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01/04/03
This day was by far my favorite day of hiking! Woke up to great views of the peak and leaving Barranco camp we first had to scramble up the 1000ft of Barranco Wall. Lots of hands needed, some great moves and short bits of exposure. All with fabulous views of the peak in the background! The trail climbed up, then dropped into several valleys through the high alpine desert before a steep drop into the Karanga valley where we stopped for lunch. This was the last stop for water and the porters had quite a bit to carry with them up to Barafu camp. Some porters stayed the night and would head down to the next camp the following day.
Heading up the other side of the Karanga Valley was steep and slow. The rest of the day was completely uphill through barren areas of volcanic rock. No plants, trees, or anything alive. We got to the rocky camp of Barafu at 15,100ft after almost 8hrs of hiking. The tent spots were limited and there was no way stakes were going into the ground here. We got our daily spout of rain shortly after setting up the tents but it cleared to awesome views of the peak, Mawensi Peak (Kili's sister peak), and the route that we would be taking.
The porters made us a quick and high carbo dinner and it was off to bed to attempt to get some sleep before the 11pm wake up for the summit! At each meal, less and less was getting eaten. Had some jitters and just kept hoping that the weather would hold out. I certainly didn't expect to sleep much, besides, why start now?! Pretty wild how everything you do at 15K ft takes a lot of effort and really kicks your ass. Even taking a leak wears you out!

Kibo in the morning; Jill heading up Barranco Wall

Waterfall in Barranco Valley; Traversing the valleys

Home sweet Kili home; Barafu Camp and Mawensi

The Great Baboo!

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