The team had a fine day of climbing to reach Barranco Camp at 13,100 feet.  When we woke and ate breakfast at Shira Camp this morning, there was a mean looking lenticular cloud on the summit of Kilimanjaro.  It looked like it would have been a very difficult day to summit.  Luckily, we had different plans for the day.  We set out at 8 AM walking toward Kibo (the central peak) and gaining altitude gradually.  Before too long we passed 14,400 ft and shattered the previous high altitude records for everyone on the team.  We cruised right on up to the Lava Tower at 15,200 ft and rolled down the other side to where our amazing chef Benson had prepared a picnic lunch for the team.  By this point the clouds had cleared and we had full views of Kibo’s ice fields and massive cliff faces just above.  We got walking again after lunch and made fine time hiking down into the gardens of Barranco Camp.  At 3 PM we cruised through the last of the Giant Senecios and into our camp.  We switched to relaxing with tea time followed by a nice dinner in our colorful dome tent.  Tomorrow we take on the great Barranco Wall. 

Best Regards,

RMI Guide Dave Hahn