 |
| Flashing gang signs - because that's how we roll! |
13650 feet – 15,200 feet
(Lava Tower) – 13000 feet
4.6 miles, 7 hours
Jen pooped this
morning!! Sandi is still backed up, even
though Jen gave her stool softeners.
Should be great when it finally happens!
I have the opposite problem and am now taking Imodium. On a brighter note, I changed clothes today!!
J
Today was an emotionally
trying day, and not just for the members of our group. As we climbed 2,000 feet to the Lava Tower
(15,000+), we passed several people crying on the trail, just broken down and
exhausted from the ordeal. Judging from
some of the people I had seen, I decided I was doing fantastically well.
 |
| The rocky path - doesn't look to bad in this picture! |
 |
| You can see just the tip of our goal in the distance. |
The morning hike was 4.5
hours and was really quite painful – steep and rocky. But the view from the lava Tower was amazing,
not to mention the structure itself. We
also met a 72 year old man, Noel, who was doing the climb after losing 60
pounds and dealing with arthritic knees.
He was an inspiration and I gave him a hug, hoping to see him again in
other places (and I did, though I don’t know if he made the summit. I hope he did!).
 |
| The Lava Tower |
Gaston brought us warm
water to wash our hands and I got him to pour a few cups of it over my head,
washing my very short hair. It was such
a good feeling to be (vaguely) clean and I kissed him full on the mouth. I think it freaked him out a little. I also had to throw up again before lunch (AFTER I kissed Gaston),
but that made me feel quite a bit better and my appetite came back in full force. Cream of Leak soup and roasted chicken – very
tasty!
 |
| Somebody else's cairn of remembrance of something... |
On our climb, we kept seeing these small rock cairns/towers, obviously man-made, on some of the larger rocks along the way. I wanted to build my own, so I piled a few nice rocks not far from where I threw up and referred to it as the Vomit Cairn. I don't have pictures of it and I wonder how long it will last - as long as no one knocks it down, Vomit Cairn might be there for the next poor sot who ventures over in that direction.
 |
| Steep Defile - stuck us in a line |
Our afternoon walk was all
downhill, so used entirely different muscles.
Right out of the gate, we had a steep and rocky descent to a more even
trail, but that descent was between some large rocks, creating a wind tunnel
that made things quite chilly. Marc had
taken off his windbreaker and was sad that he’d done so, though he was able to
put it back on once we paused. Anderson
started walking in front of me today (and I memorized the holes in his jeans)
and was a good guide for me – he had a tendency to tap the rocks with his
hiking poles where he wanted me to put my feet.
I think they all realized I was kind of a clutz. I still fell once, I think, and bruised my
other knee.
It was a long walk, but
all downhill, so there wasn’t a lot of sweating. Because the diamox makes the water come out
anyway, we had to stop and use the rocks frequently. At one point (see, this is where the pee
journal would be handy), I had a view of a lovely frozen waterfall, which I
wasn’t expecting. It was gorgeous.
 |
| Kili's answer to the saguaro. |
Our way into camp was lined
with very peculiar trees which grow a soft, cottony fur along their trunks to
keep them warm and only develop one branch every twenty-five years. They are sort of Kilimanjaro’s answer to the
saguaro cactus and are ONLY found on the slopes of the mountain. And they were everywhere as we walked closer
to the Barranco Camp.
 |
| Walking through the weird trees - without sun it was very surreal... |
Barranco camp is
huge! Several routes come together at
that point and so there has to be more space for all the climbers – there were
so many people! Of course, the summit
night would be a full moon and the guides said there are always more people who
try to time their climbs to that, so it made sense there were lots of
people. And the camp is set in the
shadow of the Barranco Wall, an 800 foot climb that we would do in the morning. Lots of very steep switchbacks and scrambling
and I was terrified of the idea.
 |
| The Wall is on the left and the camp is above the clouds - Amazing!! |
So I made a deal with
Anderson. Rather than risk my balance,
he would carry my pack to the top so that I could concentrate, and he would go
in front of me to help me find handholds.
It was a good deal, I think, though he didn’t really get anything out of
other than my eternal gratitude.
Because I really had to pee, Marc signed me in at the Ranger's Hut and Max took me over to the drop toilet at the center of camp. It was actually a series of six toilets in a large white building and they were in relatively good repair - no splatters, no nastiness, just drop toilets. I was a little relieved. Once we got over to our camp (far removed from everyone), I had to find a place to throw up again and I missed the beginning of the singing because of that. It didn't matter all that much - I felt better and ready to take on the evening.
After dinner, Marc and I
did two blogs, since we had skipped the night before. By tonight, Marc and I had also developed a
night-time out of the tent ritual. Every
time he got up to use the facilities, I got up right after, ensuring fewer
disruptions for both of us. It worked
well for us the entire trip!
Max’s favorite sayings:
Hot to Trot
Hakuna Matata
Cool Like a Cucumber
Crazy like a Banana
Easy Peasy lemon-squeezy
Chilly Willy
African Laugh! (followed
by his fake example – hysterical)
No comments:
Post a Comment