Kilimanjaro Trek - Day 5

Late post: Day 5 into Kilimanjaro trek:

This day was a welcome break from having to walk in the rain. It was unexpectedly hot and sunny; but not very pleasant for someone who tried out warm pant and fleece tee thinking it might be just another cold day! In the attempt to save the balls from freezing I almost ended up boiling them!

As usual, woke up around 6.30 am and bright daylight had the top sheet of the tent illuminated in a golden orange hue. I had frequent awakenings till midnight, checking the watch at each awakening. 12 am till 4 am was solid uninterrupted sleep, followed by wakening once again around 5 am then the final awakening at 6.15. Thanks to the high altitude periodic breathing. The cold, the wind, noisy, or smelly tent companions can also disturb the sleep. If my tent mate also had disturbed sleep, it can very well be attributed to smelly companion. I felt sorry for him sometimes for being stuck with me like a tent mate.

Unburying myself from the sleeping bag I felt excited for I'm going to try out the new clothes that day. The initial plan is to try them on summit day, but both top and bottom were never worn before and I only had a vague idea of how they would perform on a crucial day so decided to try them out a day before. The idea is if they are not going to withstand the cold or if it gets wet in rain, then for summiting, I will use the previously used dry-fit clothes only, of course with one or two base top and bottom layers. I thought nothing worse than being stuck in uncomfortable or unfit clothes on the summit day! Little did I know this would come true the very day! 

It was a spectacular sight from the campsite, Kilimanjaro south face clearly visible and on the other side is the Karanga valley surrounded by clouds beneath us. We clicked a few pictures while it was still clear. I put the poncho and gaiters to dry on top of the mess tent and went inside. Items on Breakfast were the same as the previous day, I mixed 3 spoonfuls of milk powder and 1 spoon of honey with a bowl of millet porridge. Read somewhere it helps to balance blood sugar levels, who knows! It was just a fix for the sweet tooth! We started walking around 8 am. By then the weather turned cloudy and cold. Initial trail section was gradual upslope with scattered rocks and small bushes. Soon the bushes disappeared and rocks become more prominent. We rested for a while at the ridge of one such valley. 

So to give some insight, we are walking on the south circuit meaning the trail on the south side of Kibo peak that runs from Shira 2 camp till Barafu camp that consists of lots of valleys and ridges, the trail cuts across the valleys. Today we would walk around 4 km within which we gain 600m in altitude. Right now the ridge we are resting on was windy and exposed so I took refuge behind a boulder and sipped in more water than I could. Heard from the guide that we will wait for others to regroup so used the poncho as a blanket on top of the jacket to cover against the wind as an extra layer meanwhile munching on some biscuits and candies. 

Once we descended from the ridge it was a long flat walk and we were able to see the Barafu campsite on the next ridge ahead of us. Cloud cleared and sunlight warmed flat lands instantly. It was pleasant for a while then everyone started taking their warm layers off and I took off my jacket. The fleece coating inside the pants was effectively trapping the heat now I felt the legs were wet due to sweat from the heat. The last ridge was a steep climb and rocky and the heat reflected off the rock created kind of a microwave oven effect. Every step felt closer to the sun. For the loss of sunlight over the past 4 days, we are getting it double time. The breeze at top of the ridge cooled us off and everyone basked in the sun in their own way. That was the junction that ideally completes the southern circuit. From there the camp was a 5-minute walk, but slopey but not tiring. With the camp in sight, we felt the day has been done and decided to bask some more at the junction, clicking pictures. The flatlands and valley beyond provided excellent picture background. 

We reached Barafu camp around 1 pm. We registered our entry in the forest office, clicked a lot more pictures before heading off to the tents.  After lunch, we went back to our tents. I spent a few hours reading then eventually drifted off into a short nap. Dinner was served at 6. After dinner, guides told us the briefing for next day tent about the timing, what to pack for .summit so on. The plan was to start the summit climb around 11 pm that night so decided to call it nights. I went back to the tent, organised the day pack, then put myself in the sleeping bag and slept off amidst the cloud of the thousand thoughts.