October 30 2001 - Barranco Camp (14,800')

Today was fun because we took a little "detour" to acclimate. We went up to 16,000 feet by climbing the Lava Tower. It took some climbing and scrambling up rock faces, but in the end we were on top of a tall volcanic mesa with amazing 360-degree views. When I wasn't being amazed that I hadn't fallen on the way up, the panorama took my breath away (so to speak :-). Our camp is in a beautiful spot, in a valley under the Breakfast Wall, a cliff so steep that I can hardly believe Simon when he says we're going to climb it tomorrow. Above that is Kili herself, very close but very high, towering over camp.