Day 5: Climb to Barranco Camp
MOUNTAIN ROUTE OVERVIEW
Today, the trail runs through a black lava desert past millions of boulders. From the Shira Plateau, the group will go up a ridge, past the trail to the peak of Kibo, to Lava Tower (known by locals as Shark’s Tooth). During their lunch break, they can take in the snowline above the Lava Tower. After lunch, they’ll descend to the Barranco Camp at an altitude of 13,000 feet. The black lava desert fades into heather and moorland. From Barranco Camp, they’ll see the Barranco Wall, the Western Breach of Kibo, and the South Glacier. This is where their hike ends – and they rest and have dinner. Because their bodies are exposed to such a high elevation at lunch, this is one of the most important days for acclimatization and will prepare our climbers’ bodies for summit day.
MOUNTAIN ROUTE STATS
Starting elevation 12,500 feet | Ascend to 15,000 feet at Lava Tower
Ending elevation 12,900 feet in Baranco Valley
Net elevation gain 400 feet
Distance hiked 6 miles
Average hiking time 7 to 9 hours
After a long day of hard work (8 miles) everyone is still in high spirits. Although the day was filled with pain, sweat, and tears, the main words I would use to describe the day are joy and perseverance.
In the morning most of us didn’t feel like a million bucks but everyone acted like they did. We woke up to “It’s a Beautiful Day” and walked out to a beautiful sunrise. Breakfast was filled with prayer and laughter and words for the day. After breakfast we started the “brutal” hike. A few hours later we arrived at a camp where we had steak, rice, and watermelon for lunch. Although we were all exhausted from the hike, everyone was in a very joyful mood. After a joke from Abel we learned to always think twice before doing anything and then we were ready to go.
The camp we woke up at was 12,000 feet and we were on the way to 15,000 feet (Lava Hill or something along those lines) to acclimate our bodies before going down to a different camp at around 13,000 feet. After reaching Lava Mountain everyone was tired and needed some motivation. Thankfully, as always, Tank was there to cheer everyone’s spirits with Franz. This got everyone up and moving for the descent to our next camp. God’s beauty was in full display during the long hike down. There was a waterfall next to a clear view of Mount Kilimanjaro’s peak. After around 9 hours of hiking we finally made it down to base camp where we ate pork, spaghetti and bread.
After a dinner of learning more about God’s word everyone was again in very high spirits. Walking out of the tent was a sight to see. The stars were lighting up the outline of the top of the mountain..
As we lay to go to bed we pray for no snoring and a good night’s sleep to prepare for tomorrow’s adventure, Barranco Wall.
~ Jackson Moore