Altitude Gained: 1306m today (1613 so far) currently at 3941m
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| Beautiful Sunrise. |
Last night we were treated to the most amazing night sky
with such bright stars and the Milky Way so clear. The last time I enjoyed such
unspoilt vistas was when we sailed across the Atlantic in 2005. Such a treat. You
can really appreciate why the ancients placed such emphasis upon it. Very
powerful. In the morning, I awoke early as usual and was greeted by a gorgeous dawn
view of the Mountain. Absolutely stunning. This was slightly offset by the
pleasure of the long drops – whilst definitely better than nothing, I am very
happy to enjoy such delights for just the limited time on the mountain.
Today we trekked from Simba Camp to the 2nd Cave
campsite for lunch (a distance of 8km with an elevation gain of 852m). It was a
stunning walk, but quite hard going in places with some big step ups to
challenge us. The littler legs certainly found these very tiring. But we made
it to the lunch stop and both felt great. It is quite something to be ushered
into the mess tent for tea and then fed a three-course meal of pumpkin soup,
fried chicken and an enormous dish of pasta (we demolished it) with some fruit
to finish. Perhaps it is partly the setting and our efforts on the mountain,
but the food felt like we had never tasted better! Our crew are certainly
looking after us.  |
| The incredible porters and getting closer! |
There was then some discussion about what to do next. Had
the first leg been too much for the littler legs? Should we stop at this Second
Cave Campsite for the night and adjust our schedule? We decided to push on and
it was absolutely the right decision. The next bit was much gentler (after an
initial scramble of a few hundred meters) and we really enjoyed the walk. That
said we were both very glad to arrive at the campsite (3rd Cave) and
crash (a further 4km travelled with 454m elevation gain). The bonus of pushing
on is that we get more of a rest day tomorrow, with a short hike for
acclimatisation. The most common reason for people not reaching the summit is
Acute Mountain Sickness. We are both on hyper alert for the symptoms (in its
severe form it causes cerebral and pulmonary oedema). It is quite common for
people to experience mild symptoms and we both felt a little washed out (most
likely just tired). We have good appetites though (an excellent sign) but I am
hoping that my niggling headache since the morning is just the remnants of
snuffle I had in Arusha. A good night’s sleep at almost 4000m should hopefully
set us up for tomorrows efforts.
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