14th - Kili day 3

Shira camp (3800 m) – Barranco camp (3980 m) via Lava Tower (4600 m)

Woke up with a fabulous view in clear frosty air. Nothing particular happened this morning, an soon we were continuing our walk.

When moving upwards we could look back and see the clouds slowly rise and cover areas we had already been. Fortunately we stayed ahead of the clouds the entire day with the exception of a whiff now and then. The conditions were rock and gravel and very little dust. Happy about most of the dust gone, but the gravel can make it into a living hell to get a decent footing.

Glenna is obviously having problems with the altitude; we are have had quite a few short stops so that she could get her nausea under control. It doesn’t really matter, though – in the long run it’s to our all’s advantage that we are moving slow, as it will make it easier to acclimatize to the lower oxygen levels.

The goal was to reach Lava Tower at app. 4600 meters altitude, and then descend back down to almost the same altitude at where we started today, to prepare the body for the challenges the next couple of days. Because of Glenna’s issues with the altitude se was led by a porter around today’s tall point, staying down at a more manageable altitude. After Lava Tower we descended again, and even though it only lasted app. 1½ hours, I have a feeling that the long descend from the summit will be pure Hell. Just after these 1½ hours my knees and calves weren’t happy.

Closing in on the point where we were to meet Glenna again the clouds caught up with us, and within 10 minutes visibility dropped to app. 100 meters. We reached camp, and due to the weather it took some time for us to find our tents. We had an early dinner, and when we exited our mess tent it had gotten dark and the fog had decreased visibility to below 30 meters.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day. We will start with Breakfast Wall (Barranco Wall) which is an almost 90 degree steep cliff wall we need to get up and over before we can continue. The (informal) name is due to all the breakfasts that have been sacrificed during the ascend. The Wall will probably be our biggest challenge yet – and it isn’t because we haven’t had enough challenges already on the trek. After this we will have a 5-7 hours walk so it’s going to be a long day tomorrow. We will end at around 4500 meters. During dinner we discussed the possibility of Glenna having to get her to our last camp the last night and meet us there instead of continuing with us. But we agreed that we would see in the morning how her condition will be.

My neck is getting itchy. More sunscreen, please!

Technically we have come halfway in our trek (3 days down, 3 to go), but I think that if we look at it difficulty-wise, we won’t be halfway until after tomorrow.

The day after tomorrow will be our summit day. That will be a climb from 4500 meters to the peak at 5895 meters, followed by a descend that will end us at 3100 meters. My legs will file a complaint, of that I am sure. I can already feel a certain amount of fatigue in them, so they might already be rebelling?