Chasing Snow Storms: Mount Kilimanjaro Day 3
Semi Desert Hike
Today we wake up at Shira Cave Camp — 3750m ASL. What was last night a nightmarish weather has transformed into gentle, chilly wind with the sun promising to grace us at some point.
Besides my slight dizziness and watery eyes when I leave the tent, I’m not feeling any other altitude sickness symptoms.
My puffer jacket is still drenched in water from yesterday’s rain. I hang it on a tree branch hoping the wind will dry it in case the sun stays shy today as well. On my way to the bathroom — yes they do have actual bathrooms at Mount Kilimanjaro camps — I see the snowy top of the mountain fading in and out of the clouds.
We settle down for breakfast, followed by our day's briefing. Today's goal is to get to Lava Tower base camp, at an altitude of 4600m ASL. We'll spend a few minutes there to rest, have lunch and then descend to Baranco camp at 3900m ASL.
Leaving the mess tent, the sun has come out in it’s full glory. Perfect time for some "sun-kissed" photos and our dance routine.
Our moorland trek started out pleasant in the sun and we savoured it knowing it likely wouldn't last. As expected it wasn't long before we were marching in the rain. The rain doesn't last too long though, probably trying to trick us to pack away our rain gear before it comes back with renewed force. Having learnt from yesterday's experience we keep our gear on. And a few minutes after the brief sunny interlude the rain is back, with hailstones.
Our quiet soldiering on through the dry rocks and mist was interrupted when the clouds on our left suddenly cleared revealing a sight to behold. It was the snowy beard of babu making another appearance, this time much clearer than we have witnessed so far in the journey. We make the mandatory stop for photo shoots but resist babu's temptation nudging us to climb from here and get it over with. We know our bodies are not ready to take it on yet. But soon!
Food in the mountain always slurps. The lunch at Lava Tower base camp was no exception, especially after such a long day in crazy weather and knowing that we still have some way to go to get to Baranco camp.
"It’s only 3 KM from here" they said. This leg of the trip clearly started with a lie from our guides 🥴. Because even after walking what was clearly more than twice that distance and our knees running out of oil and screaming from the rocky descent, there was still no sign of Baranco camp.
I started to experience what I later learnt can be attributed to altitude sickness. I became extremely irritable. I wasn’t in a mood for the usual on trail chit chat. And when the group stopped at some point to take photos, my disinterest in partaking couldn’t have been made clearer 🙈
The camp was still way off when had our first glances of it. It did seem close but it was a winding path through hills that reminded me of the never-ending Mt. Kenya descent from Mintos base camp to Lake Ellis camp.
Soon we were navigating the rocky desert in darkness, camp lights shimmering in the distance, light years away. When we finally get there, we are all done with the day and just need to get some sleep.
Stay tuned for the rest of the story by following the High Altitude Therapy Publication: https://medium.com/high-altitude-therapy
