Mt. Meru (Day 2)

Goal of Day 2 of trek: Do not embarrass myself.

Day 1 of the trek brought me to Miriakamba Hut, a fairly basic hiker's lodge located at 2500 meters. After heading straight to my room and using the warm water bucket they typically give out for hand washing to soak my aching feet,I resolved to do better on Day 2.

And do better I did. For the first 2.5 hours of the 5 hour hike to the next hiker's lodge (Saddle Hut 3500 meters), I kept steadily in the middle of the pack. And while I did lose steam toward the end, the number of times people asked me in a gentle, condescending manner whether "I felt tired" decreased by at least half from the day before.

I felt so good that I didn't even complain when my guide, Rogers, woke me up from my mid-afternoon nap to climb up to Little Meru.

OK, I complained a little, but relented when he explained that it was to help get acclimatized before the summit the next day.