Kili Climb--Day 2--Machame to Shira

Not much sleep last night. There was a symphony of HAIF (high altitude-induced flatulence) coming from the tent next door, at a most impressive volume. Almost woke Tom up to share in the humor. I have such a hard time sleeping at altitude that it's a wonder I can ever make it to a summit when I'm so sleep deprived. I listen to Tom snore, curious how he can do it.

Awoke (I had a strange dream about Tom's losing one of our dogs, but it was Sybil, the dog I had when I was in elementary school) to clear blue skies and a view of the upper mountain. It looked miles and miles away.

After packing up and eating breakfast, we were entertained by song and dance from the Tanzanian porters. They've got the moves--good motivation for the day.

Very different trail conditions--much steeper and rockier. We worked our way up, up, up to the Shira Plateau, continuously clinging to one side of the trail or the other when we heard, "Porters, left" or "Porters, right." The trail was crowded and busy, and this is the low season. After false summit after false summit and various rock scrambles, we finally reached the plateau and descended into Shira Camp at about 12,500'. Half the distance of the first day's hike, but 3/4 of the vertical--a shorter day but a more challenging one. Not as much rain, but we now sit in fog and mist at our tent city. Enormous white-necked ravens wander from tent to tent, ready to make off with whatever they can burgle.

My heels are a bit sore, but my muscles feel fine. Nice to get into camp at an earlier hour. Tomorrow will be a long day. We started measuring our pulse and blood/oxygen levels tonight so we could start gauging how our bodies are reacting to the altitude.

PM: pulse: 62; blood/oxygen level: 86%

AM: pulse: 64; blood/oxygen level: 92%