We started off from the Simba farm this morning after a yummy breakfast, signing the guestbook and saying goodbye to John & Heather - a couple from Vancouver B.C. that were setting of on their own SENE adventure to climb Kili in 8 days. Super insiring couple in all of their travels. A bit of climbing to start the morning and traversing the tree plantations up high near the National Park boundary. We knew we were in for a long day and everyone was really pushing to make it all the way to camp. We didn't really stop for breaks or to regroup like we have been the last couple of days. The crew did a great job of navigating the backroads to meet us frequently with water and snacks which was much appreciated as the day grew hotter. We cruised through dry high-desert like conditions, farmland and then back down in elevation to the towns. As the sun dipped in the sky we found ourselves back to the the canyons that make up the terrain on the south side of the mountain. We didn't interact as much with people today other than a wave and a friendly Jambo! when we could muster it. The heat definitely got to me. 5pm snuck up on us and we started to worry about how to wrap up the day. Fortunately Simon has a great, great team and they were arranging everything on the back end. When we popped on this beautiful meadow, which was still an hours drive away from camp, the team had rallied the Land Cruiser to pick up up and deliver us to our camp buy the river. They are going to haul us back up to the high meadow tomorrow to restart. We were all hoping to camp right on the meadow plateau, but arrangements for land use are really important. The Land Cruiser and Willy's mad driving skills delivered us safely to camp and myself included each runner went into preservation mode - eat, bathe, set up the tent to be ready for a good sleep. Dinner and bed quickly followed - a quiet group at dinner tonight. Understandable after the long day.
47k, 6000ft gain. start 8:34am. run 8:40.44. 5863 gain. 5801 loss. high point 6831. low point 4459