I could hear Adam's kettle clink before he got to my tent. He "wakes" me up with a, "Good morning, would you like tea or coffee?" as he unzips the foyer of the tent and squats down with his array of cups, tea, coffee and sugar in his small plastic tray and proceeds to pour me a cuppa. It had rained most of the night and the ground was damp. We set off around 8am. As per the schedule given to us prior to the trip this was going to be another easy 3-hour walk. But the evening before Bernard had suggested that we push on to Moir Hut and skip Shira 2 camp, a trek of just over 6 hours. Moir Hut was our 3rd camp, but now it was going to be our 2nd. The plan was to later split a later trek in two which would make it easier on us. Moir Hut was at about 13800 ft. This was a grueling trek. I had not walked for 6 hours in a long time, and then you add in the altitude to boot and it was not easy. But the easy pace is what makes it possible.
We trek steadily East and Northward through the heather and on to the high altitude alpine desert. The Shira plateau is one of the highest in the world with an average height of 12500ft and extends for about 8 miles to the West of Kilimanjaro. The plateau is a caldera, a collapsed volcanic crater. Shira was the first of three volcanos here, Kibo and Mawenzi being the other two. About 500,000 years ago Shira blew for the last time and its cone collapsed some time later. The crater was then filled with lava flowing West from Kibo as it started its fireworks. Many years back it was not uncommon to see elephants, cape buffalo and even lions here. But now all we saw were the occasional piles of cape buffalo dung, and also one with a signature hoof print right in the middle. Not that I was in any way interested in seeing one of those ill-tempered creatures, not without the right equipment, if you catch my drift.
I was pretty tired when we got to the Moir Hut. Tired, but not exhausted. I lay in the tent thinking, "Dang, what have I got myself into?" (But that was also the last time that thought crossed my mind) Well, dinner was great as usual, and that cheered us up a bit. Renee started to feel out of sorts this evening after dinner. Bernard, Ken and I walk over to the Moir Hut, a tepee-like structure made of plywood, originally built to accommodate climbers, but long since abandoned, its skin peeling off and ripped wide open in places. It's a picturesque place, situated at the bottom of a lava flow, with towering walls of rocks on both sides. It rained most of that evening so we did nothing much.
We trek steadily East and Northward through the heather and on to the high altitude alpine desert. The Shira plateau is one of the highest in the world with an average height of 12500ft and extends for about 8 miles to the West of Kilimanjaro. The plateau is a caldera, a collapsed volcanic crater. Shira was the first of three volcanos here, Kibo and Mawenzi being the other two. About 500,000 years ago Shira blew for the last time and its cone collapsed some time later. The crater was then filled with lava flowing West from Kibo as it started its fireworks. Many years back it was not uncommon to see elephants, cape buffalo and even lions here. But now all we saw were the occasional piles of cape buffalo dung, and also one with a signature hoof print right in the middle. Not that I was in any way interested in seeing one of those ill-tempered creatures, not without the right equipment, if you catch my drift.
I was pretty tired when we got to the Moir Hut. Tired, but not exhausted. I lay in the tent thinking, "Dang, what have I got myself into?" (But that was also the last time that thought crossed my mind) Well, dinner was great as usual, and that cheered us up a bit. Renee started to feel out of sorts this evening after dinner. Bernard, Ken and I walk over to the Moir Hut, a tepee-like structure made of plywood, originally built to accommodate climbers, but long since abandoned, its skin peeling off and ripped wide open in places. It's a picturesque place, situated at the bottom of a lava flow, with towering walls of rocks on both sides. It rained most of that evening so we did nothing much.
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