The Kilimanjaro Series was created to commemorate the five year anniversary that my twin brother (Mr.Echo) and I summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. Mt. Kilimanjaro is located three degrees south of the equator in Tanzania. It is the tallest mountain in Africa and is the highest free-standing mountain in the world. This immense mountain is made up of three volcanoes: Shira, Mawenzi, and our goal, Kibo, the tallest one in the middle. There is a virtual cache at the top, Uhuru Peak.
This series will take you along the route that we followed (Machame Trail) and pose similar challenges. Mr Echo and I will own these seven caches so some may also be in his name.
Listed below are the seven camps that we took and the seven caches that we will set up
1. Machame Camp. Elevation : 10,200ft Habitat: Montane Forest
2. Shira Camp. Elevation : 12,600ft Habitat: Moorland
3. Barranco Camp. Elevation : 12,700ft Habitat: Semi-desert
4. Karanga Camp. Elevation : 13,800ft Habitat:Alpine Desert
5. Barafu Camp. Elevation : 15,100ft Habitat: Semi-desert
6. Uhuru Peak (Summit). Elevation : 19,300 ft Habitat: Glaciers
7. Mweka Camp. Elevation : 10,200ft Habitat: Forrest
This cache is the Uhuru Camp and is located on Short Mountain at Timberlin Park in Berlin. Note that the park closes at dusk. After you pull into the park, go all the way to the end (passing the golf house) to park. Then enter the trails by the big Timberlin Park sign. You should follow the directions to Vertically Challenged with one addition. After crossing the brook and making a right at the small trail, when the trail forks stay to the left to go up the mountain.
On Kili, the summit takes about five days to get to and requires many obstacles. This shorter hike still has some scree and rocks to climb(careful w little ones).