Onwards and upwards

Day 2 is another 1000 m climb up to Shira Cave camp but the vegetation subtly changes as the trees are left behind and you emerge into the bushes of the montane scrub. Today was clear blue skies all day with views of Kili ahead. Hot but hardly sweaty due to the slow "pole pole" pace. Another 1000m of ascent so most were feeling a touch breathless and a few headaches amongst the jippy tummies. It became more apparent that a few might struggle due to fitness but generally the mid was buoyant and the group seemed unphased- even welcoming- to have the anomaly of this middle aged bloke in their midst. Lots of passing medical queries dealt with at the dinner table.
Day 3 was a chilly start and was a steady but significant climb up to 4500m at Lava Tower, across volcanic desert, before descending again to Baranco camp. So getting much more testing. And we had our first drop out with an east evacuation to a road end 40 mins away. ( what she wasn't so aware of was the 5 hours of bumpy transfer back to moshi..)
Heading up to Lava Tower I had my first moderate altitude (AMS) client, Alan, but he was able to plod on slowly to the high point with his severe headache with the knowledge he would be descending 600m on the other side. Nearly all the students were taking diamox: wise in my view considering the aggressive profile of their route. I lingered at the back of the group as this is where the casualties inevitably gravitated and slow progress was made. Alan was somewhat better so I could relax a bit.
Today was mostly in cloud so not much in the way of views.Read more