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“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”
-Margaret Thatcher
Stats for the day:
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Hike to Barranco Camp 12600 to 15200 at
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Approximately 6 miles
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2600 feet vertical gain; 2200 feet loss
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Top of Moorland Zone into Highland Desert Zone and back into Moorland
Got up at 6, cleaned up and packed. Breakfast at 7. Still very windy and we would hike for awhile before getting out of the wind. Started hiking around 8:30 with Dismas leading. Pole pole. Lots of stops for clothing changes.
Some of our group...
Some of the porters...
Another bright sunny day with great views. Basically climbed gradually through a lava field, the Shira Plateau, all morning. Only about 55 kinds of plants live in the highland desert, mostly ground or rock hugging lichens, grasses and flowers. As we climbed higher, we got closer views of some of Kibo’s glaciers.
Our cook and porters set up a picnic lunch for us near 15000 ft. Our table and chairs were set up and they served a hot lunch with a variety of deep fried food including bread, chicken, bananas, eggplant, and hot drinks.
After lunch we split into 2 groups, Mick, Sharon and Jane went the direct route to camp with Dismas, while Roger, Marsh and I took a detour to Lava Tower/Camp (our day’s
Lava Tower
Paschal went with us and I asked him if he would let me go ahead since he would be able to see me the whole way to the Tower. He very reluctantly agreed after giving me one more pole, pole reminder, so as alluded to in the quote above: patience and reward! It was so nice to set my own pace for even a short time. I climbed up on a large rock wall at the camp and waited for the others.
Looking back at the Shira Plateau from the wall I was sitting on at the Lava Tower Camp. Paschal, Rodger & Marsh are in about the middle of the frame hiking towards me.
Unfortunately, the Tower is closed to climbing, at least that’s what Dismas told us. I was bummed because it looked like a fun scramble and it was something I was looking forward to doing on this route. Found out later at camp that Ron, the climber I mentioned back on Day 1, went up the Tower with his guide. Not sure why, since he would be putting his guide’s license in jeopardy if the Tower was really closed.
From Lava Tower Camp we could see the route to the Arrow Glacier and up the Western Breach route to the crater rim. The Western Breach is currently closed; it is the route where several climbers were killed by rock fall earlier this year.
Way easier to see in the original resolution of this photo, but the trail to the Arrow Glacier is shown behind the orange tent and goes to the right of the rock face, also behind the tent. The Western Breach route is at the left of the rock face.
We headed down a steep chute from the Tower and then up and across a small plateau. Photo below is looking back to the Tower after descending.
We could see across to the other route that the rest of our group took – the routes merged near the bottom of a gorge that cut through the middle. The gorge has a glacier fed stream flowing down it – this would be our next camp’s water source.
Senecios (mentioned in Day 2's journal) and the stream
Eventually crossed the stream and hiked next to it for most of the rest of the way. Fairly uneventful descent – I did manage to crash my knee into a rock while looking at the view instead of paying attention! And Paschal hiked faster on the downhill! Awesome! We could see across to tomorrow’s objective – the Barranco Wall. From a distance you can pick out the route up it really well, up close it is way steeper. (Note: I was going to put a photo here of the route, but at this small size you can't see it clearly at all!)
On the trail with Paschal & Marsh & Senecios
Arrived at Barranco Camp and no sign of the rest of our group. We settled in but were a little worried. They came in about an hour later. Turns out the steeper downhill sections were slow but everyone was safe and feeling OK. However, they had come across the two German girls (we had leapfrogged them several times over the past 2 days and had seen them at lunch, always very friendly), and one of them was very sick. Dismas helped their guide decide what to do. It appears from the symptoms that she may have cerebral edema. Dismas gave her some diamox and the decision was made for them to turn around and hike out the Shira route. Probably the best decision in order to get her out more quickly even though their porters were already at Barranco. They have some fairly good ways to communicate on the mountain so it will all work out even though it seems confusing to have people going out in opposite directions. I hope she’s OK.
Marsh is very glad that everyone in our group is feeling good – he said that there’s usually a few in each group who are not feeling well by the 3rd day. He mentioned that the last time he was at this camp a couple of climbers had to descend. Between the German girls and Marsh's comments, I would guess that all of us were thinking about altitude and how we would respond to it as we climb even higher. However, being at 15000 feet today and descending to sleep lower is a huge boost to acclimatization. We are doing the right things to be successful on this mountain.
Had tea and dinner – pasta shells mixed with peas (yuck!) and carrots and a cole slaw-like salad. The pasta was good, after picking out the peas J! Believe it or not, in the tent by 7. We are certainly not developing a party reputation on this climb! Slept well until about 11:30 and then back to my every hour waking up routine! Used to it by now, including the nightly visit to the toilet tent! It was always worth it for the views of the awesome night sky. Temperature-wise, our coldest night yet.
Another view of Kibo from the trail before reaching Barranco Camp...we've been comin' round the mountain, literally.
Our site at Barranco Camp, you can see Dismas standing in front of the tent near the back center of the frame
Continue: Kilimanjaro Climb Day 4
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