5000m summit
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2012
1
59
77
Trip End
Jan 04, 2013
Mount Kenya National Park, Kenya
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Some Mount Kenya stats from our climb:
Day 1
- Start at Sirrimon gate a 2500m and walk 6km to Old Moses camp at 3300m which takes about 3-hours
Day 2
- Walk 16km from Old Moses camp at 3300m to Shiptons camp at 4200m which takes about 6-hours
Day 3
- Acclimatisation day which means a 6-hour walk between 4200m and 4600m. Absolutely exhausting, but very scenic!
Day 4
- Summit day means a 02h00 start and a 03h00 departure from Shiptons camp. You walk 3km which takes approximately 3-hours to the summit at 4985m and a great sunrise over Kenya. After 15 - 20 minutes on the summit you have a 1.5 - 2 hour 3km walk back to Shiptons camp for breakfast. By 10h00 youre on the road again and walking the 16km back to Old Moses which takes you to about 15h00.
Day 5
- Day 5 is an easy 1.5 - 2hour 6km walk back to the gate.
More about the summit day:
You wake up, get yourself dressed as other climbers try to sleep in the thin air at 4200m. You have a quick cup of warm, black tea and a few biscuits to settle your stomach. At 03h00 you leave the little wooden hut and enter the cold, fresh night air. You gaze up at the star filled sky and admire how clear and beautiful the mountain air is. Then the fun starts! In a single file you start the slow and steady walk up the loose scree on your way up the mountain. For the first 45-mins you hardly stop and eventually realize you're nearly half way up and probably out of breathe.
You stop for a well deserved break and put on the layers you stripped of early when you broke a sweat in the -5'C cold mountain air.
Before you know it your 3-hour climb is complete and you have the Lenana 4985m peak within your sight. Earlier that morning you wouldnt have dared looking up at Lenana because the task would have seemed so much more difficult.
The sunrise is incredible from the summit and as soon as the first rays of African sun hit you, you feel the warming effect on your frozen fingers, nose and body! Such an exhilaration knowing you're looking down at such an amazing continent.
The walk down from any mountain never gets a mention, but it is really tough. Your quads, knees and ankles are screaming from braking constantly. The only consolation is the fact that with every step you take the air grows thicker and your body gains more strength!
All in all a tough, but most enjoyable experience! Definitely recommended!
