Kilimanjaro Day 4: Barranco Camp to Karanga Camp

The only morning we woke up with frost covering all of our stuff. We were sleeping in a little canyon and it was cold. Luckily not in my sleeping bag, but once we got out it was cold and the sun was hidden by the canyon walls.

Another morning another selfie. Feeling much better after throwing up the night before.

This day we got to climb up the Barranco wall. So apparently this was a big deal. I had no idea. Phillip from New York was telling us about it at breakfast. I guess there are a bunch of videos on youtube about it because it is so scary. Oops, just when I thought I knew what I had gotten myself into. I am not too afraid of heights so I wasn't worried but I was laughing that I had no idea about it. 

The wall itself wasn't too bad. It was like light rock climbing up the wall. The nice thing was we were able to gain a lot of elevation very fast. And it wasn't dangerous like rock climbing because there were very big ledges to place our hands and feet. I didn't get any pictures that show how steep it was. I actually enjoyed this part of the climb. It was completely different than anything else we did on the hike.

It took us two hours to get to the top of the wall. Then we were up above the clouds that had rolled in. It was a gorgeous morning. The wall was all in the shade so the sun felt really great.

My African guides Maro on the left and Abraham on the right.

Great views of Kilimajaro.

Our entire team made it up the Barranco Wall!

My backpack, which I love. It got me through Everest Base Camp and now Kilimanjaro.

This was obviously a good picture spot.

Lots of Cairns along the route.

The clouds were rising as we sat on the ridge.

You can see Mt. Meru in the distance. Another mountain peak in Tanzania.

I decided to try hiking with my hat. I was hoping to prevent any further headaches. I hate hiking with a hat but I sucked it up:)

We took a nice little rest at the top of the Barranco wall. It felt good. We still had two more hours of hiking before we got to camp. This was one of our easier days mile wise. We were only hiking 4.3 miles. We had slept at 13,000 ft and tonight we would sleep at 12,900 ft. There was a lot of up and down on the trail.

It was so cool that we could see Kilimajaro the entire time. The hike was really beautiful. Even without summiting it would be a sweet adventure.

Way above the clouds.

One of my favorite pictures from my trip. It just captures the beauty of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Another night camping at the base of the mountain.

It is so cool to watch the clouds roll in.

We are getting closer.

The sign that we made it to camp.

This evening we got to meet our entire crew. For three hikers it took two guides, a cook and 12 porters to get us up the mountain. 

It was nice to have a short, easier day. The sun was out so it was nice to sit at camp. I was finally feeling better by the time we got to camp. I was feeling like I could actually eat the food again. As a side note I did not love the food. It was better than backpacking food, but it was a lot of different than what I was used to. I loved the fruit and I loved the soup. They served soup with every dinner and they were all delicious. They also cooked with a lot of potatoes. By this time on the trail I was forcing myself to eat so I would have the needed energy to keep hiking!