11,300 feet, 8 pm We are not in Kansas, or Michigan, anymore.
First, some clarification. Yesterday we did ascend a NET 1,355 feet. According to our Garmin 305 we hiked 4,632 feet up and 3,277 down, netting 1,355 up. We camped last night at 9,130 feet in the rain forest.
Allison and Brian slept very well last night. Michelle and I did not sleep well at all, even though we were beat. The guides warned us about monkey screams waking us up at 5 am. I finally dozed off after 3 am and was woken up by screaming monkeys at 5:05 am.
Today was very difficult. We left camp at 8:40 am. By 10:30 am we were out of the rain forest and in the Moore land. The change from one vegetation zone to the other was abrupt - one minute we were in trees well over 100 feet tall and within 100 yards no trees over 10 feet tall. Unfortunately the Garmin was out of commission for the day (the batteries did not charge last night). Brian and I estimate that the first 9 miles had an average grade of 40-50% with some long sections over 80% (8 feet up or down for every 10 feet out). We (Michelle and I) were pretty beat today and each drank at least 6 liters of water during the hike. The difficulty of this early part was much worse than I had expected based on online blogs and pictures.
Fortunately the last mile or so was fairly flat. The last mile bonus was that as we rounded a ridge we saw not only our camp for the night but our first live view of Kilimanjaro. We had different first thoughts; Allison - I can't wait to climb that; Brian - surprised by the whiteness of the glaciers; Michelle - Oh my Lord; Kevin - there aren't any easy ways up. If I can get a picture sent you will see that sides are steep - I assume we will be taking many, many switchbacks.
Today's breakfast was hot oatmeal, fried eggs, sausage, toast, papaya and coffee. Lunch was some snacks and Clif bars along the way. Dinner was chicken wings & peanuts to starts, then zucchini soup and chicken curry over rice. The quality of the food is surprisingly good; Allison calls it amazing. That good because we seem to have little appetite as we go higher - imagine that, some of us not having an appetite.
Brian figured out the Garmin so we should have good data tomorrow. Tomorrow's plan is to cover 15 kilometers and go from 11,300 to 13,500 feet. The good news is that the weather is great (sunny, 50-60, slight breeze) and tomorrow's route is mainly up; not a lot of up and down.
Kevin, Michelle, Brian & Allison
First, some clarification. Yesterday we did ascend a NET 1,355 feet. According to our Garmin 305 we hiked 4,632 feet up and 3,277 down, netting 1,355 up. We camped last night at 9,130 feet in the rain forest.
Allison and Brian slept very well last night. Michelle and I did not sleep well at all, even though we were beat. The guides warned us about monkey screams waking us up at 5 am. I finally dozed off after 3 am and was woken up by screaming monkeys at 5:05 am.
Today was very difficult. We left camp at 8:40 am. By 10:30 am we were out of the rain forest and in the Moore land. The change from one vegetation zone to the other was abrupt - one minute we were in trees well over 100 feet tall and within 100 yards no trees over 10 feet tall. Unfortunately the Garmin was out of commission for the day (the batteries did not charge last night). Brian and I estimate that the first 9 miles had an average grade of 40-50% with some long sections over 80% (8 feet up or down for every 10 feet out). We (Michelle and I) were pretty beat today and each drank at least 6 liters of water during the hike. The difficulty of this early part was much worse than I had expected based on online blogs and pictures.
Fortunately the last mile or so was fairly flat. The last mile bonus was that as we rounded a ridge we saw not only our camp for the night but our first live view of Kilimanjaro. We had different first thoughts; Allison - I can't wait to climb that; Brian - surprised by the whiteness of the glaciers; Michelle - Oh my Lord; Kevin - there aren't any easy ways up. If I can get a picture sent you will see that sides are steep - I assume we will be taking many, many switchbacks.
Today's breakfast was hot oatmeal, fried eggs, sausage, toast, papaya and coffee. Lunch was some snacks and Clif bars along the way. Dinner was chicken wings & peanuts to starts, then zucchini soup and chicken curry over rice. The quality of the food is surprisingly good; Allison calls it amazing. That good because we seem to have little appetite as we go higher - imagine that, some of us not having an appetite.
Brian figured out the Garmin so we should have good data tomorrow. Tomorrow's plan is to cover 15 kilometers and go from 11,300 to 13,500 feet. The good news is that the weather is great (sunny, 50-60, slight breeze) and tomorrow's route is mainly up; not a lot of up and down.
Kevin, Michelle, Brian & Allison
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