after breakfast, we leave Karanga and hit the junction, which connects with Mweka. We confuse to Barafu, at this point, we have completed the South circuit, which gives you views of the summit from different angles. Here we made camp, rested, enjoyed dinner, danced with the team and prepared for summit day. The two peaks of Mawenzi and Kibo can be seen from here.
we arrived mid afternoon which gave us time to sit and take in the views, chat with our team, dance and often look behind us and see what was ahead of us for the upcoming 8hour ascent….. Augustine and Freddie did a final check of your gear and clothing to ensure that you would stand up to the arctic cold as well as doing a check of oxygen levels. Whew!!! We we all good to go.
i took sometime alone to sit and look at the clouds…..it all seems surreal to me….underneath those clouds was the world in which I lived. The hustle and bustle, the good but so often the unkind. How could I and would it be different when I enter back into “under the clouds?”. The mountain, I felt was where I now belonged….quite.
8 hour ascent…..Arctic weather.
Midnight starts the journey to between the Rebmann and Ratzel glaciers. We head in a northwesterly direction towards Stella Point on the crater rim. This is the most mentally and challenging portion of the climb .
Rest at Stella Point then continue to Uhuru Peak.
what was fatigue, dehydration, fever becomes flashes of reality….or is it? Why are the rocks so full of color, why is there a glacier on dust, why is the moon so bright….I am cold yet I need to take off these many layers of clothing because I am sweating inside.
Next: what goes up must come down….or does it?