Waking up day 3 was slightly easier than the rest. We had finally caught up on sleep and adjusted to the 7 hour time difference. We were completely exhausted by 9pm most days and found ourselves asleep by 930 at the latest. However, no amount of sleep or hearty breakfasts seemed to provide enough energy for the duration of our extremely lengthy hikes.
We woke to a similar story: wake up at 5:45am, tea in "bed", water for washing at 6, breakfast at 6:15. Despite being used to the routine, we were moving quite "pole pole", which means "slowly" (and also was our mountain motto). We eventually left camp and set out on our trek to the Moir Hut campsite.
This was the day many people began to feel altitude sickness. Our Italian friends we met along the way had unfortunately experienced bad headaches and decided to speed up their journey, as to spend less time on the mountain. We, however, still felt great.
Our walk through the Mooreland was so interesting: it was certainly the most crowded trail, as we walked with groups that eventually diverged off to Shira 2 camp. We all inched up a dried stream bed (as our porters raced past) surrounded by low-hanging neon colored Spanish moss. It easily could have been a movie set.
We stopped to have lunch on an outcrop that overlooked the expansive Shira plateau and confirmed we were officially above the clouds for good now. We continued on to Moir Hut, an abandoned ranger post, and passed large caves on our way into the valley.
By this time other groups' porters began to recognize our "Wadada Watatu" group and would cheer us on upon our arrival into camp!
After a short break and attempt to dry clothes and set out solar chargers, we ascended a steep ridge as an acclimatization hike. After about an hour up and 200 meters, we rested to take in the Lion King view. Behind us the steepness of Kili's peak and its glaciers started to come into focus. The excitement was building! We took a lot of photos as the view was promising and reminded us that in 3-4 short days we would be at the peak.
Our descent was great: as you climb you must make tiny zig zags, but the way down you can just ski in the loose gravel!
We returned to yet another delicious meal by Boni, and Nick was waiting for us with our "romantic" candle. No surprise, we quickly followed this by heading to bed to rest for Day 4: The Day of [just 3 more] Ridges.
No comments:
Post a Comment