2.2 miles
15,200
feet
Today, Mt. Meru nearly disappeared in its daily white cloak and
the cloud carpet sunk so far beneath us that we barely took notice.
On the contrary, Kilimanjaro was now at arm’s
length and that’s what captivated our attention.
Against this backdrop, trekking through more
volcanic desert to Barafu Base Camp, Doug and I obsessed over spotting and
photographing shoddy porter gear.
The way was short and relatively flat. Climb Kili wants you
to store your energy for the 7-hour, 11:00pm summit that evening, which is also
evident by what they feed you. Today we
had porridge, fruit and grilled cheese for breakfast. Lunch was a massive mound of homemade french fries
plus a mushroom/bean concoction and fruit salad. Per the
usual, there was a popcorn, ginger snap, and tea afternoon snack immediately followed
by the biggest pile of spaghetti I’ve ever witnessed for dinner.
I could feel my tachycardic heart struggle to
process all the food I accosted it with—but we were carbo-loaded and ready!
We “slept” in everything we would need to wear for the
summit, save for boots, gloves, and hand warmers.
This is roughly what we each wore: 2 pairs of socks, long underwear, hiking
pants, rain pants, 2 tee shirts, 2 long sleeve shirts, a fleece, a down jacket,
a raincoat, and a hat.
But sleep was out
of the question; it was freezing and the
atmosphere buzzed with too much excitement at 15,200 feet.
At 10:30pm, we were “awoken.”
We had tea and biscuits in the mess tent and
by 11:00pm, we were off!
Lexi & Dougie Love from Kilimanjaro.
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