Day 4: MOIR CAMP to BARRANCO CAMP via LAVA TOWER

Views of the summit

Altitude: 4,200M (15,190ft) - 3,976m (13,044ft) via altitude climb to Lava Tower at 4,630m (15,331ft)

 Today we head for Lava Tower at 4,600m which will be the highest we will climb until we make the final push to summit. 

We awoke to frost covering our tents. And because we’re on the Western side of the mountain and in the shade, the morning sun takes a while to warm things up.

 On the way, we cross from the heath zone to the alpine desert, which means a pretty dramatic change in scenery and temperature.
 

Getting cold and cloudy

There are no more plants or trees or any other signs of life. Although apparently it’s not unheard of for solo buffalo or other animals to wander all the way up here to get the mineral nutrients in the alkaline soil. We learn this because we spy tiny little hoof prints in the ash and dust, which Sera informs us they are the hoof prints of a teeny, little, lonely Dik Dik. Which had all four girls in hysterical, stomach crunching laughter, which lasted way longer than it should have! I blame our poor sense of humour on the altitude, naturally, and not our immaturity. If anyone is wondering a Dik Dik is a very small gazelle .. we didn’t care either! We were starting to get very very cold!

Lava Tower

Soon we’re walking through a harsh, rocky, grey landscape that could pass for the surface of Mars. Everything around us has, at some point in the distance past, been spewed out of the volcano. Oh and did I mention the cold, the spine chilling body numbing cold!

We reach Lava Tower cold, grumpy and all with sore heads. It’s the first time any of us feels the effects of altitude sickness. Lava tower itself, is a large column of rock jutting up conspicuously on the edge of a small level area, which is where we stop for lunch. We huddle in the mess tent out of the cold cloud and snow flurries, which have started up. Even Ernest cant cheer us up today … lunch is a subdued affair.




 

Shortly after the tower, we come to a second junction which brings us up to the Arrow Glacier and the point where our route meets the Machame route and our path gets a whole lot busier, we no longer feel like the only people on the mountain but our spirits are lifted chatting to other groups and exchanging battle stories .. my toilet incident the night before proving a particular favourite. 

Lava rock and the trail ahead

Decending from Lava Tower

 


 

Sentico Forest

The summit above us with the Barranco Wall on the right

It’s at this point we descend upon the enormous Senecio forest, which is like nothing else on earth. These trees are the strangest things I’ve ever seen and are unique to Kilimanjaro. It’s a strange eerie place with stunning waterfalls and a constant ebbing and flow of misty clouds.
Enroute, we also got our first view of the summit of Mt. Meru, Tanzanias second highest peak off to the right–about 70 miles way–its summit poking through the thick layer of clouds below us.
 

Clouds below us

It’s cold and windy when we arrive at Barranco Camp but the cold doesn’t take away from the spectacular view. The eerily clear skies with no light pollution to speak of mean that the night sky is dazzling. The Milky Way is easily visible in a thick band dividing the sky. If it wasn’t so cold and we weren’t so exhausted, we could sit out here for hours just stargazing. The only rival to the stars above is the tiniest twinkling of lights below us mirroring the stars above. Initially our altitude-addled brains are confused, it feels as though we are on the edge of a still lake, until we realise the stars we see reflected in the calm water are the lights of towns and villages below us. A small bedtime reminder of just how far away civilisation is and how high we’ve already climbed.

Tomorrow we have to tackle the mighty Barranco wall … its definitely bed time.

ERNIE ….eeeeeee…..eeeeee! Hot water bottles please!!! Oohhhhh kaaay! And Goodnight!
One more day closer to the summit .....