Day 6: Climb to Karanga Camp

MOUNTAIN ROUTE OVERVIEW

After breakfast, one of the biggest challenges for our climbers begins. They’ll climb up and over the Great Barranco Wall. Getting to the top of it will take 1 to 2 hours. After the wall, climbers will cross a barren and rocky plateau with views of Kibo and three glaciers before descending into Karanga Camp. As they cross the plateau on a trail of gravel and sand, climbers will pass streams and giant boulders for 2 to 3 hours. As they walk into camp, they have a good view of tomorrow’s route. They’ll get to camp by lunch. But this short day is planned for resting which helps with acclimatization.

MOUNTAIN ROUTE STATS

Starting elevation 12,900 feet

Ending elevation 13,300 feet

Elevation gain 400 feet

Distance hiked 3 miles

Average hiking time 4 to 6 hours

JOURNAL ENTRY

But joyful are those who have God as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. Psalm 146:5-6

I’m so thankful Kevin passed the ball to me to update the journal for today because it was by far my favorite day so far. Last night the cloud cover would swirl in and out sometimes revealing the summit, which in my opinion with snow, looked like a cinnamon bun with extra icing. It also revealed just to our left the Barranco Wall. Which we would scale this morning. It was an ominous 1000 foot obstacle and there were no real ledges or routes visible but we heard there was a way up. On “God’s Mountain” there’s always a way. And boy was it fun, and hard and a little scary. It’s was quite the way to start an epic day. My last sight down into the valley was Joel about 100 feet away approaching the wall like a conqueror. He conquered it. We all did. Pamoja Pamoja.

The rest of the day was cloudy and then clear and then cloudy again, but the clouds and mist gave perspective to just how great the mountain is and how fortunate we are to walk in it’s shadow. I found myself listening to music for the first time today. Lift Your Eyes Up by Leeland. On repeat. That’s all. For an hour. It’s was a true worship service in “Ngaje Magi”. Read the quote from Hemingway below for translation. God is not hard to see here. And it’s not difficult to feel human. It’s a great symbiotic relationship and it just works. We need, and He supplies. He needs nothing from us, he just loves us. So we get to play on his playground, and just be kids.

We continue to be awestruck by our porters and and guides. It’s their service to us that has most ministered to me.

We could see camp just on the other ridge, not far away, but then we dipped into another ravine and emerged an hour and a half later. Just as the freezing rain started to fall, the dining tent was there for us to run and find shelter. Hot tea and coffee was waiting. God gives us just what we need when we need it.

“Kilimanjaro is a snow covered mountain 19,340 feet high and said to be the highest mountain in Africa. It’s western summit is called the Maasai “Ngagi Magi”, the House of God. Close to the western summit there is a dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude.” - The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway

Pray for us leopards, that we find who we are looking for. And don’t freeze!

~ Brandon Heath