Our first shock this morning is when we open the tent and see the frost on the ground. We knew it was cold, and amazingly that actually helped me sleep. There were two reasons, first the sleeping bag worked better, and second there was no way I was getting out to pee so I just lay there with a full bladder. It was just too cold. I'd say I got about 6 hours of the 9 this time. There was still a slope (although not quite as much).
The second shock of the morning comes when someone goes to visit our lovely porcelain toilet. This should have been one where missing the target was a lot harder than with the squat toilets, but apparently not. Someone had managed to cover the seat in crap overnight. Who will remain a mystery, we share the campsite with 120 others. Some do have their own personal toilets, but they are paying for it. We only have 34 porters for 15 of us, some groups have up to 6 porters per head. Anyway luckily I don't feel the need to use this destroyed toilet this morning. In fact in the cold it is hard to even remember to baby wipe shower, or brush your teeth.
We set off after breakfast, our usual porridge, toast, eggs, and tea/coffee. Even I am drinking tea at this point to get some warmth in me. The ascent today seems a lot gentler, we are going up 800m, but then down 650m, so overall we are only gaining 150m. The trek is 11k, so its about as steep on the way up as yesterdays part, but it doesn't seem so, mostly because the track is quite wide and without steps. At one point we even have a singsong as we go up, although the altitude, we are above 4000m now, makes singing pretty difficult.
About 2 hours into the day I begin to feel a bit dodgy. Whether it is the altitude, the food, or the beautiful sanitary conditions, I begin to get stomach cramps. Maybe I should have gone back at camp. Now unlike the first day where there were plenty of trees to go behind, or yesterday where there were a number of large rocks, the terrain today is a fairly featureless slope, with not too much to hide behind. After an hour I am beginning to feel a lot worse and am looking out for anywhere to go. There isn't much choice, but just as it gets to a point of desperation, I see what looks like a toilet in the distance with some tents. We stop for a drink and I head off at a run. It was a close call, but amazingly I am back to normal 10 minutes later. Still its time for some Imodium to ensure that something like that doesn't happen again.
As we head up to Lava Tower, our lunch stop (or the end of your day if you were doing the Lemosho route) I break out the first bag of skittles. Skittles helped me through the Lares trek back in Peru when I had the same problems (which I'm beginning to think are caused by the altitude - as interestingly both times the stomach cramps hit at about 4200m) and they help here. So by the time we stop for lunch I even have my appetite back. The lunch stop is interesting as we really have a close view of the mountain peak, although we are on the Western side, while we will actually climb up the Eastern side.
The climb up today wasn't as scenic as the one yesterday, but that gets put aside as we descend into Barranco Valley. It is amazing geology, and as we descend, we also get streams and vegetation. It is actually quite beautiful. It makes up for the morning, and confirms the trend that each day is even better than the previous one. For the first time our group breaks into two as we descend, not because anyone is falling behind (at the pace we are going that would be pretty hard) but because there are so many stops for photos. And a lost lens cap which causes some consternation until one of the eagle eyed guides spots it at quite a distance.
When we reach Barranco campsite though, it is shrouded in cloud, and we descend into it. This dampness actually makes it feel a lot colder, but hopefully will make it a bit warmer tonight. We are only 150m above the previous nights campsite, but because we now have the glaciers looming over us I think I feel even higher. The other great feature of the Barranco campsite is the Barranco wall. This is the famous breakfast wall which you tackle first thing in the morning, its an actual climb, not walking. Although it isn't technical. Still from the campsite it looks a little daunting.
The rest of the evening is as before, some popcorn, wash-up, see how bad the toilets are (and they are as bad as any others), take a few photos, have dinner, and go to bed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diarrhea
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