Close Encounters

Today was supposed to be shorter (3 hours) and somehow I equated that to easier. We climbed up from Shira camp, then it flattened for a while. We again climbed into the alpine desert and walked up to a ridge. This was the junction with the Machame route and the first time we had to share the trail with other climbers. The fog rolled in, and occasionally the sun would peek out. The terrain began to look like the moon's surface, with no vegetation. We finally got to Lava Tower, which looked like Devil's Tower in Wyoming. I was exhausted. We were at about 15K feet and it took a lot of effort to do just about anything. Much panting was done to get to the dining tent and back to our tent for sleep. While we sat around after dinner, we could hear the porters harmonizing and singing gospel in Swahili. Their voices were amazing, and I could even pick out a few hymns I knew from church. By tune only, as my Swahili is limited.Read more