Reaching the Lava Tower | Kilimanjaro Day 3

Day 3 would take us pretty high, to the Lava Tower of Kilimanjaro, and leave us at the base of the infamous Barranco Wall.  We were greeted by the day at Shira Camp where we had arrived on day 2 of our climb of Mount Kilimanjaro.  The day’s hike began around 8:45 AM to the famous.  The climax of the day would be arriving at the famous (though, admittedly, I had not heard of it before I signed up to do this trek) Lava Tower.  There, we would stop for lunch before continuing on to descend to the Barranco Camp. Barranco Camp would be out stop for the night before attempting the Barranco Wall on day 4…

Lava Tower, here we come

Excitement combined with anxiety that morning as I got ready to depart the awesome Shira Camp (my favorite of the entire climb).  I was wondering how I would perform at the higher altitude we would get to that day.  Prior to this trek, I had never climbed higher than 12,000+ ft.

Our hike on day 3 started at 12,600 ft (3,840 m) and would peak at the Lava Tower at 15,200 ft (4,630 m).  I had not been that high before (airplanes aside!).  The highest place I had ever gone to (whether climbing or by ski lift) was Pawnee Pass in the Colorado Rockies when I was in college, over twenty years earlier, and that was 50 ft shy of the starting altitude on day 3 on this trek…  Day 3 would not bring the longest climb up to that point (that was on day 1 of the Machame Route) but given the altitude we would reach at the Lava Tower, I expected a challenge.

Climb high – and then come back down?  Seriously?

So, the plan for the day was to go up to 15,200 ft.  I remember reading the itinerary and thinking “wow, only 4,000 ft more to go to the summit!”.  And then I read we would end the day at 12,700 ft, barely above our starting point, once we arrived at the Barranco Camp.  “Say WHAT??!!!,” I asked  myself.  I quickly learned how smart this approach was to acclimatizing to the higher altitudes of Kilimanjaro.

The “climb high, sleep low” approach allows for the body to exert itself at higher altitudes where the air is “lighter” while allowing sleep at a lower altitude where more oxygen in the air would help the body recover from the day’s exertion.  As I mentioned,  this would help the body acclimatize to altitude better.  I am not sure one fully adjusts to the altitude in the mountain but you are closer to that with this approach.  That is, perhaps one reduces a little bit the probability that altitude will cause problems later on, especially summit night when one really does not want to suffer any serious condition (e.g., edema) from the body’s reaction to low oxygen levels…

This view early on Day 3 certainly motivated us to tackle Day 3’s challenge

The way to the Lava Tower

So off we went, walking in semi-desert terrain, along an inclined or sloped trail that did not present any serious challenges, increasing altitude aside which did require a little slowing down (nothing extreme).

It is amazing how the terrain is so different every day of this climb.  It keeps it interesting and me distracted!  I had heard the Machame Route is the best in terms of seeing a diversity of landscapes and views and, as far as I could tell, it was definitely true of the route (though I cannot personally attest to the other routes).  (I had also heard the initial part of this route would be a little less crowded than other options.)

Some little vegetation…

… gives way to no vegetation in no time!

Reaching the tower – and lunch!

As the day went on, the skies darkened and, at different times, fog or clouds passed us, like right after we arrived at the Lava Tower (around 1 PM).  The Lava Tower, one can safely assume, is made from the rocks that the mountain spewed during its volcanic heyday.  But for me, what was more important when we got there was the fact I had managed things OK to get to this altitude. “OK” does not mean piece of cake.  But it does not mean “barely made it” either.  I felt victorious enough to not mind the fog or the darkness it brought with it.

Clouds coming in to the Lava Tower camp area

Celebrating arriving at the Lava Tower with my hiking buddy for the day, Melanie

Making it to 15,200 ft is a celebration-worthy moment.  For us, that meant a warm lunch in our dining tent.  Just one word:  awesome.

Our dining room on the mountain

Every day, our porters would set up the tent at camp and serve our dinners there.  However, normally, lunch was taken on the trail during a break so seeing our dining tent set up for lunch at the Lava Tower was a nice tough and a welcome one to stay warm.  I don’t know if the food was as good as I thought it was or if we were just starving from the exertion??  I think it was a little bit of both – and that’s OK by me!

