December 23, 2014
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- View of Kili on the way to Shira Plateau (Eben Reckord)
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- The sun sets to the west over the Cathedral Peaks on the Shira Plateau (Eric Simonson)
IMG guide Max Bunce called in to say the the team had reached over 12,000 feet up on the Shira Plateau. The weather was nice today and they had a good hike up from the Machame Camp, starting at the top of the forest zone and then traversing the heath and moorland zone with lots of moss in the trees and brush. We also start to see the lobelia and groundsels, among the strange plants on the edges of the alpine desert above. This wide expanse on the west side of Kili is actually part of another older volcano, with the Cathedral Peaks also being a remnant of this volcanic activity.
Now they are getting the big views of Kili, and tomorrow it gets even closer (they will hit 14,500 ft at Lava Tower before dropping down to Barranco Camp at 13,000 ft).
Eric Simonson