Mt. Kenya - Day 5

The plan was to get up by 6:30 and leave camp about an hour later. It didn’t really happen that way but we were on the trail a little after 8am.

The hike to the park gate was uneventful. My legs were tired and my feet were sore. We were not in a huge hurry, but we also knew we had a long drive ahead of us to get back to Nairobi at a decent time.

We took the time to observe the animal tracks on the trail. I’m not good at identifying them. But there were some that appeared to be lion tracks. Some hyena tracks. They were fresh enough to have been either during the night or earlier that morning. There are definitely lions in the area and there were recent sightings. But there isn’t much of a history of them attacking hikers in this area so we didn’t worry about it much.

We arrived at the gate with a sense of accomplishment (and fatigue). It is customary to not only tip the guide and porters, but to do so in a somewhat formalized manner. This happened after the Kili hike where they even had a little ceremony, sang, and gave us certificates. This time the porters lined up and we all had to express our gratitude for their support over the past five days. We had to announce the amount that we were giving them (which was a bit weird) and present the cash to the guide.

swollen and sun burnt hands

After twenty years in East Africa, I’m familiar with the frequent desire for/custom of ceremony. Though I grew up differently, I have learned to accommodate some of these things I’m uncomfortable with.

tips for the porters

We were delayed a bit getting on the road. It wasn’t clear what was going on but Lance said something about a tree blocking the road. Eventually, the four of us, two guides and all of our packs squeezed into a small Toyota and off we went. After about twenty minutes of bouncing down the road towards the town of Chogoria, we found what appeared to be the tree that had been blocking the road. It was cut and moved aside by this point, but the culprit appeared to have been an elephant. They are notorious for knocking down trees and this stretch of the road had tons of fresh elephant dung. Mystery solved.

After another fifteen minutes or so, we came upon the van that we used in our drive from Nairobi to Chogoria. In the interest of time, it had made its way up the hill to collect us. It also allowed the little Toyota to turn around and retrieve the porters. Unlikely that they all would have fit in the little thing but stranger things have happened.

We stopped in Chogoria on the way out and decided to have some lunch. It was fast and cheap and allowed us to avoid traveling on empty stomachs.

I made the mistake of sitting in the front seat. I have a hard time watching the road when a driver has vastly different driving instincts from my own. This guy seemed to be in no hurry and was frequently busy on his phone. Kenyans tend to be pretty aggressive drivers but this guy was everything but. It’s like he was being paid by the hour and was trying to drag this out as long as he could.

craziness in the backseat

An even worse offense was his choice in music. Most of the trip we were subjected to 80s-90s cheesy ballads including Lionel Ritchie, Luther Vandross, Celine Deon, etc. My apologies to anyone who is a fan, but I think it’s the worst era in history of music – like several hours of fingernails scraping a chalkboard. Africa, or at least East Africa, seems to have adopted these songs since you hear them everywhere. When we go to the coast, our hotel always plays this crap. I had previously thought it was because Africans think Westerners like it. I don’t know. It seemed like it was this guy’s playlist. Anyway, it’s an alternative to waterboarding.

We arrived home a little after 5pm. We dragged our dirty selves up to our apartment and began to sort through tons of dusty hiking equipment. It was indeed a successful trip, in spite of the fact that we didn’t all make it to the summit. It’s now a race to see what lasts longer – the soreness in my legs and feet or the crappy songs going through my head.  Hopefully neither last too long.

Mt. Kenya - Day 4

Tea/coffee was in the porters’ tent. Each tea/coffee time they offered popcorn and some biscuits. Kinaya had a hot chocolate and I had two cups of instant coffee. By a little after 3am, we headed out into the night. Our headlamps lit up the trail in front of us. The sky was clear and there were as many stars as I had ever seen in my life. It was mesmerizing to gaze up at such an amazing sight.

There was a group of Brits in front of us. You could see their four headlamps off in the distance, snaking up the mountain in the direction that we would be heading. The pace was slow and we made frequent stops to catch our breath in the thin high-altitude air.

After a flat to relatively gradual incline, the trail became much steeper. It was gravelly and sometimes hard to keep your feet under you. We trudged on in the dark, talking little and grinding out each step.

Eventually we made it to the ridge where we would veer to our left and slowly traverse the front of the mountain. I found this section to be more enjoyable, not only because it wasn’t as steep but because of the increasing glow of the coming sunrise.

