili has arrived. I’ve been dreaming of seeing her and doing this since I was 18. Couldn’t be more grateful for this crew and everything this experience is bound to be. Let’s do this! ??

A post shared by Mandy Moore (@mandymooremm) on Mar 23, 2018 at 12:13am PDT

On the night of our ascent to the summit, we woke up at 11pm (after a few hours of napping) to enjoy a couple of nervous minutes together with a cup of coffee before it was time to gear up in my our warmest layers and start the nearly 8 hour trek to highest point in Africa- 19,341 ft. In total darkness, we took it pole pole (slow slow) and trudged through rain, sleet and snow, where seemingly everything on our person managed to freeze (water bottles, backpacks, our eyelashes, hair, fingers, toes, etc…) Oddly, I’ve never felt more determined to tackle such a physical challenge before and yet the combined elements of exhaustion and extremely cold weather made it much trickier than any of us were prepared for. All of that aside, ultimately reaching the threshold of the true summit was more emotional and overwhelming than I had thought possible. Kilimanjaro demands a lot from those who traverse her trails. You have no choice but to show up. And we did. There’s nothing more empowering than realizing that we are all capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. #whyihike #liveyouradventure #sponsored

A post shared by Mandy Moore (@mandymooremm) on Mar 31, 2018 at 9:40am PDT

I have dreamed the dream of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro since the age of 18. Thanks to @eddiebauer, my partner in this adventure, this past week saw #1 on my bucket list come to fruition and I lived out one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences of my life with a few of my best friends. There was no reception on the mountain so I’m going to dole out some pics of our trip over the next few days. Stay tuned-it’s worth it! #liveyouradventure #ebcontributer #whyihike #sponsered

A post shared by Mandy Moore (@mandymooremm) on Mar 30, 2018 at 10:40am PDT

Featured photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for Turner