Day 6, Sept 24, 2010

We left camp around 8:30 (nothing happens in a hurry here). We walked about 4 hours or so, only a couple of miles but a 2200 foot ascent. Barafu Camp was really crowded and everyone was very excited. I had asked Johnny to track down the other people we had originally intended to climb with and he said we'd see them at Barafu camp -- they'd be coming down as we arrived. And sure enough we ran into them! They had summited successfully the night before and were tired and happy and headed downhill.

This camp was the highest at just under 15000 feet, and I could tell it! We had some lunch and they told us to go get some sleep. I didn't think I would be able to sleep for all the noise, but I dropped off really quickly and slept for an hour. Then we sorted through all our stuff and got packed up to go to the top later that night. We had an early dinner at 5 (a mix of spaghetti and potatoes; food has kind of degenerated), and Johnny told us that instead of leaving at 11:30 as the itinerary called for, we would be awakened at 10:30 because he was worried about Jesse. He said we would be going really, really slowly and we would all need to stick together. Off we went to try to sleep, although an afternoon nap (something I never, ever do) made sleeping difficult. So I lay awake worrying. The second of the three scariest things was facing us, and I just kept thinking, OK, you just have to do what all the rest of them do, get up, get dressed, get your headlamp on and stumble on up the mountain. Left to my own devices I would have stayed in that cozy tent and skipped the whole summit deal!!

Pics: (1) En route to Barafu Camp (2) Meeting up with friends at Barafu Camp (3) Barafu Camp