Day 7: Climb to Kosovo Camp
MOUNTAIN ROUTE OVERVIEW
As our climbers near the summit, they have another short day for acclimatization today. After breakfast, climbers leave Karanga Camp and make their way across moraine with a view of Mawenzi and Kibo to Barafu. The alpine desert terrain is full of boulders with lichen and moss. Upon reaching camp, climbers will spend the afternoon resting before packing for the summit and having an early dinner in preparation for their ascent to the summit to start at midnight. Summit begins at 5 PM EST!
MOUNTAIN ROUTE STATS
Starting elevation 13,300 feet
Ending elevation 15,400 feet
Elevation gain 2,100 feet
Distance hiked 3 miles
Average hiking time 4 to 5 hours
The day dawned as the last 3 on the mountain have - bright, sunny and cold! The sun quickly warmed our tents and we were awakened by the sounds of the porters preparing breakfast and “knock-knock” tea and coffee. But the tee and coffee isn’t the best part. It’s their warm and genuine smiles that warm our hearts as much as the coffee warms our stomachs.
Today was ripe with anticipation and the energy in the mess tent matched the excitement. Today all of us would hike higher than we had ever been before - 16,000 feet! Our destination was Kosovo camp at 16,000 feet and this would be our last stop before our summit attempt. Our current camp was at 13,000 feet so we would have to hike 3,000 vertical feet over 3 miles to get to Kosovo camp.
Amazingly most of our group has been feeling great and showing very few signs of altitude sickness or bugs. Breakfast was yet another 5-star meal of hot porridge, eggs, sausage and plenty of fruit and toast.
With our fearless and gentle guide Gabriel leading the way, we set off for Kosovo camp at 9 am. The trail leading out of Karanga camp is quite steep and Gabriel set a very nice “pole, pole” pace (slow, slow) for the group. I hate to admit that there have been times on this trek that I have been tempted to be frustrated with the pace and the frequent stopping. Today was not one of those times! At 13,000 ft +, I had learned to trust the guides and it was a great place to properly acclimatize.
We gained the ridge line a couple of hours later and stopped for a water break and some snacks. The next push took us from 14,000 ft to 15,000 ft and a brief, but very tasty lunch. One of our group members was not doing well and decided at that time to head down to the lower camp instead of heading to Kosovo camp and the summit. It was hard for all of us as we had come so far together and accomplished so much. We had laughed a lot and shared many stories and now memories. But it was clearly the right thing to do and the guides are confident that they will recover quickly once they reach the lower camp.
The final push to Kosovo camp was a butt kicker! 1000 vertical feet over about a half a mile. Think, straight up. Also think, there's not much oxygen between 15 and 16 thousand feet. Also think, we are very tired! But, pole, pole, step by step we made it. Of course our porters had arrived before us and out tents were already set up and ready for us to get some rest.
Now we are at an early dinner where we are carbo-loading before heading to bed and trying to get some rest before our friendly porters wake us at midnight for the summit push. I've yet to sleep at 16,000 feet but I don't have high expectations!
I'd say the mood is a subdued but energetic confidence. We have so much trust in each other, and more importantly our guides that we are confident that we will all make it. God willing, we will.
~ Ben Rainey
PS. On a very personal note I must say that my daughter Caroline has handled the rigors of this trek exceptionally well. The long days, hot sun, cold nights, peeing on the side of the trail! 🤣, the limitations of a dairy free and gluten free diet, and sleeping in a cold tent with her dad. She's done it all with not a single complaint and has shown a deep care and friendship to others that belies her age. I'm proud to be her dad.
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Good job dad, you just forgot a couple of important things
1. We learned the mountaineering step to walk with our skeletons instead of our muscles. Total game changer.
2. We had this incredible prayer circle in the middle of the trail for our sick friend. It was incredibly powerful and it reminded me that God is good, all the time.
3. It is so cold, but our hot soup, donut delish things, spaghetti, and happy smiles make everything better :)
So thankful for this journey so far! God is good!
~ Caroline Rainey