Day 4: Climbing Barronco Wall and trek to Karanda Hut

This morning we got to sleep in an extra hour as we wouldn't be starting our climb of Barranco Wall until 9 however most of us were up earlier than 7:30.  We found Jonathan to see how he was doing and as many of us expected, once he saw the magnitude of what lied ahead of him, he made the decision to end his trek to the summit.  We applauded his decision but were sorry to be losing a member of our group.  Kennet and 2 porters prepared to take him down to the gate via a route that would take him about 10 hrs. to complete. 

After breakfast and checking O2 levels we packed for our job of tackling the wall first off.  After an easy hike to the base of the wall we began our climb. 

Within 10 mins. of our trek up the wall we knew we were in for something different from what we had experienced thus far.  The trails were much narrower and instead of relatively small step ups, we were encountering rocks where we had to make 2 ft. to 3 ft. steps from rock to rock and at time pull ourselves up.  Hiking poles were useless as they only got in the way but good gloves were essential to find secure grips in the rocks as well as to save ones hands from cuts and scrapes.  There were countless numbers of switchbacks as this was the only way to navigate the sheer face of the Barranco Wall.  We were continually amazed at the porter’s ability to carry packs on their heads or shoulders and still be able to navigate the narrow paths and make the 2ft. to 3ft. vertical steps from rock to rock. 

About mid way up we encountered a section that is called “The Kissing Wall” where literally you get face to rock with the wall in order to make the lateral 3ft. traverse to the next rock on the path.  I think the more appropriate name would have been hugging wall as basically you were clinging to it for dear life.  Actually our guides were behind and below us straddling another path to ensure our safety.  I made it across fairly easily and it seemed to surprise our two guides as I received a grin and “nice!!” comment from them both which made me feel good. 

The view from the climb was breathtaking as we were looking down at our camp from the night before and could see all the valleys around us as well as other trekkers beginning their asscent. From the plateau, we could look out over valleys and see the clouds below us. The wall itself was over 1,000 feet high and we completed the climb in around 2.5 hrs.   Not bad for some rookies who hadn’t done much rocking climbing before as well as carrying a full pack on our backs!  Once we made it to the top we all said we were glad Jonathan didn’t attempt it as it would not have been easy for him nor very safe considering what we had to do and the condition he was in.

The views from the plateau were amazing and we could see the valleys and hills that we would be hiking for the next several hours to get us to our next camp.  When we did make camp we were treated to a beautiful view of our goal before us and the backdrop of the photo below.