White Crane Photography

A crisp, clear dawn offered glorious views of Mawenzi, towering high above our camp. Mawenzi towered above us, glorious in the cold dawn light. Even some of our porters seemed to be feeling the chill that morning.

After breakfast and a water refill, we started our hike across the ridge between Mawenzi and Kibo, known as The Saddle. As we hiked along the trail on the way to the Saddle, clouds rolled in and limited our view to the barren moonscape of Kilimanjaro’s ridges.

There was very little vegetation in this harsh clime. Unlike the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, there is no snowpack to protect the plants from the harsh winds that frequent this region. Our guides showed us evidence of the power of winds; on The Saddle is a wrecked plane, brought down by those winds. As the story goes, a pair of honeymooners chartered a private plane in the hopes of seeing the Snows of Kilimanjaro. Against regulations, the pilot flew them over The Saddle on the way to Kibo, and the winds brought the plane down, killing the newlyweds.

The park service removed the bodies, but left the wreckage because it would have been to costly to remove.

As we continued our trek across The Saddle, the weather grew harsher. It started raining and sleeting, and the wind picked up. It reduced our views to short distances, and made photography more difficult; I kept my camera under my jacket in order to keep it out of the rain.

The weather held until we reached Kibo Hut camp, at a lofty 15,500 feet. The thin air made everything feel like quite an effort, so most of us were moving fairly slowly by this point.

We had an early dinner, and Good Luck briefed us on our summit plans. The porters were going to get us up at 11pm for dinner, and we would convene at midnight to begin the last leg of our trip to the rooftop of Africa.

We awoke to a breaking dawn on a clear sky, the early morning light shining on the magnificent Kibo.

Today’s hike was the steepest of the trip, gaining 300 feet in 3 miles. Moses kept our pace slow, as usual. We still saw signs of the burn, though the sage was busily reclaiming the land.

The clear sky didn’t last all that long; even before our break, the fog had rolled in, obscuring the vistas once again. The altitude was making itself known also; the temperature was lower, and the air thinner. The fog added to the chill.

We continued on through the fog to the crowded Mawenzi Tarn Camp. Once again, our porters greeted us with a song and dance, every bit as welcome as it had been the previous evening.

After lunch, some adventurers rested, and some hiked up along the ridge above Mawenzi Tarn to help with acclimation. The sky cleared while we hiked, offering us views of jagged Mawenzi.

After the acclimation hike and some rest, we had another hearty dinner and headed off to bed.