March / April Photos
Mt. Kenya...what can I say. There is no way to describe the experience,
and pictures don't do it justice. In all we hiked over 30 miles in 3 days,
climbed over 8,000 vertical feet, and, well, I'm exhausted.
Here's the story in brief: We arrived at the Mt. Kenya gate on
Saturday, April 1, and began hiking at 2:18 pm. We traveled 9 km and
gained 2400 vertical feet in 2.5 hours along a road which cuts through thick
forest and leads into the alpine zone. It rained some during that hike.
We stayed at the Old Moses camp that night at 11,000 ft elevation.
On day two, we began hiking at 8:00 am and traversed several valleys to enter
the McKinder Valley, a huge valley cut by glaciers. At 12:30 it began to
rain and then turned to sleet. We made it to Shipton's camp at 2:00 after
slogging through mud and water and being soaked from the knees down (this was
not a trip for the cushy vacationer). This was a 12.8 km day. After
reaching Shipton's camp at elevation 13,800 ft, it began to snow like crazy, but
we kept warm drinking tea and soup and eating bountifully (our cooks and porters
kept us very well fed).
At 3:30 am the next morning we strapped on our headlights and began our
assault on Point Lenana, the third highest peak. It was snowing, but not
too cold. We spent 3 hrs, reaching the summit just in time for the
sunrise. The summit sits at 16,355 feet above sea level. We remained
there for 30 minutes and then descended back to Shipton's camp for breakfast.
At 9:30 we began the long hike back to Old Moses campground where we arrived
at 2:30 pm. We had hiked/climbed for 11 hrs. straight, covering 17-20 km.
The last 5 hours of the hike were spent in the rain, slogging through boggy
conditions. On day four we descended the remaining 9 km to the park gate.
Click on the photos for a full-sized picture.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On our hike (day 1). The line that you see is the equator (according to the GPS unit). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Old Moses camp (end of day 1). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a view of the highest two peaks (Nelion and Bation) on our hike (day2). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our descent into McKinder Valley (day2) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This plant is called giant groundsel. In the background you can see sound funny looking plants that look like a pole sticking out of the ground.
This is the giant lobelia. These two plants grow nowhere else in the world, but Mt. Kenya in the alpine zone. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
After walking in the rain for two hours, it began snowing like crazy (13800 ft day 2) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nelion and Bation at the end of day 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a view of the Teleki valley below the Lewis glacier (bottom of picture). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Me on the summit of Lenana (16355 ft) with Nelion in the background (day 3) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Snow, snow and more snow. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is a view of the McKinder valley from near the top. If you look closely there is a green roofed building in the middle of the picture. This is Shipton's camp where we slept the night before. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
A view of the main peaks from Shipton's camp. Nelion is on the left and Bation is on the right. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Back at Shipton's camp. Me, feeding the Rock Hyrax. This is the Mt. Kenya Rock Hyrax which lives nowhere else in the world, but Mt. Kenya. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 
