Perfect weather today! Not terribly cold at 6:15 AM today in the shadow of Kilimanjaro. Clear skies above and the sea of clouds far below.
We were eating another of Tosha’s fine breakfasts by 7 AM and walking behind Philbet by 8 AM. The terrain rose gradually as we headed straight East toward Kibo. We began breaking a bunch more altitude records for our climbers as the morning progressed. We topped out for the day at 15,200 ft at the Lava Tower, right up against the massive ramparts of Kibo. Our excellent staff had a picnic lunch all set up for us there and so we lounged for some time in the intense sunshine. Then we began dropping altitude as we made our way into the Barranco Valley. Lava tower had taken us into alpine desert zones with little vegetation, but over the two hours of our descent, we came back into a relatively lush zone full of endemic Lobelias and Senecios.
At 3 PM we came into our new home at 13,000 ft. This allowed plenty of time for an easy afternoon of resting and recuperating. We’ve still got an excellent dinner and some star gazing to look forward to… and a big day of climbing tomorrow.
Best Regards,
RMI Guide Dave Hahn & Team