I was relieved and rewarded by finally getting a good night of sleep. I couldn’t believe how good it felt! It was my first real solid sleep in over a week. I am sure that my body had finally given in due to mere exhaustion after a week of travel, jet lag and sleepless cold nights on the mountain.
I woke up feeling invigorated to start the day’s climb, a relatively strenuous yet short hike up and over the Barranco Wall to Karanga Camp at 13,780 feet (4,000 m). Our group set off early trying to beat the long lines of people climbing up the narrow path. The first hour of the hike was a bit frustrating. If someone in front of you stopped to rest, the entire long queue of hikers below would have to also stop and one thing is for certain when I hike, I don’t like to stop unless I absolutely have to.
Trail marker showing us the way.
Pretty wildflowers
Saying goodbye to Barranco Camp as the morning sun rose up over the mountain.
I was relieved that overall it wasn’t too insanely crowded on the mountain. Every night there were perhaps a couple hundred people at each camp and summer is generally high season for Kilimanjaro climbs. The only time of year that it is worse is on New Year’s Eve when thousands of climbers attempt to summit to bring in the new year. For me, I find the experience much more peaceful and enjoyable when there are less crowds. I feel much closer to nature and its delicious solitude when I’m alone or in a small group. Unfortunately, the first hour of the hike up the narrow trail of the Barranco Wall would prove irritating but once we passed the lines of people it was nothing but wide open space.
Climbing up the Barranco Wall
Looking down at our campsite
Parts of the climb involved using fingers and hands to pull oneself up the rock. Hiking poles proved frivolous and just got in the way. I remember my friend Neha’s lovely analogy about the necessity and use of hiking poles and how it relates to life. Some days a climb requires a little support and other times you just use your own hands. This part of the climb, we were all on our own.
Once we scaled Barranco Wall, the climb was much easier, affording spectacular views of the valley below. I felt like we were resting on top of a pillowcase of clouds.
We arrived at our camp well before lunch, much earlier than usual, and had all afternoon to rest and relax. A nagging part of me wanted to continue on the next 3-4 hours to the next camp, Barafu, which is what the 6-day Machame Route follows (We were taking the 7-day Machame route meaning we would spend the night at Karanga Camp instead of the next camp, Barafu). There are pros and cons of doing the climb in six verses seven days. If you do it in six days, you are closer to getting back to a normal bed and a shower, however, it is much more exhausting. If you take the seven-day route, it is longer and you are exposed to sleeping outside for one more night but there is a greater chance of acclimatization and hence success rate at reaching the summit.
As we walked, the landscape became barren once again with little or no vegetation. All that remained was brownish-black rock. 
And a well-worn trail.
Then finally we saw signs of life once again. Our campsite was near.
The location could not be any less beautiful than the last. I could feel that we were in for another magical night.
Looking up behind us at the peak!
View from inside my tent
The all too familiar camp life…
And my new friends…
One of our young waiters
The porters always know where to find the hot spot for receiving cellphone calls.
When in Tanzania, join them!
Me with the porters trying to make a call home.
It was a much more relaxing day than the rest. I was glad we had an entire afternoon to take it easy before the big summit push. I would soon discover that the sunset views would be equally spoiling again. I was getting used to living in the clouds.
wow, simply incredible, to camp above the clouds…
Yes it was quite surreal and to do it for seven days!
Another great adventure, Nicole!
Thanks Amy! 🙂
Beautiful. Can we share your article with our clients?
Yes of course. This is probably my sixth post on the trip so feel free to look at my past posts on Kilimanjaro and share. 🙂
Wow! I’ve missed a lot of your posts, but this one’s great…look forward to reading more!
Thanks! I have a lot of great posts on the trip with even more spectacular photos! Check them out if you can! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by!
Beautiful. I can really feel how much fun it must have been to be in camp with plenty of time to relax and chat with other climbers.
Alison
Thanks Alison! It was so gorgeous. Now it is all a distant memory. Kids just started school last week and am trying to play catch up!
Nicole, how cold was it at night? Also, did the porters have to carry enough water for the entire hike or was there a place along the climb to get fresh water? And I can only imagine those latrines. Phew. Was everything carried back down the mountain? It looks pristine and very clean.
I would imagine it was anywhere from 15-25 degrees but I’m just guessing. It is hard to know. All I know is that at dinner when the sun set, I had on long underwear, two jackets and many layers and some nights was still cold. As for the water, they have water the entire way except for one part of the trek which they have to carry. It was very clean as everything is picked up and carried, all trash. We had our own “tent toilets” which were cleaned every single day so they actually weren’t bad. They were portable. I never used the “tourist latrines” but that is what Nepal is all about!
Thanks, Nicole. I am so fascinated by your climb. Brrr…I get goose bumps just thinking of getting out of a toasty sleeping bag in the morning.
After I figured out what to wear I was ok in the morning as the sun was up. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night however was the worst! It was so cold and took so much energy to get out of the bag, dressed and out of the tent and back in again. My least favorite part of the trip.
Ooh, scaling that wall looks fun! I always love a good rock scramble! And after that, I was surprised to see how flat it was! I guess Kilimanjaro does look like that when I think about it – a wide base to get up, then lots of flat (or flattish) before what almost looks like a separate mountain perched on top.
Yes so true. There are parts of where it is flat for a little bit and then other parts that are rather steep. Except for the summit day, it really isn’t too incredibly steep. I’ve done much worse! 🙂 What you are seeing as the peak that looks like a separate mountain is the summit. It is all done in one long night/day pretty much!
Reblogged this on wwwpalfitness and commented:
Very cool stuff
Thanks so much for sharing!
You’re welcome
Wow. Amazing series of pictures. Just admiring your adventurous nature :)!
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the post!
How wonderful it must be to be looking down on the clouds. Must feel like floating. 🙂
Yes LuAnn! It was pretty spectacular to be above the clouds like that. Every night I was mesmerized. 🙂
I love that picture of the climbers taken from below & also the flowers. Looks like every day is better than the last. I’m imagining with some yearning how fresh the air must have been.
That is one of my most favorite pictures too. Yes, the air was amazingly fresh and clean. My lungs felt amazing. 🙂