Kilimanjaro Expedition - Day 3

1. Shira Cave Camp

6:30
Good morning from 3,750 meters altitude! Look at Mount Meru - 4.566 m dm!
Look at Mount Kilimanjaro! There somewhere over there is Uhuru Peak - 5,895 meters!
7:00
I feel fine! My headache from last night is gone!
Activity begins in the tent camp at Shira Cave Camp. Breakfast follows.

2. Through the alpine desert of the Shira Plateau to Lava Tower

8:00
We start. Today we have a 10 km hike to Baranco Camp in 6 hours, located at about the same altitude as our starting point. We will have a lunch break at Lava Tower after 7 km and 4 hours, where we will reach the maximum elevation of the day's route - 4,600 meters. An important day of acclimatization of medium difficulty, in fact I would have written easy if it wasn't for the climb up to Lava Tower.
We will experience another climatic stage as we leave the Moorland and enter the alpine desert. Who and what survives here? First of all we cross an open area where the sun's UV rays can be dangerous for unprotected or uncovered skin. Factor 50+ creams and sunglasses with high UV protection are recommended. It can be hot during the day and cool at night. Precipitation is almost non-existent. Dendrosenecio kilimanjari (Groundsel tree), a spectacular endemism, has adapted to these conditions. The alpine desert is sprinkled with volcanic rock of various shapes and sizes. As we approach the main volcanic cone of the Kibo volcano at an altitude of over 5,000 meters, we can still see the glaciers descending down the steep crater rim from a distance. The landscape is barren. We breathe in a lot of dust, volcanic ash, kicked up by the footsteps of passers.

8:30 am
We climb eastward through the Shira Plateau and encounter more and more evidence of the prehistoric eruption of Shira Volcano. All day we will have the high volcanic cone of Mount Kilimanjaro, in fact Kibo volcano, in the background. We still see grasses and small plants.

3. Break and continuation among the lava boulders

9:00
Break. A short one.
Everywhere are boulders of solidified lava. Dust rises with every step. My nose is stuffed up with dust and my nostrils are running dry. I can't blow my nose because I have a sensitivity to nosebleeds and I don't think it would do me any good, especially because of the altitude of over 4,000 meters, the atmospheric pressure is higher than what I am used to.
I'm learning another lesson: hydration. I have 3 liters of water with me. I don't drink as much water, but it's sun, dry air, dust. And it's good to hydrate before you dehydrate. I still have that lesson to learn.
Interesting these rocks!
Gorgeous image of the summit.
We also look back to say goodbye to Meru.
Some solidified volcanic rocks are taller than us.
Time 10:10
Coming from the left, we see the trail leading into the desert dust. It's the Lemosho route from Shira Camp 2.
These spectacular rocks!
The boots are very dusty, tor more perfumed. It's useful to have a parachute that partially covers the pants and protects them.
We zoom towards the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

4. We intersect the Lemosho route

10:45
We cross the Lemosho route. From here the two routes continue together to Uhuru Peak.
The terrain is getting stonier. I'm getting more and more used to the dryness of the alpine desert.
11:15
A new fork in the trails. A huge cliff ahead. It's Lava Tower, but we'll get there too. The fork in front of it separates the route of the tourists passing Lava Tower, half to the left, from that of the porters who cut a little to the south of the tower, half to the right.
11:30
We were crossing a bridge over a stream, dry at the time of my presence.
It is the bridge before Lava Tower, now seen from the side, closer and closer.

5. Lava Tower Camp and lunch at Lava Tower

Time 11:40
Altitude 4,600. Lava Tower Camp.
We're at the very northern base of Lava Tower, which tops out at 4,689 meters.
First of all I feel good. I'm at an altitude I've never reached in my life. On the way up I was unintentionally wondering how I would feel at over 4,500 meters, especially after the headache the night before. Incredibly good. Here we also take a lunch break, with a double purpose: to eat and acclimatize.
From Lava Tower there is a little used trail to Arrow Glacier Camp. It then climbs very steeply up to the crater. Lava Tower Camp is not much used as a camp either. Few tents here, in a very arid and inhospitable setting, very contrasting with everything we had encountered the previous evenings.

6. Descent to Baranco

12:15
Break time is over. We're going down to the evening camp at Baranco. Goodbye, Lava Tower!
Through the dry desert you can clearly see the path we will follow. Meru for the last time today.
We descend south. On our left side rises the impressive Kilimanjaro escarpment, with grottos, snow tongues and frozen frozen ice caps somewhere much higher.
This is what Lava Tower looks like behind us after we've descended a bit.
The fact that the altitude has dropped can be seen by the reappearance of tufock grass clumps.
The snow is so close! Our road doesn't go that way. The glacier world, the glacier zone is just around the corner. It's getting closer and closer.

7. Return to Moorland. Dendrosenecio and Lobelia.

12:45
Altitude 4.500. In the valley we meet water again. After so long. I replenish the supplies in my water container. There's a mist formed by melting snow. But the arid look remains in all directions if we take our eyes off this trickle. A steep rocky wall lies just in our direction of approach.
13:15
Altitude continues to drop below 4,000. We're back in the Moorland swamp. The same vegetation that we had seen the day before is now visible. The symbol of the area, endemism dendrosenecium kilimanjari. At first it's just a lot of laughs, then, the lower we go, the more and more.
From a woody stem with bark, several woody branches branch off, at the top of which is a huge green leaf flower. Over time these dry out but do not fall off, they remain to cover the secondary stems. Each secondary stem lives for 10 years.
We meet the next endemic wonder - Lobelia kilimanajari. This one looks like a green pineapple sticking out of the ground. Wonders!

8. Waterfall and Baranco Camp

13:30
Waterfall. We arrived near a permanent stream, it seems, which at some point forms a small waterfall. We descended quite steeply, but mesmerized by the colors that replaced the desert, we didn't feel the effort.
Soon the Baranco camp site appears. The left face is steep and full of ruts. I wonder where we'll continue next day.
It's full of dendrosencio in the Baranco Valley
14:00
Baranco Camp. Altitude 3,900. Only 10 miles to the summit. The excitement's building. Feeling good, and that's what counts.
We will eat, take pictures, rest. At this point, at Baranco Camp, the Umbwe trail converges, a route that climbs more steeply up to here, then joins the Machame trail to the summit.
The camp has water, toilets, telephone signal. It is a very good camp and used by almost all the tourists who approach the summit after fencing it from the south.