Friday February 11th.
4,200 m to 4,600 m
It's cold getting up to pee in the middle of the night – but I saw the lights of Moshi city down below and the gorgeous stars up above, before dashing back into the tent!
I slept well, listening to some music. Breakfast at 8:00 and off by 8:30. Beautiful clear morning. Sun felt warm as we set off. I decided to wear layers today instead of the big coat, but ½ hour in, sun went behind a cloud and the temperature dropped 15 degrees. Better for hiking though. We hiked 1 ½ hrs up, ½ hour down, and then ½ back up really steep rocks to reach Barafu camp, aka Base Camp.
We walked non-stop because stopping you get cold with your sweaty clothes on your back under the daypack, and your muscles cool off and don't want to start again.
The rocks have a look like slate, but some like ceramics when someone walks on them. After lunch I read and finished my book, napped a little and listened to music. I need to sleep as we are getting up at midnight to start a 6 hour climb. Hard to sleep with the ceramic sounds, the light and the pressure to sleep on your mind. So, needless to say, I didn't get much. Dinner was at 6:00 and then to bed again, but still no luck. I was awake and thinking about lots of things back home.
We were woken up for a snack at 11:30, packed our day pack, mainly with water, and dressed really warm – long johns top and bottom, layers, winter coat, rain pants for wind protection, gloves, and hat. And then we began!
I love the look on your face in the tent. You have the cold, tired and " oh my God, what am I in for " look. I've had that look at the cottage in October at 3:00a.m. after running out of kerosene. But I wasn't climbing a mountain the next day......
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