Up at 6, pack, breakfast at 7 and off at 8, again.  This was going to be a long day.  We were to head up the Shira Plateau 3840m (12595ft) toward the Western Breach.  We would climb as high as the Lava Tower at 4600m (15800ft) and then descent to the Barranco Wall valley at 3950m (12956ft) and only 110m higher than Shira Camp.  Climb high, sleep low and acclimatize.  The sign says this takes 6 hours, but we took a leisurely 8 hours including 30-40 minutes for lunch.  I thought we got in kind of late, but were some of the first from many groups on the Machame, Shira and Lemosho routes to arrive.  In the Barranco Valley we were back in the Moorland zone and temperatures were a bit milder.  In the past, the Machame and Lemosho routes would have camped at the Lava Tower or Arrow Glacier and then assaulted the summit up the Western Breach and even sometimes camped in the crater.  However, in January 2006 there was a rockslide that killed several climbers and guides in Arrow Glacier and the Western Breach was deemed unstable and closed.

 

So we reached camp around 4:30 and had a quick snack.  Wash water followed and I used the opportunity to get a shave.  Tim has been using the wash water to clean most of his body each day; wet wipes are another option.  Marek filmed us in all our vanity.  Charlotte took a washbasin into the tent for a thorough cleaning.  A ranger came down from his hut with the book for us to sign.

 

We had another wonderful dinner.  Each dinner started with soup and followed with a main course with pasta, rice or potato and a vegetable dish.  Dinners ended with fruit and/or biscuits/cake and hot water for tea, coffee and chocolate.

 

I went to bed right after dinner feeling very good, determined to be well rested and fresh in the morning.