As previously stated, I spent this last weekend treking up Mt. Kenya; the highest mountain in Kenya and the second highest on the continent, after Kilimanjaro of course. Our group included myself, Cameron, Crystal, Christina and our porters and guide (two volunteers dropped out at the last minute for fear of cold, obviously not Canadians).
Our guide was Steven; a Nairobi native who has been guiding trips on Mt. Kenya for two years, and portering for five years before that. We were also provided with three porters for the trip. Porters carry all of our personal and group gear as well as make us delicious meals (chapati, stew, chicken, omeletts), snacks (popcorn, biscuits, fresh fruit) and chai. The whole concept of hiring a porter seemed a bit weird to me, as I am accustomed to, and fully capable of carrying my own gear. But it is rather common place here, in fact I think they would have died laughing if I said I wanted to carry my gear (but I was a little envious as they divided up the gear at the beginning of the trip, I really felt uninvolved!) Hiring porters also provides jobs here, which I can support. And in all honesty, it was nice to only carry a day pack.
In the charming town of Nanuyki (read; busy, crowded, overwhelming) we had an uninspiring lunch then headed out to the mountain (by yet another matatu). Finally at the mountain, we were ready to begin hiking when the park guard informed us there were two elephants just up the trail... being the silly North Americans that we are, we all whipped out our cameras and started off in the direction he pointed. "Oh, elephants are dangerous in the wild", we soon learned. They are very fast and very large and surprising one in the bushes is apparently not so fun for the surpriser. So we waited as the guard fired off his rifle into the air and we watched the bushes shaking as the elephants retreated into the forest. We were, of course, disappointed in the lack of a photo-op, but I suppose it was for the best.
Our first day of hiking saw us travel nine kilometers to Old Moses camp, located at 3300 meters above sea level (the gate, where we started hiking is at 1900 meters) Old Moses camp is a lovely little dwelling with tin walls, dusty bunk beds and a full compliment of resident rats. Nevertheless, it was a welcome relief from the sun and the flush toilets and running water were a pleasant surprise.
The next day we set out early to conquer the 12 kilometers and 900 meters elevation gain to reach the Shipton's camp located right below the summit at 4200 meters. Shipton's camp is similar in structure to Old Moses however the altitude means is was freezing - even by my standards! For bed we decided the best thing to do would be to spoon (okay, I had to convince everyone a little, but it was so worth it!). I pushed two beds together and made us a small next out of mattresses. We slept with one sleeping bag beneath us and three on top of us, and two nalgenes of boiling water at our feet - it was luxurious! Okay, it may have been a bit over overkill, since by midnight we were all stripping off sweaters.
Our summit attempt had us leaving camp at 3:30am to try to reach the summit by sunrise at 6:30am. Our goal was to reach Pt. Lenana at 4895 meters above sea level (Pt. Lenana is actually the third highest peak, the other two are unreachable without technical gear/ knowledge). Climbing in the dark was exhilarating! The stars were shining and the moon was bright, with an icy ring in the sky surrounding it. It was actually almost bright enough to not even need my headlamp (but I used it anyway, kinda like a security blanket). The day before I had found the hiking a bit more tiresome than normal (which I blamed on the altitude), but this morning I was filled with adrenalin and felt I could just bound up the mountain. It was amazing!
We climbed for just under an hour before reaching the snow pack, which thanks to a fierce wind for the last few days, was now little more than an ice sheet. After traveling a short distance on this ice, our guide made the very wise decision that it was too dangerous to continue and that we would unfortunately be unable to reach the peak. It was quite a disappointment to be honest, but I'm sure it was the right decision, I trusted Steven's judgment.
Back at the hut a little early, we waited outside to watch the sunrise from below while the smell of our breakfast cooking wafted from the kitchen. Stephen told us how less than a year ago, he had been hired to guide the police up the mountain to recover the body of a tourist who slipped and fell while trying to reach the summit - we all felt a little better about turning around early!
