Woke up to an absolutely gorgeous morning at Shira 1 Camp this morning
– crisp air, blue skies and towering Kili on the horizon. After the up and down grind of yesterday, it
was so nice to hit the pillow at about 8 pm and, besides getting up to pee 4
times last night, sleep soundly through the night. Steve’s extra pair of earplugs were a real
answer to prayer, too. It got cold last
night, but Steve’s method of sleeping with the mummy bag as an open quilt
proved real useful.
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| Samba, Pig Pen and Papa Leading The Way |
Today we changed from our originally planned route to go to Moir Hut and
switched to Shira 2 Camp (12,630 feet). No one could
really explain why we changed, but at the end of the day we figured out it
means for shorter hike time tomorrow, so we were all plenty happy about it. After yesterday’s hike, I also made the
decision to join Shannon as a member of “Team Diamox” with the hope of
lessening some of the effects of the high altitude. It was amazing to see the almost immediate
impact it had on my peeing patterns, but I didn’t have as much headache today.
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| Kili (Big), Cacti (Medium), Climber (Small) |
Today we continued our trek across the Shira Plateau – more rocks, but
less ridges and less dust. There was
still enough dust for Steve to earn the nickname “Pig Pen” as we all learned
that following him in our trail line was the dustiest position of all. The weather was beautiful today – still
hiking in shorts and just added an extra top layer today. But the equatorial sun was hot and intense
today – even with lots of SPF 50 on, most of us got burned today. The tops of Steve’s hands got extremely
toasted.
Today was Shannon’s turn to bring up the rear as the effects of high
altitude caused him some sickness and headache and overall fatigue. As we made our way across the plateau, we
encountered a new biosphere that included lots of tall cacti-lik trees and low
vegetation. Today’s “trail talk”
included lots of discussion about business, investment strategies, worship and
faith – just having time to talk about things like this makes the Climb that
much more of a rewarding life experience.
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| Shira 2 Camp Below From Acclimatization Hike |
The idea that I was going to be able to blog and post during the Climb
has proven to be false – although we seem to get 4-bar reception in some
places, there isn’t any ability to connect for internet service. After a lunch of spaghetti bolognaise and
mountain mystery meat, we rolled in to Shira 2 Camp (Shira Hut) at about 2
pm. We were all feeling good enough we
went out for an hour-long acclimatization hike to live out the mantra: “climb
high, sleep low.”
We continue to enjoy the “green tent” comforts of Douglas’s great
soups, Gaston’s great service and introduction of Nuclear Jam (of the bright
red variety). Tonight we had hot dogs
for the first time and was good to see Shannon regained his appetite and was
dividing the last dog into sixths to parcel it out to those with more appetite.
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| Climb Kili Team |
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| Moon Setting on Shira 2 Camp |
