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 | Ascend 14,000 feet to the top of Baranco Wall

Ending elevation 13,300 feet at Karanga Camp

Net elevation gain 400 feet

Distance hiked 3 miles

Average hiking time 4 to 6 hours

Today we conquered the Great Baranco Wall. The girls crushed it, despite a fear of heights— a huge feat! Dare they say it was…fun?! Taylor definitely lived out her “Free Solo” dreams as we scaled our way 1,250 feet straight up the Wall to reach 14,200ft. We purposely started a bit later to let traffic pass so we had the whole thing to ourselves to take our time—pole pole as always. 

Once we reached the top, we celebrated and took some pictures (refer to the photo of John Simon to see how we felt after the Wall) then headed down into the expansive valley with a great view of the (almost) summit. Once we headed up the other side of the valley, we headed straight down another one, and then back up to our camp, Karanga Camp. Seeing it from the other side of the Wall made it look close, but the ups and downs we had to take to get there were great for more acclimatization. 

We ate lunch when we arrived to camp, took some naps, then ate our nightly hibiscus tea, popcorn, and dinner. We told funny stories and went to bed to prep for tomorrow!

Good vibes all around!