Well, so much for a good night rest.  Starting at about 1am and hourly for the rest of the night I was awakened by an intestinal problem.  Temps outside were about 25F so I’d quickly don pants, fleece, jacket and boots and venture out of the relatively warm tent out into the cold.  I’d hustle to the long drop squat toilet about 60 yards away and luckily was able to get my pants down in time.

 

In the morning I ate porridge and tea only and I really didn’t want to eat that.  I told my guides of my problem and they asked if I wanted to descend.  I told them I’d see how the day went, knowing that if I went to Karanga, then I would not have an option to descend until the next day after ascending to where we meet the Mweka trail up to Barafu (our high camp).  I had 2 days to get better.

 

We woke up today at 7 (an hour later than previous days), packed, breakfast at 8 and off hiking at 9.  This was going to be a short day; many people on this route take one fewer days and go all the way to Barafu.  We took the extra day to acclimatize and take two shorter restful days before our summit attempt.  At this point everyone knew I had a problem.  I sat down on a rock away from everyone and thought about how my summit was over.

 

But off we hiked, from Barranco Camp 3950m (12956ft) down past a few streams that were fed from waterfalls and then up 1000ft Barranco Wall 4233m (13888ft).  It had a bit of scrambling and a few long stretches if you are short, but nothing very exposed or dangerous.  You could look down to our camp and see nearby waterfalls that look like they are fed from underground streams.  At the top we took a short rest.  The picture of me here shows that I am not very excited.  The route the goes up and down into valleys and then down off trail into deep Karanga Valley 3940m (12927ft) and up a steep incline to Karanga Camp 4040m (13255ft).  The sign says that this is a 3 hour hike, but we took a leisurely 4.  

 

This was another beautiful camp in the Alpine Desert zone with great views of the mountain.  This route gets various views of Kilimanjaro from the east, south and west and also views of Mt. Meru, Shira Cathedral, the Lava Tower, Barranco Wall, and Mawenzi Peak.

 

After a hot lunch, at which I was scolded for not eating very much, we had some wash water so I used the opportunity to wash my hair hoping it would lift my spirits.  Normally each day I used wet wipes for the sweat, a deodorant/anti-perspirant, wash water and purell sanitizing gel only.  So a shave (yesterday) and washing my hair (today) were luxuries.

 

At dinner I remember the guides being VERY disappointed with the amount I ate.  I still had intestinal problems and didn’t feel like eating, but I could hike for several hours with no discomfort.  They made me add a couple of pieces of dry bread to the soup and tea that I ate.  I had a small portion of food as well.  I thought I did pretty good given my condition.  I only had to get up 2 or 3 times during the night for visits to the long drop.