The Mountain Sings
15,500 ft.
Ah, the short day. Of course it depends on what you count as short. A few hours from Karanga to Barafu and then lunch at Barafu. A two hour nap (we spent the time packing for the summit) and then supper at Barafu. Chicken noodle soup. Eggplant rolled around smoked cheese in a delicious marinara sauce. Rice. Fresh fruit platter with papaya and watermelon. They suggested beans on the menu as well but that was met with too much vulgarity to mention here, but perhaps it was proposed simply to allow us to heighten our spirits.
Little is remembered from the hike to Barafu, except for the section of slate. Everyone's hiking poles hit the slate with each step and the rock made pretty musical notes, the pitch depending on the size of the chip. We took a photo of the slate to remind us of the sound (click the image below). We also took a second picture of the strongmen hurrying ahead of us into the mist to set up our camp and to prepare our lunch.
After supper we napped for a few more hours and were awoken at 10 pm for 'breakfast'. French toast, corn flakes, more fruit, porridge. We ate and stood at the ready at 10:30 pm for the scheduled departure for the summit. We waited another hour for "that member of the group", prompting her several times to get a wiggle on, her response venomous at best, but by midnight we were finally on our way for the summit. Unfortunately due to the delayed departure courtesy of our group-mate, we did not make it to the rim to watch the sunrise as we had all been hoping for. We were assured, however, that the sun did indeed rise.
