Altitude: 3,840 m – 3,940 m
Hiking distance: 11 km
Hiking time: 7–8 hours
The route now turns east into a semi-desert and rocky landscape surrounding Lava Tower, where you reach an altitude of 4600m after about 5 hours walk. Lunch is served in a designated area before ascending the rocky scree path to Lava Tower. Definitely the toughest day so far. It is normally around this point, where for the first time, some climbers will start to feel symptoms of breathlessness, irritability, and headaches. After lunch, you descend again almost 680m to the Barranco camping area and after reaching the high altitude of Lava Tower, the true acclimatization benefit of this day becomes clear. This descent to Barranco camp takes about 2 hours and offers great opportunities to take some beautiful photographs of the Western Breach and Breach Wall. The camp is situated in a valley below the Breach and Great Barranco Wall, which should provide you with a memorable sunset while you wait for the preparation of your dinner and overnight at Barranco Camp.