Kilimanjaro Expedition Dispatch

August 8, 2008 – On Our Way for the Summit Attempt!

Sunrise on Kilimanjaro glacier

It is Ian and Michelle calling. We didn’t have reception on August 7th, so we are calling today from the Outward Bound school hut. Last night we stayed at the Mawenzi Tarn camp at about 14,000 feet. We had a short hike yesterday from Kielewa Cave camp and arrived here just passed noon. We hiked to the base of Mt. Mawenzi and camped inside the caldera near a collapsed cone of the former volcano. Our guide Julius is very knowledgeable of the geology of this area and has been giving us lessons on the rocks and formations we’ve seen of the three volcanoes here on Kili. - Mawenzi being the oldest. Our crew from BAI has been so nice, greeting us with song when we start and end our hikes. They are very supportive and we are both feeling great. The hiking is easy so far, the challenge has been the elevation.

Hi it is Michelle here, today we hiked across the saddle between Mt. Mawenzi and the base to the peaks of Kili. We are at a little over 15,000 feet right now and we have a little more than 4,000 feet to go. Tonight is the night we will make our summit attempt.

Right now it is actually about midnight; we rested at the Outward Bound climbing school for a few hours and are now on our way for our final ascent. We leave at night because the scree is still frozen so it will make it easier to climb and so that we can be on the top by sunrise.

It is hard to believe we have already come so far and are excited about heading for the summit!