Man I love my sleeping bag. That thing is like a toaster. If you need an extremely warm bag, get a Marmot Never Summer sleeping bag. Just saying.
After a late start as we had plenty of time for today’s hike, we started ascending the Barranco wall. Steep sections with a few grab on moments.
Scenery was spectacular with small stream crossings and an absolutely spectacular view of Kilimanjaro.
It just seems bizzare hiking below this massive monster covered in snow, while looking down on the clouds. It feels like you’re walking on the clouds. On top of Africa.
After a few steep downhill sections and some uphill we reached the camp for today. Sitting on steep slopes with Kilimanjaro behind us and the clouds below us. The view is tough to beat.
Food. One thing that is crucial is energy and good nutrition. The sun, the heat, the cold, the physical strenuous activity of 6+ hours of daily hiking while carrying gear and water requires good food. Our tour company, Zara Tours, has incredible food. This is what our lunch today looked like upon arrival at camp.
During the hikes I will be snacking on Cliff Shot Bloks, essentially energy chews. My water has various flavors of Nuun tablets with plenty of sodium to keep cramps away. On long hikes we get a packed lunch.
After a great lunch and an hour of rest we did an acclimatization hike up above camp for one hour. Clouds started to move in, so we made a quick descend and off to dinner.
Sunset was spectacular, looking down on the clouds were amazing. After dinner the stars were out. Absolutely spectacular.
I did get a chance to try and figure out what to wear for tomorrow night’s summit attempt. Base layers and fleece so far. Both kept me warm. I will be adding layers on top as well. My face will be, well, covered up…
Note: All blog text and pictures were done via smartphone.