Mt. Kilimanjaro Routes
Learn everything you need to know about all the different routes up Kili.
Kilimanjaro Traverse - Camps of the Lemosho & Mweka Trails -Part 1
This trail and camp strategy my son and I followed in 04 enabled a nine day acclimatization hike with the summit on the morning of the tenth day after only an hour up the final ridge from the crater. Each of the camps had their own unique qualities. I will have seven parts in all.
Big Tree/Forest Camp - 9170 ft, one night
After three hours of wonderment fueled by adrenaline as we ascended the serpentine trail, ever up, through the dry rain forest, we popped out from the dynamic foliage into our little nylon city. …
Date: December 14th, 2006 |
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Mount Kilimanjaro Descent - Scree Slope Video
In this video of Mount Kilimanjaro, you can get a good idea of how big the scree descent is, and how you can literally jog down it. It looks like they are assisting a disabled climber coming down the mountain, but I am not quite sure. At the end of the video, look at how steep the slope is. This route is used to descend from the Machame Route. This area is just below Stella Point in an area called the South East valley.
Date: December 8th, 2006 |
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Marangu Route
Here is a breakdown of the day to day climbig on the Marangu Route of Kilimanjaro. The overall height difference between Marangu Gate entrance and the summit of Uhuru peak is 4100 meters/13,450 feet, and the total distance is 64 km/20 miles.
Day 1: Arrival day in Tanzania
Kilimanjaro Airport to Moshi 45 Km/27 miles. It’s a 45 minute drive.
Elevation 800M (2,624 Ft)
Day 2: Start trekking on Marangu route
Moshi to Marangu Gate 70 Km (43 miles)
Elevation 1800M (5,905 Ft) to Mandara hut 2750M (9,021 ft)
Day 3: Mandara Hut to Horombo Hut
Mandara hut 2750M (9,021 ft) to Horombo 3780 (12,400 ft)
Km/miles of …
Date: October 28th, 2006 |
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Death Warmed Over - Video of Uhuru Peak
Here is a video of the the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s rather peaceful moment and shows a panoramic view of the surrounding area. At the beginning of the video, you get a good aerial shot of Crater Camp, which is way below.
Date: October 18th, 2006 |
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High in the Clouds - Barafu Camp Picture
Here is a sweet picture of Barafu Camp on Kilimanjaro. Barafu Camp sits at 4600 meters and is the highest camp on the Machame route.
Looking at this picture, you can see lots of clouds and sun. Usually, the clouds will open up to the sun and then close off all day on Barafu Camp. It’s definitely a camp area that is open to extreme weather, so you should think about setting up your tent behind a ledge, or in the middle of some rocks, or other tents, to help stop the wind …
Date: October 10th, 2006 |
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Lemosho & Shira Route
If you are looking for a more remote, quiet routes for climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, it’s best to explore either the Lemosho or Shira routes, which come up the West Slope of Mount Kilimanjaro and connect with the Machame Route. You generally take eight days to climb these routes as it’s a much more gradual experience. If you calcuate all the people that climb Kilimanjaro, less than 8 percent use these routes, as it’s longer and a bit more expensive.
Date: December 12th, 2006 |
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Scree Slide - Uhuru to Barafu
After a short time on Mt Kilimanjaro at Uhuru Peak, you generally want to get back down to Barafu Camp. It can be very cold at the top. You might not feel well. And, although the summit was an amazing life-change experience, you generally are ready to leave and head back.
Descending to Barafu takes anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, depending upon how fast you choose to travel. A great way to get down quick is to scree slide, which is running down the loose gravel at medium speed. Beside getting the occassional gravel in your boot from the scree …
Date: November 19th, 2006 |
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The Red-Hot Poker
Following the Lemosho Trail, our second and third nights on Kilimanjaro were spent at Shira 1 Camp (11,500 ft.). The third day we took an acclimatization hike to the 13,000 ft top of Johnsell Point. From our perch we could gaze across the Shira plateau all the way to Kibo where Kilimanjaro’s summit resides 22 miles away (As seen in the background of the picture). As we wandered around after our lunch we discovered this beautiful fiery topped plant called “Red-Hot Poker” standing there all by itself. This was just one of many …
Date: October 19th, 2006 |
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Barranco Wall on Kilimanjaro
Here is a view of the Barranco Wall as you are approaching from Shira Camp. After you stay the night at Barranco Camp, you will hike up this wall early in the morning. This is perhaps the steepest and one of the harder points of the Machame route. Hiking up a fairly small trail with enormous cliffs on one side (and porters passing you from time to time), you will use your hands and feet to climb up parts of the wall. Most of it is manageable but there are a few spots …
Date: October 11th, 2006 |
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Crater Camp 18,800 ft., not just another campsite
One of the perks of climbing the Western Breach was the chance to explore the top of the mountain and camp just an hour or so below the true summit, Uhuru, at Crater Camp (18,800 ft.).
The summit plateau itself is like walking around on the moon and you can stroll right up to the glaciers and touch them if you wish. We were very gentle with the ice, of course, because the “experts” say it will be gone by around 2015. Like the glaciers in Wisconsin 30,000 years ago, they are, indeed, leaving us for whatever the reasons and when I’m even older and grayer I will cherish the photos of me standing next to them.
Date: September 21st, 2006 |
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