Soon our headlamps were off and we could see more clearly, not only where we had come from, but also where we were heading. The summit still looked far away, but I was increasingly optimistic that we were going to make it.

As the sun came up over the horizon, you could slowly begin to feel some warmth. The contribution was countered by the dropping temperature as we continued to gain altitude.

The last push required some bouldering. It wasn’t overly difficult but I could imagine it might pose a challenge for someone who hadn’t done it before. A slip in this section would be costly.

The “trail” then wrapped around the peak to our right and we would reach the actual summit from the back side.

amazing to be at the top

I’ve always been thrilled by summitting mountains, large or small. This was special because I had my daughter with me. Though she looked relieved, I could tell she was cold and didn’t want to stay too long. She had accomplished what she wanted to. I was able to get her to touch the rock outcrop that was the true highest point. She tolerated a few photos and then she started making her way off the summit. Fair enough. It was very cold and there was no point in staying any longer. After she and Lance went over the side, I took one last glance around me, trying to soak it in, headed down as well.

looking for the exit

* * *

The trip down wasn’t overly eventful. Given that most of our trek up was in the dark, it was interesting to see everything in the light of day. I remembered the same phenomenon when we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. I took lots of photos of the stunning views, all the more beautiful in the low morning sun.

heading down

The legs were fatigued but it’s always an easier task to hike knowing that you’ve tagged the summit.

the long way down - helicopter off in the distance below us (tiny black dot)

still chunks of ice in the streams as we descended

We arrived at Mintos at about 10am. We would have an hour to have a bite to eat, regroup, and then head all the way down to Roadhead where we would meet up with Priya and Kiran.   

I think it was about three and a half hours from Mintos to Roadhead, but it felt like a lot more given the six-hour summit hike we had already done. I could feel the blisters accumulating and one toenail that was in jeopardy. The worst, however, was the exposure. There is absolutely no protection from the sun the entire way. I had slathered on the sunscreen and was wearing a hat and sleeves, but, I would find out later, I missed a few places that I would pay for.

Kinaya beaming as she arrives at Roadhead after the long hike down

As we neared Roadhead, Priya and Kiran could see us coming in the distance. They had received the news that we had reached the peak that morning and they gave us a warm welcome as we entered the camp. As glad as I was to get off my feet and have the family back together, I felt bad that they weren’t able to have summitted as well. It seemed unfair after all the two of them had put into preparing for the trip.

We spent the rest of the afternoon recounting stories and having our early evening tea. We would stay there for the night and begin making our way back to the gate early the next morning.

Mt. Kenya - Day 3

I looked back at our Lake Ellis camp several times as we trudged across the rather uninteresting landscape to start the day. It was so sad to leave Kiran and Priya behind. I had to re-convince myself that we had made the right decision for Kinaya and me to carry on.

After about two hours of steep and exposed climbing, we reached an ever-elusive ridge. From here we would veer to our right and follow the ridge for another couple of kilometers. It was the first time that my ears popped, and I began to feel the shortness of breath from the altitude. It wasn’t problematic; it just meant that we were stopping more frequently to catch our breath. Lance didn’t need to stop, of course, but Kinaya and I did.

Off to the left of our ridge, there was a steep drop-off into Nithi Valley/Gorge – a beautiful valley that develops steep walls as it ascends the mountain. At the top end of the gorge is Lake Michelson, a stunning body of water surrounded by high walls of volcanic rock.

Lance pointed out the location of some airplane debris near the top of the ridge across the gorge. In fact, this ridge has a bit of a history of crashes. I had to do some reading to fill in some of the gaps of what we learned from Lance.

debris from the 1976 crash

The earliest recorded crash on this ridge was in 1976 when an Emirates Air Transport plane prematurely descended in the clouds, crashing into the ridge and killing the four passengers. Some of the debris is still visible after nearly 50 years.

Then, in 2008, a Bell Longranger helicopter carrying some travel agents was flying low over the lake when it caught a skid, flipped on its back and went into the water. Amazingly, the pilot and two passengers were able to escape the craft and swim across the icy water to safety. The one fatality was unable to escape the helicopter as it sank.

the lake where the helicopter crashed

We would end up seeing a few helicopters buzzing around the mountain during our hike, one of them swooping down very low as it passed through the gorge. It would be fun but apparently, it’s not without risk.

