Day 4, Crossing over Lava Tower
February 27, 2010
It was day four of our journey. None of us had much sleep the previous night, having been woken up by the sheer sound of the wind and falling rain. Our seven hour climb today was going to take us east on a fifteen kilometer trail to the top of Lava Tower and then back down to Barranco Camp. It was on this day as we crossed the 4,000 meter threshold that most climbers would experience the first symptoms of altitude sickness.
We hadn’t paid much attention to our surroundings at Shira Two the previous evening, but the morning sunlight revealed just how much the landscape had changed since day three. First the forest had first given way to moorlands, and we were now in what could only be described as a desert. The route ahead was filled with the strangest of plants, some rumored to be over a hundred years old. Most of them looked like date trees whose palms hadn’t been pruned for ages, and had begun to grow over the older, decaying palms that had failed to fall off.
After our breakfast and a quick briefing, we were off on our way at eight and began the steep climb up Lava Tower. Day four had proved to be the most difficult of our journey so far, but Zed explained that the trip up and down Lava Tower would help trick our bodies into getting used to the low oxygen levels – a trick that would come in handy higher up the mountain. Most of us felt a bit light headed on the way up, but two in the group fell quite ill by the time we had reached the 4,630 meter top. Zed quickly unpacked our first aid kit and offered them an AMS pill that would help them cope with the effects of the high altitude.
The porters soon opened a box of high energy bars and began distributing them to the group. The bars weren’t much to look at, but with neither space nor time to pitch our tent for lunch, they gave us just the energy boost we needed for the trip down. I took a moment to peer over the edge of Lava Tower to see if I could catch a glimpse of Barranco camp from where we were, but it was barely visible. What I did notice, however, was the steep route down, which looked far more daunting than the climb up.
Our descent began at two in the afternoon and to say that it was difficult would be an understatement. The only thing drowning the shooting pain from our knees as we jumped from rock to rock in the rough terrain was the constant fear of falling. I had to admit though, that the south east face of Lava Tower was far more beautiful than the route up. The area was also dotted with small canals that had found their way through the cracks and crevices along the mountainside.
It was four in the afternoon by the time we had completed our descent, and we were exhausted. We had reached Barranco camp, our target for the day at 3,950 meters. The view was breathtaking and we spent a few moments to take photographs by the evening sunset before settling down for dinner and retiring for the day.