September 19, 2025
The guides and climbers at Lava Tower (Max Bond)
Max Bond reports that the team are now ensconced at the Barranco Camp after two days of great hiking and acclimatization since they departed the 9500 ft Machame Camp. Yesterday they ascended to the 12,500 ft Shira Camp for the night, with all the strange heather, lobelia and groundsel plants along the way that only grow at high altitude on the Equator.
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- Giant heather and groundsel plants on the way to Shira Camp (Ang Jangbu)
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- Trekking up through the giant heather bushes to Shira Plateau (Max Bond)
Shira Camp (Ang Jangbu)
Then, today they traversed around the south side of the mountain to the Barranco Camp. Along the way they had their lunch break at Lava Tower at 15,000 ft, before dropping down into the Barranco Camp at 13,000 ft.
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- Descending into the Barranco valley from Lava Tower (Max Bond)
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- Arriving Barranco Camp (Ang Jangbu)
Tomorrow, they tackle the steep trail up the Barranco Wall, and continue traversing, ascending and descending along the way, to the Karanga Camp which is also about 13000 ft.
Barranco Camp with the Breach Wall and Icicle above (Eric Simonson)
This is a perfect acclimatization profile, following the old adage of “climb high, sleep low”. All’s well on Kilimanjaro!