Jim lombard
New member
Still 8-18.....
So far the elevation hadn’t affected us at all. One of the hikers the previous evening had some symptoms of altitude sickness and Anne (a nurse) helped her with some Tylenol. Both of them were also suffering from too much sun also.
From Lava tower we descended a long gradual slope into Barranco valley. Anne stopped and took lots of pictures, it was beautiful country. Fitz and I were patient with her, we enjoyed the leisurely descent. Senecio Kilimanjai grew here in abundance; they were a strange looking tree/shrub some 20 feet tall with spiky brown bark and leafy green tops. They were completely alien to the trees I’m used to back home. Some have described them as “Dr Seuss” trees.
We took our time and arrived at camp around 4:30. Fitz went off to take a shower under a waterfall. I sat and wrote some and took in the huge imposing face of Kilimanjaro. The glaciers reached far down the mountain, we had a good view of Decken glacier and the Southern ice-field. Barranco wall rose steeply above us, we’d be climbing that tomorrow. For now we rested at 12,959 feet, Fitz returned from his cold shower just before the sun set and we sat for dinner (fried eggplant and macaroni.) The woman and man who Anne had treated for sun exposure and altitude sickness the previous night arrived after dark. They seemed to be feeling better but she was exhausted.
Barranco to Barafu 8-19
Today we began even earlier and soon ran into a traffic jam on Barranco wall. The large group from France had left just before us and there were a couple of tight spots, very steep where we couldn’t pass. Finally we did get around them and then had to wait as the porters quickly zipped by. We topped Barranco wall just after the group from England at 13,600 feet and barely paused at all. We felt great, very fit and strong. The trail descends a little into an unnamed valley at about 13,500 feet and gradually back up to a ridge that overlooked Karanga valley.
We dropped steeply along a good trail losing about 600 feet in elevation. We arrived at lunch-stop first and surrendered our nearly empty bottles. It was the last place for reliable water, we’d fill them up and boil it later. I had 2 bottles filled and hoped my last 1.5 liter of boiled water would last the afternoon. We were at 12,900 feet and I knew Barafu (ice) camp was just over 15,000 feet.
Lunch was great and we broke camp first again, other groups straggled in just as we left. We climbed Karanga wall fairly quickly and all of us felt strong as we scrambled up the 600 foot high barrier. We could see the trail ahead as it snaked up a long ridge. The landscape here was stark and barren, truly desert-like. We saw a bleached white skull and some bones that Mohamed said were Rhino. We were now above 14,000 feet, I couldn’t imagine a huge animal like that being up there. I’d heard there were some elephant bones up there but Mohamed was sure they were Rhino.
By now it was pretty hot and we moved slowly, nobody was taking pictures and relaxing today. We topped that long ridge and then descended slightly into a small valley. Now we could see our final climb of the day, Barafu wall.
I enjoyed a bit of a rest as we climbed down but knew the final 600 feet of the day would be pretty hard. The wall was easy at first, no scrambling but it got steeper. A couple of places you had to use your hands like on Barranco wall. With our heads down we climbed the final parts and then started to go up the spine of the huge ridge. We saw campsites but not ours and continued on up and over the top of Barafu and then down to our small camp on it’s right flank.
It was rugged but somehow they found places for our tents and we all headed in to relax. Sabi came a half hour later so Fitz and I went to the mess tent to have some tea and Milo with the usual popcorn and biscuits. It seemed like there were even more tents here than at Barranco but most of the parties had yet to arrive. My altimeter was reading a bit low again at 14,920 but only by about 100 feet. I didn’t bother to re-calibrate.
We were tired but feeling good about our summit attempt at midnight. Anne got a little nap before supper which was pretty unappealing. Mohamed came to brief us at dinner said he was confident we’d all make it to Uhuru. At around 7pm we got into our sleeping bags and tried to get some sleep. In 4 hours we’d have to get up. I mostly lay down and rested, I tried to sleep but it was hard. Both Anne and Fitz had the same struggles.
