Day 7 - Hiking From Mawenzi Tarn Camp to the Kibo Hut Camp - 28 Sep 2014

The morning of the 28th September started out clear and cold.  We had our usual hearty breakfast and pretty soon we were ready to start hiking west toward the Kibo Hut Camp.  We plan on roughly 5-7 hours of hiking.  During the day, we leave the moorland vegetation zone and spend most of the day hiking in the alpine desert zone.

From the Mawenzi Tarn Camp, we climb slightly to about 14,500 ft. and then drop into the wide saddle between Mawenzi Peak and the Kibo Hut Camp.  That saddle is close to 14,000 ft. elevation.  Then we start climbing again.  From the saddle, we gain approximately 1,500 ft. in elevation and we will sleep at 15,480 ft.

As the day progresses, it gets increasingly windier and colder and we all have to stay bundled up.  Fog and clouds move in and swirl around us.  Although the trail is good for the entire day in this section of the Grand Traverse, most of us arrive at the Kibo Hut Camp tired and ready for a meal and a good rest.

We will need the rest as the wake-up call on the following morning will be 300 a.m. for the Turtles and 400 a.m. for the Rabbits.  Tomorrow is the day we will strike for Gilman's Point and Stella Point on the Kibo crater rim. From Stella Point, we will continue up the ridge to the Uhuru Summit, i.e. Freedom Peak.  After a pause and some photos at the summit, we will head down to Crater Camp, dropping about 550 ft. in elevation.




View of Mawenzi Peak the morning of 28 September 2014.

This camp porter already has the tent down and is getting ready to add it to his load.

Mawenzi Peak is a very rugged mountain compared to Kibo.

Rick Billingham confers with his personal porter on the left while Robert DeWolf listens in.

David Still.  What did I forget?

Some of the porters trying to adjust trekking poles.

The vegetation here is sparse and low to the ground.

Anthony Welcher

Tom Reveley

Tent being rolled up by one of the camp porters.

Mawenzi Peak is 16,890 ft. tall.

It is still early in the day, but clouds are already starting to pile up.



Looking west in the direction of the saddle between us and Kibo Hut Campo.  Trekkers in the left foreground.

Mawenzi Peak disappearing into the clouds.

Hiking through alpine desert zone above 14,000 ft.

The camp porters are catching up and passing us.

Another group headed toward the Kibo Hut Camp.  Mostly from New Zealand and Australia.

Mawenzi Peak.

Lichen covered rock face.

Is everything okay?



Mawenzi Peak and the near ridge become silhouettes in the gathering fog.



This trail marker is actually a portion of a wing from a small plane that crashed near the saddle ahead of and below us in 2009.  Parts of that crash have blown all over the area in the years since the crash. 

Miles of open space and alpine desert.

We are still headed down toward the saddle between Mawenzi Tarn Camp and the Kibo Hut Camp.

This everlasting flower in the alpine zone hugs the ground very closely.

We have arrived at the crash site.  Only the heaviest components of the plane remain close to the original crash site.  There were no survivors.

 

David Still inspects what remains of the fuselage.  When we came by here in 2009, all the pieces of the crashed plane remained close to one another.

Porters and guides crossing the barren alpine desert.  Very few plants survive here.  Those that do are all close to the ground. 

We start a gradual ascent from the saddle which is near the crash site we just passed.

Clumps of tussock grass and everlasting flowers are all we see nearby.

Classic alpine desert scene.

Tussock grass.

Everlasting flower.

Thistle.

More tussock grass.



Personal porters Aaron and Hussein stay close as we may need more warm layers soon.

David Still with old friend Aaron from our 2009 climb.  Aaron is David's personal porter on this trip.  Last time he toted all the critical first aid gear around

The New Zealand and Australian group pause here for lunch on their way to Kibo Hut Camp.  This white-necked raven is hoping to see some food left behind when they move out.

A very barren environment.

This fog bank is about to envelope one of our guides.

Indications of earlier rains in the season.  This was a short lived puddle, now completely dry.

We pause for a water and snack break.

Tom Miller.

David Still.

Deo is one of our guides.  Always cheerful and encouraging.  Very effective.