Two days of hiking later, and we were back in Nairobi, feeling overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of this city after having been out in the tranquility of Mt. Kenya. We were filthy and tired and dusty and sweaty and stiff and sore, but feeling good... accomplished! It was a treat to watch my fellow volunteers, none of whom have ever hiked before, feeling so good about the trip (even if on the surface their comments were mostly about how tired/sore/dirty they felt). Although a bit touristy (I have yet to meed a Kenya who has climbed Mt. Kenya, other than porters and guides) Mt. Kenya was definitely a worthwhile addition to my Kenya experience.
The next day we set out early to conquer the 12 kilometers and 900 meters elevation gain to reach the Shipton's camp located right below the summit at 4200 meters. Shipton's camp is similar in structure to Old Moses however the altitude means is was freezing - even by my standards! For bed we decided the best thing to do would be to spoon (okay, I had to convince everyone a little, but it was so worth it!). I pushed two beds together and made us a small next out of mattresses. We slept with one sleeping bag beneath us and three on top of us, and two nalgenes of boiling water at our feet - it was luxurious! Okay, it may have been a bit over overkill, since by midnight we were all stripping off sweaters.
Our summit attempt had us leaving camp at 3:30am to try to reach the summit by sunrise at 6:30am. Our goal was to reach Pt. Lenana at 4895 meters above sea level (Pt. Lenana is actually the third highest peak, the other two are unreachable without technical gear/ knowledge). Climbing in the dark was exhilarating! The stars were shining and the moon was bright, with an icy ring in the sky surrounding it. It was actually almost bright enough to not even need my headlamp (but I used it anyway, kinda like a security blanket). The day before I had found the hiking a bit more tiresome than normal (which I blamed on the altitude), but this morning I was filled with adrenalin and felt I could just bound up the mountain. It was amazing!
We climbed for just under an hour before reaching the snow pack, which thanks to a fierce wind for the last few days, was now little more than an ice sheet. After traveling a short distance on this ice, our guide made the very wise decision that it was too dangerous to continue and that we would unfortunately be unable to reach the peak. It was quite a disappointment to be honest, but I'm sure it was the right decision, I trusted Steven's judgment.
Back at the hut a little early, we waited outside to watch the sunrise from below while the smell of our breakfast cooking wafted from the kitchen. Stephen told us how less than a year ago, he had been hired to guide the police up the mountain to recover the body of a tourist who slipped and fell while trying to reach the summit - we all felt a little better about turning around early!
Two days of hiking later, and we were back in Nairobi, feeling overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of this city after having been out in the tranquility of Mt. Kenya. We were filthy and tired and dusty and sweaty and stiff and sore, but feeling good... accomplished! It was a treat to watch my fellow volunteers, none of whom have ever hiked before, feeling so good about the trip (even if on the surface their comments were mostly about how tired/sore/dirty they felt). Although a bit touristy (I have yet to meed a Kenya who has climbed Mt. Kenya, other than porters and guides) Mt. Kenya was definitely a worthwhile addition to my Kenya experience.
3 comments:
WOW....way to go girl! So glad you were able toget as far as you did! Sounds like Cameron was out numbered by all the girls. I wonder if his e-mails home will talk about the climb or the way he kept you all warm! It is interesting that so many Kenyans have not been up the mountain but very few Albertans have hiked a trail in the Rockies either.
Enjoying your Adventures
Love Mom
Remember in that later Back to the Future movie where they go back in time to the "wild west" and Michael J. Fox is talking to those cowboy dudes about what they do for fun in the future. He tells them they "run for fun" to the shock and disbelief of the cowpokes. I think they idea is that many of them already participate in physical labour in their day to day lives so the notion that one would go running or, climb a mountain, for "fun" seems....odd.
I could also be totally off base with this one. I don't know why a lot of Albertans don't hike. Probably laziness.
Sounds like a great trip.
Hey Kelsey, great sounding trip. You and Cameron, Crystal and Christina may or may not know that the tallest peak in Canada is Mt. Robson at 3954m. Congratulations to all 4 of you for that ascent.
Dad
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