Shortly after registering at the Londorosi Gate, and after the porters weighed their loads, we continued up the road to the trailhead at approximately 11,160 ft. elevation. There the first order of business was to have lunch, then meet our guides and porters before hitting the trail.
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| We are at the end of the road at the Shira Plateau trailhead. |
Everyone is busy adjusting packs, putting on their hiking gear, and getting ready to launch toward Shira 1 Camp which is a relatively short distance away and only a few hundred feet higher in elevation.
We will hike through heather and moorland vegetation zones that are common on the Shira Plateau and will cross some streams in shallow canyons that are our source of drinking water. But first, let's have some lunch.
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| The first of 10 days of good meals on the trail. |
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Head Guide Pendaely Lauwo prepares to introduce us to the Assistant Guides and our porters
Pendaely was an Assistant Guide when we did this trek in 2009 and we specifically requested that he be our guide on this trip. One of the porters, Aaron, was also with us on this trip. He was the smallest porter in the group, but the one with the biggest smile! Last time he carried all the first aid supplies. This time he was David Still's personal porter.
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| Pendaely on the left explaining things about out daily routine while on the trail. |
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| Three of our Assistant Guides in front, L-R, Deo (far left), Nestor, and Liberate. |
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| More porters and 3 of our 5 Assistant Guides. |
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| The Mufindi Mountaineers at the very beginning of the Grand Traverse - Day 1. |
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Pine seeds from lower elevations have blown into parts of the Shira Plateau and are able to germinate and grow given the climate of the region in recent years.
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| We are on the trail following one of our guides. Porters carrying provisions for the camp pass us with their loads on their heads. Chris Branch is in back of the line. |
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| View of the Shira Plateau looking in the direction of Shira 1 Camp. |
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| One of the small, steam-carrying canyons we crossed on the plateau en-route to Shira 1 Camp. |
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| Looking down into one of the streambeds crossed. |
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| Following our guide to the bottom of one gully. |
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| Tom Miller on the left with Rick Billingham in front of him. |
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| Rich Wortley is next after Tom Miller. |
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| Crossing the stream from L-R, Alex Branch, Anthony Welcher, David Still, Jennifer Lindwall, and guide Liberty. |
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| The porters cover the same ground we do, but much faster, and with much of their load on their heads! |
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| Nestor takes over as guide for the second half of the afternoon. |
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| Aaron from the 2009 trek. Very helpful and always very encouraging. |
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| Shira Camp 1 comes into view. Several trekking groups were camped here, but not all of them were doing the Grand Traverse. |
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| The porters and guides greet the Mufindi Mountaineers with song as they arrive at the Shira 1 Camp site. David Still is really into the spirit of things. |
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| Guide Deo demonstrating a few moves for Rich Wortley. |
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| Thomson Safaris tents at Shira 1 Camp in the foreground. |
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| Our tents in Shira 1 Camp. The pointy one is the "outhouse." |
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| Potty training. |
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| The top of Kibo clears as the sun sets behind us in the west. The true summit, called Uhuru, is out of sight and farther back on the ridge on the far right. |
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| Our tents at Shira 1 Camp. Looking toward the southern and western rim of the Shira Plateau. |
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We are in shadow as the sun sets to our west at the end of the day. The ridges on the horizon are part of the rim of what used to be the Shira volcano. It blew apart before Kibo was formed. Much of its crater was filled with volcanic ash and lava from Kibo as it grew and the Shira caldera is now a large plateau
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The next blog post will cover our movements on 23 Sep 2014 as we leave Shira 1 Camp and hike toward Moir Camp to our east which sits at 13,700 ft. elevation on the western flank of Mt. Kilimanjaro (Kibo).
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