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February 12

To Elena Hut

I asked Richard to fix me eggs this morning, since he does it well, and there are plenty left. Joel and I set out first for Elena Hut, which is a short distance on the map, but a steep 563 meter climb. We first descended to the bog beside the lake, then climbed steeply through the bogs on its south side. We climbed a metal ladder, and then reached an overlook at the trail junction to Elena Hut. We stopped for a rest. It was cloudy today, and visibility was limited, except back down the valley toward Bigo Bogs and the Portal Peaks. Mt. Speke, across the valley, was hidden by clouds. It was apparent that we would be heading into the clouds ourselves as we ascended further.

The trail to Elena Hut is one of the steepest I've encountered. We climbed the muddy trail through exotic forests that reminded me of something in a Dr. Seuss book. Gradually, the trees became sparser, and the trail became rockier and steeper.

After resting under an overhang, we began a climb up a steep rocky section that looked like it would go on forever, until we came to a switchback near the top of the ridge, and the trail leveled off. There were steep dropoffs to the left, and views were limited since we were now in the clouds. Plant life was sparse on the craggy rock. It would have been hard to find the way in places without a guide or a good map.

We followed the ridge around a bend, and soon Elena Hut could be seen ahead, high above on the ridge. We followed cairns up and down over the rocky ridges to reach the hut at 4540 meters (14,900 feet). We arrived at 11:30 AM, less than three hours after leaving Bujuku, so today's walk was steep but short. The temperature was about 30^o F when we arrived. There was a small wood hut, where we would stay, and a smaller metal one nearby.

Elena Hut

Through occasional breaks in the clouds, we could see the jagged peaks of Savoia above, and the glacier we would climb to Margherita tomorrow. The porters arrived at about 12:45. Richard fixed me eggs and tea. The other porters stayed briefly and had tea before heading down to Bujuku for the night. It was too cold for them to stay here. Their blankets were barely adequate for Bujuku. I took a group picture at the hut before they departed. Richard would be staying to cook.

Richard and Joel had some meat for lunch. Joel asked why I didn't eat meat, and I said I didn't pack it on treks for health reasons, but ate it otherwise. I lent Joel my Lonely Planet East Africa Trekking guide to read for a while. My dinner was ready early. Richard cooked pasta with fried vegetables. I asked him to just cook half of the remaining pasta. He would have cooked it all. The results were tasty. I ate all of it, had some tea, and went to bed. It was only about 5:00, but it was cold sitting around in the drafty hut. We were in a cloud almost constantly, with a strong wind and sub-freezing temperatures.

Savoia Peak

As I went to bed, Joel and Richard were preparing their dinner, which featured some kind of dried bread-paste. They had some meat and vegetables as well. Both sat next to the charcoal cooking fire in the corner of the hut all afternoon. Around sunset, I noticed them both going outside, and Joel said they were going to "pass around". I looked out and saw that the clouds had lifted, so I got my cameras and took some pictures as darkness fell and the sky over Mt. Baker turned orange. I saw Joel and Richard far above on the rocks next to the glacier.

We all went to bed around 7. Both Joel and Richard had sleeping bags, but they were thin. I think they had to rent them. Joel wanted to start our climb around 6:30 in the morning, just before sunrise. I was warm enough, but had gas and slept poorly, until after I got up to pee at 2AM because of the Diamox. I will be glad to be done with that stuff.

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