Travel and Personal

Up God’s Mountain – Climbing Mt. Kenya

Climbing Mt. Kenya’s third highest peak, at 4,980m, is worth every rasping breath and painful step needed to get there and back.

I traveled with four other people – randomly brought together by the Mountain Club of Kenya. We took the Naro Moru route going up and Chogoria coming down, with three of us carrying our own gear and porters, a cook, and a guide carrying our camping gear and food.

The adventure started Friday afternoon, driving for 5 hours to get to the base camp of the Naro Moru route at Met Station (about 3000m). The next morning we started our climb up to Mackinders Camp (4300m) – taking the usual 6 hours to get there. Naro Moru is steep, and quick – making it popular and providing dramatic changes of scenery, but had little else to offer than convenience.

Mackinders was packed with climbers and the evening passed off pleasantly, but ended early. The next day we had to get up at 2am to make the peak at sunrise.

As it turns out, sunrise was at Austrian hut, at 4700m. A clear sky and craggy peaks in the foreground, Kenya’s east in front, and Kilimanjaro in the background – getting up at 2am and walking 4 hours uphill was a small price to pay. It was just as well we were not on the summit, because after braving freezing temperatures and a chilling breeze I could warm myself inside the hut. Besides, the last 300m, while technically a ‘walk’, is one along steep ridges with vertical drops of several hundred meters on both sides. Make sure you have a powerful headlamp if you try this in the dark.

From there, it was all downhill – but only literally. Starting from the top at 9am, we reached our camping spot at Meru Mt. Kenya Lodge (Chogoria park gate) at 5pm, stopping twice but setting a blistering pace otherwise. It was a long day, covering 25km, and my knees were happy when it ended.

In stark contrast to Naro Moru, Chogoria is the longest and furthest from any roadhead. But all good things come at a price, and Chogoria offered stunning vistas of mountains, lakes, hills, and valleys on the way down. It should have been done in 2 days, but I think it is better done going down, than up.

Climbing Mt. Kenya is a true adventure, with a very human dimension. But the climb should not to be taken lightly. Above 4,500m, any exertion will remind you of where you are – even packing my backpack at Austrian Hut was difficult. I had expected a lot worse, but drinking 4 litres of water daily, taking asprin regularly, and avoiding sudden movements helped avoid the worst. Nevertheless, the last 300m was slow, painful, and worth it!

Mt. Kenya is more than just a mountain. Compared to Kilimanjaro, it has a more checkered history. Over 2.5 million years old, the highest points, Nelion (5199m) and Batian (5188m), are generally accessible only to expert rock climbers. The climb involves going through strange vegetation – giant pods straight out of Aliens, and trees that inspired Star Trek landscapes. It is the source of the Tana river – that feeds much of Kenya’s eastern bread basket. Small wonder then that the local Kikuyu refer to it as God’s Mountain.

Outside of Kenya, few might have heard of Mt. Kenya. Kilimanjaro gets all the attention. But as I learnt over the last 4 days, Mt. Kenya is a lot more than just an item on a checklist of things to conquer. I suspect Kilimanjaro will fall short of this high standard.