Meru, Day 2.0

First camp - 05/04/09
Wow, just tried to read over my last night’s musings, the spelling wasn’t exactly great but I’ve cleaned it up before uploading.

Today we have a 4hr walk to the next camp, so we will arrive about 12pm give or take, and then get some rest and shut eye, as we set off for the peak at midnight. The night walk should be quite fun, I’ve memories for night hikes with Scouts and Ventures running through my head now, I hope we managed to do a little better than back then!

i know that for some people the very fact I am writing this recount on an electronic device up the mountain, with my iPhone to keep me connected to my grandparents will annoy - but its a much lighter, more compact way to travel than lugging my A4 leather journal everywhere. That said, I am growing a little concerned about my battery status, the iPhone is naff as far as batteries go and i doubt will last the hike, and my E90, a paragon of stamina that other devices can only hope to match, i forgot to charge, so we'll have to see how long a half powered battery can last in the cold on top - I’ve been told that it can have a very deleterious effect on battery life - guess I'll have to wait to find out

As for the task at hand, I stocked up on water last night and now I’m ready for the off. No blisters from the previous day I’m glad to state, but last night my feet felt like they'd been pounded all day - which in actual fact they had, so I’ve moved onto some thicker socks today. Something else I’ve learnt for when I do Kilimanjaro - my Crocs will be coming with me. It’s not nice to have to keep wearing the same boots in camp as you've been hiking it - does really help with the drying.
Not quite sure what sort of environment we'll be in today, from the flora surrounding the camp, i think it will be closed "wet" montane forest day, which will provide a pleasant break from the "dry" montane forest of yesterday, which to be frank was largely just dry scrub - a typically African landscape to be sure!

Somehow we will have to ascend to the peak. I say somehow, as our camp is situated surrounded by massive buttressed cliffs, located as we are within an area called the Saddle, formed where Meru blew out its side thousands of years ago in its last major eruption, in a way that Mt. St Helens would be proud of. As you follow the cliff edges round (Ok cliffs is a poor description it conjures the image of The White Cliffs and short stocky bluffs of rock - these are 2000m of sheer, vertical rock, climbing steeply into the sky) the summit rises out from the top of these cliffs to our left, standing proud and isolated, and looking frankly unwelcoming.

Certainly it looks like the next few days will be quite difficult, but to be fair it looks quite like a peak of a mountain should do, and as for whatever she may try and throw at us, climbing a mountain like this is always going to be difficult - it SHOULD be difficult otherwise what sense of accomplishment would be achieved upon standing on the summit?

As for today’s route, there is no obvious way of directly ascending the cliffs, so we will be climbing out of the Saddle and approaching the peak from the West face, which hopefully won’t look as sharp as those cliffs!
Time will tell.

3500m - Saddle Hut – 16:30 05/04/09
Today was much easier than yesterday. The rest of the group however seems to have found the converse as going has been steeper. As the pace has gotten harder, the two youngest members of our group have slowed considerably. I have actually found the pace quite difficult, so rather than taking the small steps required to keep up, I take my time doing photography, and generally taking it easy, that then allow me to catch up with the group at my own pace – this can sometimes involve walking on my own for 15 minutes or more through the forest, and to be honest it is actually quite pleasant, being able to listen to the forest breathing, and things moving in the jungle, although occasionally you do get a bit of a start when you hear a branch, not a twig, but a branch crack in the canopy.

As for the pack, things have been much easier than yesterday. I think it was merely a need to get used to the weight. As it stood, my clavicles were sore this morning when i put the pack on, but with slight readjustments to the straps, I have managed to position the pack, so there is it actually barely resting on my back, and after that it has been a pleasant walk

Across the day, the summit has passed into cloud, being obscured for an hour at a time. Our guide informed us that there had been some rain on the mountain over the last few days – the snowy cap we had seen appear a couple of days ago from the sun deck attesting to that fact – and that with the cloud covering the mountain he would have to wait until we reached camp, and the summit cleared before he would be able to say if we would be able to do a midnight summit attempt. An approach to the peak at the Witching Hour is preferred as it allows the climbers to be able to experience the sun rising above Kilimanjaro. In fairness, we had been treated to a wonderful sunrise, light spilling from behind Africa’s highest mountain into the valley below, this very morning. So while a summit sun rise, would be a wonderful experience, at this stage I remain sceptical as to whether or not it is actually possible to eclipse this morning’s light show.

The environment we passed through has ranged from deep forest again, to scrub land, in which our camp is presently situated in. However this scrub differs from that of lower down the mountain, due to being mainly comprised of heathers, and surprisingly, sporadic collections of fiery red and yellow flowers, delicate blue flowers looking akin to clovers dotted around in crevices and green dry grasses brushing at the tops of our thighs. While we have heathers in the UK, they are normally about 40cm high and maybe 2meters wide, as best they could be termed a small bush. Here the heather is over 9feet tall! There are trees of heather, as when our path cuts through these heather forests you can see the trunks which support these colossal plants.

In terms of arriving at Saddle camp, so named as it sits on the edge of Meru's Saddle, giving a different view of the Saddle in which we slept the night before. We were told it would be a 4hr walk which if i am honest i though optimistic at best seeing the general pace of the group. In fact i was quite mistaken, we arrived at camp with 20mins to spare - At 12:10, lunch was again provided and our guide confirmed that since the weather was good, and the ground would be dry, we would set off for the summit at midnight that evening, meaning we would have to be bunked down for 6pm – sleep at that time of the afternoon might prove to be difficult.