Day three Shira 1 camp (11,496ft) to Shira 2/Shira Huts camp (12,779ft) via Shira Cathedral (12,671ft)
We wake up to a freezing Shira 1 campsite with the ground frozen solid and ice frosting the tents. After two days of walking I am starting to get into the rhythm of this walk now and the developing daily routine that consists of walk, eat, sleep, repeat.
Despite the cold I slept much better last night than on my previous two nights since arriving in Africa, so am feeling pretty good this morning. There are no sinks or washrooms on Kilimanjaro so outside ablutions are the norm and are not fun when it’s below freezing. As the Sun rose over the Mountain we wait in anticipation as it’s light creeps down the valley to reach us and warm our bodies with its rays. Living in a centrally heated house I generally never give a second thought to the actual warmth that that the Sun brings. Living in a tent, with no external form of heating however has given me a renewed appreciation for the light and heat that our very own Star brings to us each and every day.
Day three is all about crossing the Shira plateau, an expanse of heath land stretching out about thirteen kilometres to the west of the mountain and sitting at about 11,500ft. Our objective today is Shira 2 campsite or Shira huts as it is also known via an acclimatisation walk up to Shira Cathedral. We leave camp at 7.50am and the Sun is already softening the ground and warming our bones. The walk across the plateau is pretty flat and steady, winding its way along the trail through the heath land.
There is plenty of time as we walk to admire a grand view of Kilimanjaro, about thirteen kilometres away but starting to dominate the skyline, and pick out some of its features. The Northern ice fields and the Western breach are all clearly visible and as we progress along the trail, the Southern ice fields and the summit itself, Uhuru comes into view.
Ahead of us and getting closer every step is a ridge line that marks the end of the Shira Ridge. This is Shira Cathedral and we will be walking up to its highest point, Cathedral point. Before long we are at the appropriately named Cathedral junction, where the path to Cathedral point separates from the main path. We drop our rucksacks at the junction and climb upwards the half kilometre or so to the point itself. Annoyingly for a slightly OCD stats man like myself I leave my GPS in the rucksack so don’t get to record the walk up to the point. After walking on the flat plateau for a couple of hours the short but steep uphill stretch certainly gets the lungs working and the sweat flowing.
Cathedral point on Shira Peak is 12,671ft above sea level, (I know the sign on the photo says 12,703ft. It’s generally agreed that the sign heights may not be the most accurate!) Although it doesn’t sound much, this small height gain from the plateau is enough to kick your body into producing more red blood cells to compensate for the lack of oxygen at this altitude. At this height, there is about 35 percent less oxygen in the air than at sea level. On top of the mountain itself it will be 50 percent less. The mantra is ‘climb high sleep low’. Although Shira 2 camp is actually higher than the Cathedral, by going up and then down again we can aid our acclimatisation and hopefully avoid what is the big danger on the mountain, Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). After some photos at the sign, we retrace our steps and drop back down to the main path meeting up with Joshua who has been minding the rucksacks.
The path weaves its way around the lower slopes of Shira Cathedral before the Shira ridge finally peters out. On the way there is a grand display of little stone towers, cairns that somebody, probably a number of people have very patiently built on a Bowling Green flat area of ground. At the end of the ridge the trail meets up with the rough 4×4 emergency track and a Land Cruiser with a couple of guys is parked up.
A short while later a chap comes hobbling down the trail held up by a couple of porters. Joshua has a chat to the guys and it turns out the client was suffering from severe back pain and couldn’t go on any further. A reminder to us if one was needed that the mountain takes casualties and it’s no walk in the park. By mid afternoon we have reached Shira 2/Shira Huts campsite. It rains, as it did yesterday afternoon for a short while but thankfully once again we are in our tents and can keep our clothes and ourselves nice and dry.
In the evening, as the rain cleared we were treated to a nice but hazy sunset over Shira Cathedral and after dinner, as darkness fell I went out again with Dave and got some more star pictures before bedding down for the night.
For map and route of this walk click ‘learn more’ below.
