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“Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark, that’s where the most important things come from, where you yourself come from, and where you will go.” -Solnit
Stats for the day:
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Hike from Karanga to
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Approximately 4 miles
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2400 feet of vertical gain
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Highland Desert Zone
Not a hard or long day. The hardest part was the final climb into camp, you think you’ve reached it because you see a tent from below, but most of the camp is higher. Our camp was at the far end – which was good because it would mean a little less climbing towards the summit! Unfortunately, Jane had a tough day, after a rough night. She had awakened and complained of being hot and having a fever. I had her take a Tylenol just in case and she had a lot of clothing layers on, so I had her take a few layers off. The night was warm, the weather was changing… She was very worried about getting hurt or sick and collapsing on the mountain. I reminded her that we had a lot of people supporting us and watching out for potential problems. I tried to calm her down but not sure I helped.
Early morning, breaking down camp, looking towards Kibo; my tent is on the left
Anyway, it rained at Karanga during the night and stayed misty throughout the hike to Barafu. Our Kili views disappeared.
Some of our porters starting out to Barafu; Karanga Camp is in the background
Some porters taking a break; trail to Barafu can be seen beyond the group of packs on the right and continues to the right out of the frame
Roger taking a break, porters heading up the trail
Continuing to Barafu; it was a bummer not to have any views!
Dismas, Sharon, Mick
Marsh stayed with Jane for the day, generally doing what he could to keep her going. At the final climb into camp I offered to go ahead and get her sleeping bag and gear set up in the tent. As I reached Barafu, this porter from another group decided to “lead” me over to the Zara campsite. He was asking me about
Got everything set up in our tent and the rest of our group arrived. Jane crawled into her sleeping bag right away. The rest of us had lunch, which I remember including chicken, and then we also rested. Within an hour of arriving, it started sleeting, which continued on and off through the rest of the day and evening. I was able to take a short nap, but mostly just laid there thinking about the summit climb and the weather. Barafu Camp is very rocky with steep dropoffs on both sides. The outhouses are built right on the edges. I don’t think any of us took a picture of the cliffs that captured a really good perspective of them perched almost in air; my "attempts" are seen below.
Had dinner early – pasta with a strange tuna sauce which no one ate but maybe Roger. I tasted it – looked worse than it was, but still not very appealing. Dismas gave us the summit talk and instructions – me, Mick, Roger and Marsh would be doing the final climb. Jane was still feeling weak and
After dinner, I got my gear and clothes ready. I had lots of clothing layers, some to wear, some in my pack. I tried to "sleep" while "waiting” for the wake up call at 11 PM. At 11:30 we had tea and biscuits and started climbing towards the summit at midnight.
Why?
Why Not?
Why Not Me?
Why Not Now?