Kikelewa Camp- 4 July 2022

Diary Entry

Today was a very long 15 km hike. It was amazing views, where we had a very steep / difficult 4 hour start before lunch. We had lunch at 3450m and it was spaghetti! I had a good helping. I feel a little hot, have had to much sun today. It is only going to get worse. I am not going to strop putting on suntan lotion.

The walk we did, we raised about 1.1km in elevation. Its amazing!

We are literally in the clouds now. When we arrived at about 16:00 there were no clouds on camp and now 17:19 we are in cloud cover.

We had pop corn and a warm drink after arriving, and now the team is prepping for dinner.

Last night I had a bit of a challenge sleeping, my breaths were normal, heart rate at 130 but if I stopped breathing for a few seconds I felt light headed, I think I panicked a little. I am hoping tonight is better! last night we were on a lot of grass, most of the camp area was grass. Tonight it is a very fine dusty, light gravel or something, because of the altitude, tonight is going to be 10 degrees ( Celsius ) colder. I am a little nervous because I got cold on my legs last night! We will see how tonight goes. I am going to wear my thermals.

The solar charger is a beast. Charged my power bank about 20% in probably 2 hours, of which not all was in sunlight as we hiked through clouds.

During the hike today we went through 3 or 4 different ecosystems, from forest ( low tree ) to moorland with thick and multiple plants to where we are now, with only 1 ( really ) plant, low and disperse/ish. We have Ravens where we are now, its amazing they can / and do survive at this altitude.

There is apparently a bamboo forest on the wet side, Rupert told me.

One of the hikers got very nauseous today and had a few bad episodes. This unfortunately caused him to not drink and as such got a bad stomach.

I went through 3L of ware and feel I did not have enough . I am a little worried about summit night as it is also a very long day.

Its starting to get cold enough now that we have to keep our cellphones work, with the lithium batteries.

After Notes

Walking in clouds

There is an amazing feeling walking though a cloud. It was one of many experiences I will never forget.

Water

There is a suggestion where drinking water is better then taking medication for altitude. I had experienced this during my summit, which I will write about in that section.

Batteries

Because the lithium batteries loose charge very quickly when they charge, it is recommended to keep them close to your body. During this day, was obviously the first day where I felt it was better to keep my cell phone inside my jacket.