Descending from the Lava Tower to the Barranco Camp – piece of cake

After having succeeded in climbing to over 15,000 ft and surviving the thinner air during the one-hour lunch break, it was time to go down to our camp for the night (and more oxygen density!).  We felt at this point we had this covered.  Everyone was in great spirits: talking and laughing as we left the Lava Tower.  We exited the Lava Tower Camp area by going between two very large rock formations and proceeded to descend.

Exiting the Lava Tower Camp area

Well, Mother Nature had a new experience in store for these hikers.  Just after we cleared the rock formations and had proceeded down the rocky terrain some, the weather turned.  A little rain began to come down and we all got geared up (covering our daypacks, putting on the hard shell pants, etc.).  I guess it was a good thing we had all these things handy.  My stuff was the easy-put-on kind which did not require me taking my boots off, for example, to put the rain pants on (more on what I wore and why here).

The umbrella person was not one of ours, for the record. They may have just been blown away by the winds after this photo was taken…

Hail, not lava rained down

And then it started to hail.  At first, we actually kind of liked it.  Cool was the word.  Until it started hailing harder.

Our collective recollection days later was that the average hail was the size of a small motorized vehicle.  That day, if you had asked us, we would have said they were the size of mansions.  Upon closer examination of the pictures taken, the hail was the size of small pellets.  However, this group of trekkers had been spoiled -er, blessed- with awesome weather up to that point.  So we can be forgiven for talking about this hailstorm for a day or two as if it had been a preamble to the Apocalypse.  The Apocalypse in the slopes of Kilimanjaro.  Toto just watched the rains down in Africa.  We watched the Hail-calypse down in Africa.

See the MONSTROUS pieces of hail?? The humanity!

Camp.  Finally.  And a truth revealed.

We got to camp (still raining some) around 4:45 PM.  Quite a few folks had to make a run for number one or number two since we had not made any stops during the hail/rain to get past it and to camp quickly.  No one will forget our guide’s impression of one of our trekkers who was suffering more from an urgent number two run…  As we discussed the day over dinner, we all kept talking about the storm.  Until our guide, Luis, proceeded to tell us that the storm had lasted exactly 1 hr 47 mins.  He then added that, on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of bad weather in the mountain, this ranked as a 0.5.  We pondered his point for a brief moment (surely self-pegging ourselves as wimps).  Then, I believe, someone asked for the mango plate to be passed and the topic was nicely changed…

E.T., phone home

The Barranco Camp, where we were going to spend the night, was my second favorite camp after the Shira Camp.  I think it was the sense of proximity to the summit combined with a nice setting (though not the expansive vistas of the Shira Camp).

One of our trekkers managed to get mobile network signal at this camp.  She generously offered the phone for quick calls home for anyone interested.  Having a Cuban mother, I decided I had to take advantage of the opportunity to tell her I was eating well and alive. I think those are her priorities for me, in that order!  She was ECSTATIC to hear my voice, that I was eating food, and that I was alive.  Thanks, Annie!!

The Barranco Wall the following day was in a lot of people’s minds for sure.  The wall was expected by many to be super scary, super dangerous.  But I think I speak for all or most in our group that just sitting there and soaking in the views of the summit reigned supreme in our minds that late afternoon / early evening until off to our sleeping bags we went to “sleep low” and give our bodies a good night’s sleep.

More of the scenery

Barring the summit, my favorite vistas were coming to a close.  That does not mean there were not going to be other great views.  But the best views for me had been day 2 and day 3, in that order.  Before you close this browser window, a couple more pictures of the scenery of day 3.   Day 4 will be bringing the Barranco Wall – that story comes next (see below for the link forward!).

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Back to Day 2…

On to Day 4…

Pin one of these beautiful images from day 3!

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Other posts about the Kilimanjaro trek:

–  Preparing for the hike is more than training and gear

–  The Machame Route:  our way up

–  7 things you will not see me without as I climb Kili

–  Day 1 of the hike

–  Interview with fellow Kili climber and Ultimate Global Explorer