Day 8 - Trek Day 6
Monday, September 14
Third Cave Camp —> School Camp 3 miles
13,000 ft. —> 15,600 ft 2,600 up
8:45 —> 1:45 5 hours
Breakfast dining al fresco! The mountain…she’s getting closer!
This morning several of us planned to be up before sunrise so as not to miss it. The chefs met us with coffee as we stumbled from our tents to greet the day - or I should say as the day greeted us! Before the clouds rolled in we could see the twinkling lights of the city below us. Then, as usual, when the clouds arrived there was a pronounced undercast. As the light increased, so did the alpenglow upon Kili. And then, just like that, the sun was up completely!
Breakfast wasn’t until 7:30, we we had time to get ourselves packed up and ready for the day. The sky was clear and the sun was shining - a really beautiful day. It was about breakfast time, when all of a sudden the porters untied the dining tent from the rocks all around it, then they literally picked it up over their heads and walked it away from its spot leaving our breakfast table out in the open. (see photo at the top of the page)
Before we left this morning, we gathered around a Gamow Bag - a portable, inflatable, hyperbaric chamber used to treat severe altitude sickness. One of our porters carries this with us every day. Bona explained the process for taking someone down the mountain, and even more importantly the process for making the decision to take someone down the mountain.
We were on the trail at 8:45.
The landscape here really is more like a moonscape: fewer plants, more rocks. We did go through a section with more shrubs, but it didn’t last long. The trails really was up the whole day and in a couple places it was REALLY steep. But we kept moving, with frequent stops for peeing, rest, and snacks. Interestingly I did not find the day as challenging as the other days. The temperature was probably in the 50’s and sunny - the clouds were chasing us but never fully overtook us.
Then we rounded a corner, looked up the mountain, and saw some peaks of tents and small buildings…camp! But it was way up there! I got a little over eager and sped up to a pace I could not sustain! But then we saw our porters coming down to us to take our packs - O Happy Day! Unwisely, I kept up a too-fast pace, not realizing how far camp really was from where we were, and how steep the up was to get to it! I turned around once, and Mike and Frank (my porter) were right with me (God bless them!). I did stop for a water break before the last steep pitch into camp.
Photos at the sign and then to lunch: Vegetable soup, grilled cheese with tomato and onion, veggie burritos.
After lunch we rested and nested in the tent. There was afternoon tea time, and dinner at 6:00pm: Soup and garlic bread, pasta bolognese, vegetables and fruit. Then our briefing for tomorrow.
Tomorrow is going to be our hardest day and the coldest day with a 4:00am departure and climbing 3,000+ ft. to 18,800 ft.
Here’s our AllTrails version of the day!