Another one of our guides is named Sam.

Rick Billingham taking pictures.

 

Another porter huddled down for warmth during our short break.

Rick Billingham's personal porter.

With a slight lift in the cloud cover, we see that we will soon be headed up more steeply.

The break is over and we are back in harness and headed for Kibo Hut Camp.



Kibo Hut Camp is barely visible in the mist ahead of us.



Getting closer.



These were the Turtles on the 28th of September.



Guide Deo out in front followed by Tom Reveley, David Still, Tom Miller, and Rick Billingham.



Permanent huts like these are a new feature of many of the camp locations in Kilimanjaro National Park today.  They house national park staff who are checking for permits and generally manage any issues that arise in the national park.



Bright red lichens color this boulder near camp.



The Rabbits have already arrived and are warming themselves in the mess tent or their personal tents as the Turtles move into camp..



Almost there.  The air is thin and cold.  We are hungry.



More big boulders on the edge of Kibo Hut Camp.

Kibo Hut elevation and estimated times to points on the crater rim.  We will visit all of them on the following day.
 

Turtles on the 28th of September included L-R Rick Billingham, Gary Drobnack, Tom Miller, Tom Reveley, & David Still.  Slow and steady wins the race!?



Personal porter Hussein in Kibo Hut Camp.



Personal porter Aaron.

 

Watchful white-necked ravens.

 



Head guide Pendaely with many of the Rabbits who are warming up in the mess tent.



Alicia Chapman,



Chris Branch.



Jennifer Lindwall.



David Still.



Head guide Pendaely Lauwo.



Rich Wortley.



Two of the assistant guides join us.  Soon we will have our O2 levels and heart rate checked.  This is a daily ritual usually accomplished just before dinner.
 

Having finished taking and recording all our O2 and heart rate data, Pendaely checks his own and we all vie for the best numbers with each daily measurement.  We are a competitive group.



L-R Robert DeWolf, David Still, Chris Branch, Alicia Chapman



Barren rocks on the perimeter of our camp.



Another abstract  "canvas" of colored lichen on volcanic rock.



Our tents. 




The day will soon come to and end and we will be in bed before it gets dark.  Unfortunately, it will be a short night and we will start to get ready for the summit push beginning at 300-400 a.m.





 

When we wake up in the middle of the night, we will put on our warmest clothes, pack our gear, gather our water bottles that have been filled, and then eat breakfast.

We are advised to carry our water bottles upside down so that the necks don't freeze while we are trekking.  At night, we also store them upside down because they will tend to freeze from the top down.

We will start out on the 29th in the dark using our head lamps and have a look east at Mawenzi Peak with the sun coming up behind it. 

After exiting Kibo Hut Camp we will be moving from the Alpine Desert Zone into the Arctic Zone.

The Turtles will leave camp about one hour ahead of the Rabbits, but the Rabbits will overtake them just before the Turtles reach the crater rim at Gilman's Point.  The Rabbits will continue to move quickly on their own toward Stella Point and then to the Uhuru Summit.  Much of their route will be obscured by clouds and falling snow.  They will get down from the Uhuru Summit in the daylight and have a little time to explore the area around Crater Camp and the Furtwangler Glacier which sits right in the crater unlike most of the other glaciers on the mountain.  The glaciers are parked high on the outer rim for the most part.  A few of the Rabbits attempted to hike to the Ash Pit in the crater, but turned back because of worsening weather.

The Turtles will experience some clearing as they move from Gilman's Point to Stella Point. Most of the glaciers they pass by will have sunlight on them, but it is dusk by the time they reach Uhuru Summit and they will descend from the summit to Crater Camp in the dark.

Total trekking time on this day from Kibo Hut Camp to Uhuru is estimated to be in the 7-10 hour range.  It takes another 1-2 hours to go from the summit down to Crater Camp.  We are all pretty tuckered by the time we get into Crater Camp with a few of the trekkers in our group feeling ill.

Elevations along the way:

• Kibo Hut Camp          15,480 ft.
• Gilman's Point           18,652 ft.
• Stella Point                18,885 ft.
• Uhuru Summit           19,341 ft.
• Crater Camp             18,800 ft.