Weeekend photos: Mt. Kenya

Continuing with our Africa saga, today we are heading for Mt. Kenya, for a 7-day circumambulation of the peaks.

The other posts from this trip: Arusha, Tarangire National Park, South Serengeti Part 1, South Serengeti Part 2,  the rest of the Serengeti tour,  Ngorogoro Crater, and Mt. Meru.

Another ancient and extinct stratovolcano, Mt. Kenya (second highest mountain in Africa at 17,057') has a summit made up of a number of volcanic "necks," with the mountain eroded out from around them. These peaks, with the exception of the 3rd highest (Lanana, 16,355') are technical rock climbs and far out of our bailiwick. Our mission was to hike most of the way around the mountain (actually a giant "U" that almost, but not quite, connects the loop) and to summit the "trekker's peak--Point Lanana. 

This view from Shipton hut on the NNE side of the mountain shows the main summits (I can't distinguish Batian and Nelion; they may both be in that separate point on the left side of the main block), with Pt. Lenana poking up from the low point of the ridge on the left.

 

Mt. Kenya has been extinct for a million years or so. Extrapolating from what is left, before the glaciers chewed it up it may have been as much as 23,000' tall. There are now something like 10 or 11 tiny glaciers left on the peak, which sit for all practical purposes on the equator. Our trailhead, where we came in from the north, must have been within spitting distance of the Line, though I wasn't thinking about that at the time.

My brother-in-law assembled this helpful map of the route.

Note that our lowest point was our exit at 9700'. This explains why the relatively low mileages took many hours and left us beat to the socks!

We began our time in Kenya with a couple of rest days in Nairobi. From our comfortable homes months before the trip we planned to spend that time doing and seeing cool things in and around Nairobi. The photos below show what we actually did.

Our first object on arrival well after noon was a large lunch, which lasted most of the group until the next morning (I was down there getting a salad for a late dinner).

My next priority was to shut myself alone in my air conditioned room and start doing laundry and repacking for the hike.

Eventually we emerged, all except the one who'd been sick on Meru. She wasn't willing to risk messing up the trip for everyone if she couldn't handle the altitude, and stayed in Nairobi. The other three of us found ourselves enjoying a long drive and long waits while various logistics were ironed out. We finally found our porters at the "trailhead" (the intersection of a barely-drivable dirt road and a little-traveled trail) and started our 5-mile hike at about 3 p.m.

With cook, guide, and porters, we had 10 staff. For the 3 of us. I felt more than a little weird about that, as someone who usually backpacks without support! I was also aware that I was the only woman in the whole outfit.

We hiked steadily uphill (with one detour a quarter mile or so down the wrong trail--did I mention this route is not commonly taken?) as a thunderstorm moved ever closer. Eventually it caught us, and we got fairly damp before it rolled on.

Eventually we reached our camp site--and our porters were nowhere to be found. They should have caught up to us, but had taken longer than expected to get things organized, and then to cover their loads against the rain. Unsure if they would find us before dark, we worked with our guide to get a fire going, and I shared the minimal snacks I had in my daypack. At least we all knew enough to be carrying dry insulation layers!

Note my pants are wet almost to the knees.
The fire didn't look this good until the first porter came. Happily, he was carrying the kerosene.  Photo by Tom Dempsey, Photoseek.com (check out Tom's web pages to purchase fantastic photos of this and many amazing locations)

The storm had moved on, but we continued to see lightning in the distant clouds as our encampment was constructed and a late dinner prepared.

It was a cool, damp night, and Petey Possum was grateful for his warm wraps. I could have used a warmer bag, myself. When the clouds cleared away, it got cold!

5 1/4 miles, 1500' climb.

Day 2 saw us up for a frosty sunrise at our 11,300' camp.

We ate meals outdoors when possible. The sun changed frost to warmth in a hurry and we were soon faced with enough food for a half dozen hungry trekkers.

We spent the day continuing the gradual but steady climb up the slopes of the volcano. Though the summit is pointy enough, much of the mountain has been washed down into long, gradual slopes.

We began to get more views of the summit as we climbed closer.

The vegetation began to change as well, and we started seeing some of the unique plants that grow on the slopes of Mt. Kenya (some of them grow nowhere else).

One of at least two kinds of giant lobelia.

Another giant lobelia, with hiker.

Eventually we wound our way over hill and dale to our stopping point at Major's Camp, at 13,400'. The sun was now getting lost in clouds, and the chill setting in. Our camp site was in the bottom of a stream valley--a very cold spot indeed, as cold air settled into the valley bottom at night.

Afternoon tea was definitely "indoors". Typically they served us with hot drinks (tea, coffee, hot chocolate--my beverage of choice!) and popcorn to keep us from starving before dinner time, and to warm us up.

9 miles, 2400' climb

Our 3rd morning, after a very cold night (much of it spent wishing we'd brought our own down bags), we started out in bright sun but an increasing breeze. This was a harbinger of things to come.

Majors Camp

The weird plants got bigger, and weirder. Mature Giant Groundsel (in the sunflower family) looked from a little way off so much like Joshua Trees that we did a double-take. Close up you can see they are very different plants.

Other than the part about being at about 14,000', it could have been southern California. See the second photo in this post.

You can see the unique non-tree-like vegetation of the Giant Groundsel here. Compare to the Joshua Tree, a species of yucca.

 

This was a 2-pass day, though short and actually with less climbing than the previous two days. We were rewarded by ever-improving views of the peaks.

My nephew and our guide, Nicholas, atop the first pass. We will drop into the valley and climb out the ridge on the far right.

Descending the second pass.

Rough trails, great views.

Eventually we reached Shipton camp, where high winds made it tricky to get the tents up. Our personal tents weren't so bad--they are mountain tents designed for the conditions. The cooking and dining tents were more of a problem, and we ate lunch al fresco, gleaning what shelter we could from the wind.

Tea time at Shipton Camp

 At Shipton we also joined the more standard trekking route to the summit of Point Lenana, and for the first time there were other parties camped in the same area.

3 1/2 miles, 1660' climb.

This seems a good place to stop--the middle of the hike, and the point where things began to go (just a little bit) sideways. We'll finish the adventure next week!

©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2024
 As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated. 


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