Day 5 - Karanga to Barafu
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Fri Jan 18th

Start Karanga Ridge 9:00am 4100m 13,448 ft
End Barafu Camp 11:47am 4600m 15,088 ft
Distance 4 km 2.5 mi

In the night, I got up once and the view was great. I could see the lights of Moshe and the surrounding area as well as the mountain. I got up after 6 to see what the sunrise was like but nothing.  The mountain was pretty and we could see off to the west to Mount Meru. Breakfast was about the same.  I took a hike down the hill to take a leak and behind a big rock (the only visible shield) I could see a bunch of piles and TP.  I can understand taking a dump like that along the trail, but I find it to be very poor taste and bad environmentally in camp where there is a latrine, even if it is a hike up hill.  

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Breakfast at Karanga Ridge Camp

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Kristin, Dick, Julie headed for Kibo

  The route today was supposed to be about 3 hrs..  It was mostly just up.  A couple of places there were some rocks to scramble up.  They look worse than they were but still a challenge for some.  It was sunny & warm when we started - I had worn my wool pants for the first time - thinking we were going to be pretty high.  At first I began to regret it, as it was very warm for the first hour.   Then the clouds began to come in and it got cooler.  I appreciated the wool.

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Kibo showing above the trail

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Frederick watching Daron and Dick climb

 We were going up and down a couple of ridges. I thought we were still about an hour out as we climbed another ridge and I was surprised to see a latrine right there.  
 

As we turned the corner, Tom said we are here and I looked up the ridge and there were some tents and latrines.  We walked up the ridge and there was our crew with the tents set up.  It was 11:47 - less than 3 hrs from camp.  As we arrived at the tents, it started to hail and we just had time to get inside before it got serious.   I sat there for nearly an hour, semi-napping - while it hailed/sleeted/rained.

 So here we sit at Barafu Camp at about 15,000 ft. I took another Diamox today & I have had a few tingling sensations in my hands and feet, but only when I am idle - If I am walking or doing something, I don't notice it.  In fact, I don't notice any at all most of the time. 

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Tom, Dick, Frederick at Barafu Camp

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Full group at Barafu Camp

 About 1 pm it had stopped raining and the guides announced lunch was ready.  Hot soup and French toast was good - with sugar on the French toast.  A bit later the sun was out and we were taking pictures.  I got Fredrick to gather the porters  & guides together and we took a group photo with the mountain in the background.
We sort of sat around, organizing things for the climb waiting for supper so we could go to bed. We all hit the sack right after eating but for some it took a while to fall asleep, as we were so excited.

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Sunset from Barafu Camp