Shira to Lava Tower, 23rd Sept, 08:30

Tuesday, Day 3, morning.

We wake to a glorious morning and a superb view to the Southwest. What we can see on the distance is Mt. Meru, floating in the clouds 70 km away. It is a captivatingly beautiful thing and predictably, I take about another 57 almost identical pictures of it.

This is a big day, the going gets tough.

We’re leaving Shira at 3845m for the Lava Tower at 4600m (15,100ft) and then dropping down to Barranco Camp at 3960m (13,000ft). The trail is steep and the pace is slow. Some of us are beginning to feel noticeable effects from altitude – some nausea, vomiting, dodgy stomachs and breathlessness. I’m lucky in that I only have is a splitting headache but chug back some aspirin and paracetemol which seems to work – I’ve still refrained from Diamox. We’re all drinking in excess of 3 litres of water per day too – this helps with the acclimatisation. The height gain to the Lava Tower is readying our bodies for the travails ahead. Onward we plod through some of the most amazing views.

Up here it’s bleak, barren, cold. We’ve pretty much left behind any meaningful vegetation except for a few grasses and lichens. The air is thin and I feel a little remote from myself, presumably as a result of the lack of oxygen. I’m not worried by this and it’s something that I’ll experience again, later in the trek.

Large crow-like birds scavenge our lunch leftovers. They look a bit ecclesiastical.