5 July 2023: Kilimanjaro Day 4

Well, I'm on a roll!  Actually, the biggest delay in getting this done, other than life in general, was getting the photos organized, which I did last weekend.  I think I'm also disappointed that I didn't get it up before the two year mark, so, here we are.  Most of these entries are taken almost word for word from the journal I kept on the mountain.

Day 4 Climbing.  This morning was COLD. (this was underlined in my journal!)  Camp was completely in the shade, plus it was very windy.  Our crew actually waited til a little bit late to wake us up (Wakey Wakey, tea or coffee?)  This was much appreciated, as several of the climbing routes had already merged, so camps were getting much more crowded.  Today's climb was a bit of a bottleneck as well.  We began the most technical part of the climb, up the Baranco Wall almost 1000' straight up.  If you read lots of reviews online of the Kili climb, some people say this is nothing, while others seriously freak out about it.  I thought it was a lot of fun, but very slow going.  We passed the famous "kissing rock", where you have to hold on with both hands and pull your face across the rock.  Now we all have mono.  After about 2 full hours, we finally arrived at the top, where they had a morning tea and shortbread waiting for us.  JT and I went to look for a good bush, and I have to say, this was probably the worst part of the mountain due to the sheer amount of toilet paper just all over the place.  I can slightly understand that it would be difficult in this terrain to bury a #2, but... seriously, is it so difficult to bag your toilet paper and drop it in the next outhouse?  There's so much of it that it's hard to avoid stepping in it.  Sorry for the long rant (but this is word for word from my journal)... But while we're on the subject, the diamoz that we are all taking is a diuretic, so it definitely does make you have to go a lot.  In the beginning, there were a lot more trees and shrubs for cover.  By yesterday, it had dwindled to waist-high rocks.  Today we just had to accept that as long as our backs were to the group, that would have to do.  I'm pretty sure someone's sneaking pictures because it's so laughable.  Moving on...

After the walk, we then descended almost as many feet as  we had just climbed.  One more up, one more down, and a final push til we got to camp around 14:30.  To go less than 5 miles.  Lunch was beet soup, rice, chicken, vegetable salad, and some fruit.  A little down time, spent chatting in the dining tent, then popcorn and tea at 5, med checks at 6, dinner at 7.  My pulse ox read 92, as did JT's.  Dinner was pizza, which was like a bread with ground beef on it, chicken, potatoes, and some kind of curry vegetable soup, bread, and a banana.  

Camp tonight was right next to the helicopter pad.  It really gives you perspective on how many rescues they have to do when your tent almost blows away with every chopper... 

Sunset was great!  Above the clouds with Mount Meru in the distance.  Tonight, we had great stars.  From here, the Big Dipper goes into Kili, and the Southern Cross is right in the Milky Way.

Today was my favorite day of hiking so far.  I'm enjoying the experience, and I'm glad it's challenging me a bit.  JT and I are also really enjoying the bro time.  

Back to 2025, this was the day that really made the trek for me.  Summit was cool and all, but this was the day I remember the most.  I think the challenge of the climb made this a lot more fun.  Enjoy the photos!

This is the kissing rock.  What you can't appreciate from the photo is how straight down the drop is below!

I preferred more of a side hug.

Looking down from camp this morning

Looking up at the Baranco Wall.  Zoom in and look at all those hikers!  They're like little ants!

Today's water brought to you by the melting glacier.

Another view down towards camp.

Getting closer to the top.

Still not there...

Camp being struck in a hurry to beat us to the next camp!

JT looks super excited.

And camp is gone.

This was the terrain the whole way up...

Lots of using all 4 limbs.

Waterfall from above...

This is no exaggeration... Not only was this a straight up sort of experience, but all of these porters are carrying these huge bags on their heads!

I believe that the camps have to be completely gone by law every day.

Mt. Meru

Path is starting to level out

Another view of Mt. Meru

Almost at the top

Mt. Meru with Baranco Camp in the foreground

Over the edge and here we are!

Top of Baranco Wall Tea break.

And turn around and there's Kibo.  This is probably the first time we really saw the actual summit during the climb.

The afternoon was mostly going across rocky terrain like this.

Probably the last trees we saw...

Still some fun challenges in the afternoon.

As the resident photographer, sorry, I'm always at the back of the pack.

Karanga Camp on approach...

A really cool angle on Kili.  

Lots of interesting rock formations...

I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that saw the rock arch.  This was on one of our bushy bushy breaks.

Arrival at Karanga Camp

The amazing sunset over Mt. Meru

Our campsite with Kibo in the background.

I have a few images to check out here.  It was very hard to take these with no tripod, so they are what they are.  I tried some ridiculous ISO settings to get some different perspectives.  The Southern Cross is almost the center of the above photo.  

This is a higher ISO... Southern Cross is still in there, but it hides in the Milky Way.

The Garmin tracking for today.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading.  You're probably in the 1%.  I'm writing all of this primarily for two reasons - 1. To help me remember, 2. To help other potential climbers!  I hope you are enjoying the posts.