Okay this is getting a bit much.  Why didn’t I sign up for the beach vacation, or typical trip to Vegas?

From Shira Hut we hiked to Lava Tower.  This almost killed me. It was 3 hours up. After a night of partying. Yep that’s right we had a rave tent going last night. It was a great birthday!!! Our porters even came in and surprised me with 3 bottles of wine. Amazing!!! So back to Lava rock….after all this is not just a mountain it’s a active volcano.  It hasn’t irrupted in 360,000 years, but hey it’s still active.  This route offers panoramic views of Kibo through Karanga Valley as we hike high and sleep low.  For all of you non-hikers out there that means we will walk further and higher then we have too and then turn around and come back down a little bit to sleep.  This helps our bodies to adjust to the altitude.  It’s also a pain in the ass.  We will drop back down to Barranco after lunch.  The air is getting really thin…kinda like mile 8 of the broad street run for a non-runner like myself.  Happy Birthday to Theresa Heitter!  Let’s celebrate when I get back!

Hike time 5 hrs  Elevation change +100 M (328 ft) Estimated distance 5km (3 miles)          Camp Elevation  3900m (12,795 ft)

Here is a shot of the Great Barranco Wall

Reference Map