SAT. MAR. 11 DAY 6 SHIRA-LAVA TOWER-BARRANCO CAMP
I finally got a decent night's sleep: not a great sleep, but enough, even in the windswept barrens of Shira Camp. As a result, I felt really good in the morning. After a good breakfast, we set off at a steady uphill pace in bright sunshine. We walked through the heather zone into fields of lava rock, strangely reminiscent of Iceland. Our pace was so good, we started to pass other groups of climbers. Our spirits soared.
We reached the Lava Tower around 1 pm. As its name implies, it is huge outcropping of lava rising to an impressive height in the sky. We had a delicious lunch there and took in the wonderful scenery. Elly told us that this location was the fabled "Western Breach", a well used route up to the summit. But the Breach was prone to rock slides and many people, including some Elly knew, lost their lives in past attempts. Eventually, the Tanzanian government closed the Breach and declared it a no-go zone. But Elly claimed that many still use it, without sanction or hope of rescue. We stared up at the trail into the Breach, contemplating what strange force drives people to do such things. Then, we realized where we were and what we were doing.
A good lunch was enjoyed in great sunshine and then we set off. And, for the next three hours, we descended over rough rock and hazardous landscape. The euphoria of the morning disappeared into a cacophony of screaming knees, aching backs and crushed toes. The positive aspect of all of this is twofold: the "climb high, camp low" philosophy of Tusker which undoubtedly allows us to better acclimatize to the altitude, plus a bit of practice for the major descent. The negative aspect was the bone-crushing heartache of such a difficult experience after a glorious morning. It was a cold night, but a delicious dinner. We talked of the experience and realized that, as in all things, a price must be paid for wonderful experiences. With that, we crawled off to our tent for some sleep.
We reached the Lava Tower around 1 pm. As its name implies, it is huge outcropping of lava rising to an impressive height in the sky. We had a delicious lunch there and took in the wonderful scenery. Elly told us that this location was the fabled "Western Breach", a well used route up to the summit. But the Breach was prone to rock slides and many people, including some Elly knew, lost their lives in past attempts. Eventually, the Tanzanian government closed the Breach and declared it a no-go zone. But Elly claimed that many still use it, without sanction or hope of rescue. We stared up at the trail into the Breach, contemplating what strange force drives people to do such things. Then, we realized where we were and what we were doing.
A good lunch was enjoyed in great sunshine and then we set off. And, for the next three hours, we descended over rough rock and hazardous landscape. The euphoria of the morning disappeared into a cacophony of screaming knees, aching backs and crushed toes. The positive aspect of all of this is twofold: the "climb high, camp low" philosophy of Tusker which undoubtedly allows us to better acclimatize to the altitude, plus a bit of practice for the major descent. The negative aspect was the bone-crushing heartache of such a difficult experience after a glorious morning. It was a cold night, but a delicious dinner. We talked of the experience and realized that, as in all things, a price must be paid for wonderful experiences. With that, we crawled off to our tent for some sleep.
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