So far the elevation hadn’t affected us at all. One of the hikers the previous evening had some symptoms of altitude sickness and Anne (a nurse) helped her with some Tylenol. Both of them were also suffering from too much sun also.
From Lava tower we descended a long gradual slope into Barranco valley. Anne stopped and took lots of pictures, it was beautiful country. Fitz and I were patient with her, we enjoyed the leisurely descent. Senecio Kilimanjai grew here in abundance; they were a strange looking tree/shrub some 20 feet tall with spiky brown bark and leafy green tops. They were completely alien to the trees I’m used to back home. Some have described them as “Dr Seuss” trees.
We took our time and arrived at camp around 4:30. Fitz went off to take a shower under a waterfall. I sat and wrote some and took in the huge imposing face of Kilimanjaro. The glaciers reached far down the mountain, we had a good view of Decken glacier and the Southern ice-field. Barranco wall rose steeply above us, we’d be climbing that tomorrow. For now we rested at 12,959 feet, Fitz returned from his cold shower just before the sun set and we sat for dinner (fried eggplant and macaroni.) The woman and man who Anne had treated for sun exposure and altitude sickness the previous night arrived after dark. They seemed to be feeling better but she was exhausted.
Barranco to Barafu 8-19
Today we began even earlier and soon ran into a traffic jam on Barranco wall. The large group from France had left just before us and there were a couple of tight spots, very steep where we couldn’t pass. Finally we did get around them and then had to wait as the porters quickly zipped by. We topped Barranco wall just after the group from England at 13,600 feet and barely paused at all. We felt great, very fit and strong. The trail descends a little into an unnamed valley at about 13,500 feet and gradually back up to a ridge that overlooked Karanga valley.
We dropped steeply along a good trail losing about 600 feet in elevation. We arrived at lunch-stop first and surrendered our nearly empty bottles. It was the last place for reliable water, we’d fill them up and boil it later. I had 2 bottles filled and hoped my last 1.5 liter of boiled water would last the afternoon. We were at 12,900 feet and I knew Barafu (ice) camp was just over 15,000 feet.
Lunch was great and we broke camp first again, other groups straggled in just as we left. We climbed Karanga wall fairly quickly and all of us felt strong as we scrambled up the 600 foot high barrier. We could see the trail ahead as it snaked up a long ridge. The landscape here was stark and barren, truly desert-like. We saw a bleached white skull and some bones that Mohamed said were Rhino. We were now above 14,000 feet, I couldn’t imagine a huge animal like that being up there. I’d heard there were some elephant bones up there but Mohamed was sure they were Rhino.
By now it was pretty hot and we moved slowly, nobody was taking pictures and relaxing today. We topped that long ridge and then descended slightly into a small valley. Now we could see our final climb of the day, Barafu wall.
I enjoyed a bit of a rest as we climbed down but knew the final 600 feet of the day would be pretty hard. The wall was easy at first, no scrambling but it got steeper. A couple of places you had to use your hands like on Barranco wall. With our heads down we climbed the final parts and then started to go up the spine of the huge ridge. We saw campsites but not ours and continued on up and over the top of Barafu and then down to our small camp on it’s right flank.
It was rugged but somehow they found places for our tents and we all headed in to relax. Sabi came a half hour later so Fitz and I went to the mess tent to have some tea and Milo with the usual popcorn and biscuits. It seemed like there were even more tents here than at Barranco but most of the parties had yet to arrive. My altimeter was reading a bit low again at 14,920 but only by about 100 feet. I didn’t bother to re-calibrate.
We were tired but feeling good about our summit attempt at midnight. Anne got a little nap before supper which was pretty unappealing. Mohamed came to brief us at dinner said he was confident we’d all make it to Uhuru. At around 7pm we got into our sleeping bags and tried to get some sleep. In 4 hours we’d have to get up. I mostly lay down and rested, I tried to sleep but it was hard. Both Anne and Fitz had the same struggles.
