Day 5

Day 5 - Trek Day 3
Kikelewa Camp to Mawenzi Tarn: 11,800 feet to 14,200 feet

As ever, it was a beautiful morning. But also like normal, I spent the first 15-20 minutes of the walk feeling dreadful.
Every day, it would take me a good 15 minutes of walking to suddenly feel normal.
The sun was up quickly, and the sky an incredible deep blue, probably due to the lack of atmosphere above it.
It was a short walk, over mostly grass and rock, and the clouds came down pretty fast. Walking in clouds isn't the fun you'd expect it to be. It's bitterly cold at this altitude, damp and the view disappears completely.
After a stop half way the porters were introduced to Nuts magazine courtesy of Jason, we arrived at Mawenzi Tarn, a short downhill walk past a small lake ( the tarn), and we were there.
I remember it felt pretty cold and desolate, and was horribly overcrowded,
It felt like arriving at a festival.
The altitude here was noticeable. It was the first time that I felt I had to move slowly. Even bending over to tie your laces would make you breathless.
Amazingly, you could get a mobile phone reception here, but it was pretty much within a 10' space of rock, and if the clouds were too thick it disappeared altogether.
The long drops were quite hideous. Damp, cold huts perched on the edge of a precipice.
There was one slightly off-piste that was a little better, but the walk to it around 20' ft further away was exhausting.
And so we had lunch...the highlight of the day, because we had CHIPS!

It's amazing how such a small luxury can lift the spirits. Everybody was so excited.

And so we got ready for an acclimatisation walk up towards the peak of Mawenzi which was stunning in its ruggedness.
After a short briefing where Geordie showed us what we should pack for summit night, he and Jenny then demonstrated a Gammow Bag. It's basically an inflatable coffin designed to preserve your body long enough to get it down the mountain before rigomortis sets in.
In truth, it's actually an inflatable pressurised body bag that is designed to keep you alive in the event of acute AMS but by that point you'd be in pretty bad shape. I didn't want to see it, so I went to get ready.
The walk up was incredibly strenuous and a real insight into how summit night would be. Scarily, summit night would be only 24hrs away.
It was perhaps only an hour up, but we walked from 14,200 to 16,000ft and it started to snow.

We reached the top of our walk, and for a brief moment, the sun came out. It was an incredible place. Desolate, brutal landscape, with enormous hanging icicles in the distance and snow cover beyond.
I can also remember feeling exhausted. The climb was easily the steepest thing we'd tackled so far, and it was hard going.

The descent gave us another glimpse of what we'd expect to encounter on summit night. Loose scree and step inclines.
This is where your walking poles come into their own, cushioning your downward motion and protecting against slips.
On the way down, I got chatting to DJ, one of our Guides. He had a collection of different hats that he would wear randomly. I think todays was a Father Xmas hat. Top bloke.
DJ asked me if I was religious, and whether I believed in god.
Kind of a tricky but thought provoking question when asked so close to the heavens....

Near the bottom, I stopped to photograph some Giant Senecios. Surreal looking succulent plants clustered in clumps, a mini oasis in what looked like a lunar landscape. That, and the still fog around us,completed an eerie experience.

Back at camp, I took off my waterproofs and remember feeling that I just couldn't get warm.
Mawenzi at dusk felt even more inhospitable than foggy Mawenzi.

As per usually, dinner, followed quickly by bed.

It was freezing cold. Colder than any night so far, and I wore thermals and a fleece to bed.
As per every night, sleep never came to me. My iPod helping a little, but on this night, the sound of porters chatting, even shouting to each other created an impossible environment to sleep.
I found out a few hours later when Peter had to get up for some Diamox relief, that poor Alison had had her bag stolen.
It seems as though a major search was underway and it was creating a big racket.
That coupled with the incessant snoring that permeated every tent was pretty unbearable.