The third crash happened in 2013. This was a small plane (Aeroprakt A-22) containing a renowned Kenyan conservationist and a cameraman for Discovery Channel aviation show "Dangerous Flights” (hmm). Given that it’s the most recent incident, and reportedly didn’t go in the lake, it’s likely the larger of the two debris piles we saw.

* * *

Anyway, back to the hike.

As we continued up the ridge, you could feel the temperature cooling and see the foliage changing. Apparently, there are different labels given to these zones (biomes), but the ones that I’ve heard the most to describe these levels in the East African volcanos are rainforest, moorland and alpine desert. You could very much feel the transition from moorland to alpine desert. Vegetation doesn’t disappear, but it becomes more sparse and very different. One of the more prominent plants that thrives in these conditions is the giant lobelia. These weird looking plants can take many forms as they grow to maturity, which generally lasts about 70 years!

lobelia cleverly storing water

This part of the hike consisted of ups and downs but, unbeknownst to us, we had gained most of the altitude we were going to gain for the day. Given the delayed start, Lance had anticipated that we wouldn’t arrive before about 4pm. That’s actually quite late given the drill of having tea, setting up the tent and getting settled in, then dinner and then getting to bed super early in preparation for the 2am wake-up.

arriving at Mintos Camp

In the end, we arrived at Mintos Camp by around 2:30pm. Either Lance miscalculated or we moved at a quicker pace than expected. Either way, it gave us time to have tea, relax, read, etc. Kinaya and I were both walking on tired legs and resting up would be critical to try to summit the next day.

Mintos, at least for me, is a magical place. You’re by a lake surrounded by about 270 degrees of towering rocky peaks. The temperature fluctuates radically when the clouds move in front of the sun. In my opinion, the camp could be a wonderful destination in and of itself. Even if arriving at Minto’s was all we did, it would still have been an amazing trip. But yes, we had our sights set on Point Lenana.

* * *

Officially, Mt. Kenya is made up of a number of peaks. The highest point, Batian, clocks in at 5,199 m. (17,057 feet). Just next to it is Nelion at 5,188 m (17,021 ft.). To be honest, they’re sort of like the same peak. But officially, they are separate. Point Lenana is officially the third highest at 4,985 m (16,355 ft), though some, including me, see it as the second highest.

our destination - the peak left of center

Anyway, most people who say they’ve climbed Mt. Kenya have climbed Point Lenana. Batian/Nelion require gear and skills that are out of reach for most people, including me at this point in my climbing career.

* * *

At Mintos, we had tea soon after arriving. They prepared some amazing mandazis (like square donuts). They were still hot and, without a doubt, some of the best mandazis I’ve ever had. Kinaya suggested that the setting had something to do with my impressions of our tea snack. Maybe. But it felt pretty fancy for our 4,200 m./14,000 ft. and highest camp.

After tea we did some reading and hydrating. I did some walking to loosen my muscles a bit, but I wasn’t too keen on doing anything strenuous. We had dinner around 6pm and by 7pm we were in the tent. One suggestion prior to the trip was that we bring hot water bottles to be filled each night. I have to admit, it was a brilliant perk. Once the sun went behind the mountain, the temperature plummeted. By the time we were in our tent, it was already below freezing. Clutching a hot water bottle as I slipped into my sleeping bag made the ensuing night a bit less intimidating.

Before dinner, Kinaya didn’t look well. She said she had a headache and it made me a bit nervous as to whether or not this might jeopardize the summit attempt. A light headache is not abnormal at that altitude; I had a slight headache myself. But if her situation were to deteriorate, we would need to call off the summit push and get her to lower altitude. I had her take one of her children’s headache meds and then I would give her a half Tylenol PM just before bedtime. She passed out almost immediately after getting into her sleeping bag and she would sleep peacefully until our 2am wake-up, barely moving at all during the night.

The night was cold but we were both wearing nearly all our layers. We were warned about the frigid nights up there and, as it worked out, the cold didn’t end up bothering us. Lance came by the tent at 2am to tell us that tea/coffee was ready. I, unfortunately, had already been awake for a while and quickly checked with Kinaya to see how she felt. She said she was fine and, after three days of hiking, it appeared that our summit attempt was going to happen.

clutching our warm drinks in anticipation of the climb