| This morning the mountain came out briefly again - there was fresh snow up there. We
were up & packed in time for breakfast at 7:30. The
weather was OK but still cloudy mostly. We started out ahead with Joseph while Frederick
stayed behind to put together the lunches and bring them along. We went “pole,
pole” (slowly) and seemed to be passed by many people - esp. by lots of porters. We
almost never passed anyone early in the day - but later we passed some that had gone on
ahead. |
On the trail out of Shira Camp
|
Jim, Tom, Dick, Kristin, Julie, Daron
|
After a couple of hours, it started with a little light sleet or mini-hail and turned
into snow. Not everybody put all of their
full raingear on, hoping it would not be as wet today.
I was glad I started with the rain pants and gaiters and added the shell when it
started doing something. I also wore my long underwear top under my flannel shirt. Early
on, I thought it would be too warm, but was glad later that I had it. I also had my fleece vest on. For the third day I just wore the safari pants
with the rain pants over them. I was surprised how warm I stayed in them. I have also been very grateful for the 7 full
sets of socks, liners and outers. I am the only one with 7 sets and some are wishing for
more because they are getting wet. The
laundry that got done yesterday did not dry - except for things like the gaiters. I have
offered Dick some of my used but dry socks - we will see.
|
| We hiked along in the sleet/snow and finally about 12 Frederick caught up with us and
then at about the top we stopped under some rocks - almost caves - to eat lunch in the
dry. I did not hit my head this time in the low clearance. Lunches are all about the same
- 2 sandwiches - a banana, an orange and a cookie or brownie. The bread is getting pretty stale - no wonder. We had a little mold on it yesterday at dinner. |
Taking shelter in a shallow cave for lunch
|
Lava Tower (on the right)
|
After lunch, we started out but now it became a little up & down instead of up.
After an hour or two of this, we descended quickly. This
was the hardest part - hard on the feet and knees. Daron twisted or strained his knee and
we stopped for Dr. Richard to wrap it for him. (I also loaned him one of my walking sticks
since he only had the one wooden stick. This seemed to help a bit, but he was still quite
slow - and understandably so.) The descent
was really steep and wet - it was more like rain now. |
| We came around a bit of a bend and the valley
began to spread out before us. It was truly
spectacular. I kept stopping for pictures - while trying keep the cameras dry. Then we could see a large grouping of tents down
the valley and realized we were almost there. It
was still a ways to it, it seemed. |
Descending towards Barranco camp
|
Kibo towering above Barranco Camp
|
When I got to camp, all I wanted to do was to remove my boots -
they were hurting from the downhill pounding and the attempts to tighten them to avoid
slipping. I did not seem to have any blisters
though. I was very grateful to put on my
light boots for around camp.
The camp - Barranco camp, is right at the base of a huge cliff
or wall (Barranco Wall) that we have to ascend tomorrow.
And just above that wall - when the clouds let you see it, stands a snow
covered flank of Kibo - the goal. This is not
the side we climb Kibo from. We asked the guides and they pointed out the route up the
wall. It is several hundred feet high - hard
to judge and covered with vegetation. There
must be a path winding up thru there I am sure. |
| Today was a tough one - climbing nearly 3000 ft and then
losing most of it again. Tomorrow should be easier - only about 3 hrs hike - but up the
wall. It is so short because this is where we
added an extra day to aid in the acclimitization.
Dinner tonight seemed a little skimpy compared to last night,
but still good and sufficient. They started with asparagus soup, which I would not
normally try but it was really very good - perhaps I was really hungry. Then it was some
sort of 'mixed vegetables' fried cake. It was
also great but a bit cold. Then noodles with a stew over the top. We are packing in the calories and the carbos.
We topped it off by converting the mess tent to an OR so Dick could
give Daron a steroid shot in his knee. We stood around and took pictures. A unique day. I
find myself not quite ready for bed when it gets dark but there is not much else to do so
I will quit typing this and go turn in at 7:20. |
Dr. Morgan giving Daron steriod shot
|
