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DESTINATION

Mount Kenya - On God's Mountain ( by Sim Tim Suan )

This Mount Kenya trek was taken in August 2000 by the author as an extension after his Mount Kilimanjaro & Mount Meru trek. In this article, you can get a feel of how Mount Kenya compares with Mount Kilimanjaro as well as some reflections of what it takes to stay comfortable on a cold and high mountain.

FIRST DAY - Nairobi to Chogoria

The date was 7 Aug 2000. It was a Monday and seems like a good start to the week. There was just 2 of us for the mountain ... myself and Paul, an Englishman. My 3 fellow Kilimanjaro trek companions have gone their own ways - 2 were presently on safari and the other on his way back to Singapore. By any account, we were very well taken care of by a full trekking crew of a mountain guide, a cook, and 3 porters.

Just 4 days ago on 3 Aug 2000, I have stood on the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro - at 5895m, the highest point on Africa. With my major mission accomplished, now I'm mentally prepared for a lesser goal ... Mount Kenya. The objective was not its highest ( Point Batian 5199-metres ), nor its 2nd highest peak ( Point Nelion 5188-metres ), but the lesser Point Lenana 4985-metres which ranks only 3rd on Mount Kenya. Point Lenana is a trekker's peak ... the other 2 higher peaks being off-limit to trekkers as they are technical rock climbing and ice alpine climbs requiring the use of climbing equipment as as ropes, harnesses, belay devices, and of course natural holds.

Well, after the hard ordeal on Kili, I was pretty satisfied with the goal of Point Lenana. If Kilimanjaro is about the bragging right of climbing Africa's highest mountain, then Mount Kenya is about savouring the moment of a trek on a mountain . . . it is an adventurist's mountain. And sights there were aplenty, certainly more when compared to Kilimanjaro.

On Mount Kenya, there are 3 major routes - Naro Moru, Sirimon, and Chogoria - to the 3 main summits. With mountain scenery being my top priority, I opted for the Chogoria-Sirimon Traverse route.

The Naro Moru route ascends Mt Kenya's forests and moorlands from the west and is the most straight-forward but the least scenic among the 3 routes. It is, however, still a pretty spectacular & enjoyable trail in its own right and happens to be the most popular for trekkers who prefer its easier gradient and comfortable mountain bunkhouses, and its lowest cost among the 3 routes.

Sirimon approaches the summit from the north and is a more scenic and comparatively, longer walk than Naro Moru but the beautiful alpine vegetation at its higher reaches make up for the extra exertion.

The Chogoria route is the most scenic but the least taken as there are no comfortable mountain huts once you start walking unlike the other 2 routes and the extra costs of arranging for a good 4WD to bring trekkers up ( or down ) its mud-sodden trails sway the decision in favour of the other 2 routes for many people. However, for the true adventurist who enjoy a camping under the stars and some spectacular views of open valleys & gorges will love this route.

The drive from Nairobi to Chogoria town where we stopped for a sandwich lunch was a leisurely 4 hours. Along the way, our trek crew stopped by a local market to stock up our provisions. For the locals, it was a sight seeing a white face westerner and a slightly yellower Asian, whom many were seeing for the 1st time in their lives, peeking from within our 4WD jeep. Concerned for our 'safety', our guide advised us to stay within the vehicle to prevent being mobbed by the local street kids who were eagerly swamping the other few tourist vehicles that stopped by at the same market. I wondered if we were seen by them as rich indulgent foreigners as our guides piled up the back seat with fresh bread, meat, cheese, ham, fruits, and biscuits.

The uphill drive to the Chogoria trailhead at 3000-metres ASL ( above sea level ) from the town took another 3 hours. It was probably one of the most exciting 4WD rides I've encountered. At certain spots of the mud trail, foot-deep potholes were waiting in ambush for us and you know things were really bad when you see your driver rigging up the 4WD's wheels with mud / snow chains and even then, this proved no match for the muddy road as the vehicle finally got stuck despite the heroic efforts of our expert driver who happened to look very much like Danny Glover of Lethal Weapon fame. Luckily it was only 200m below the Meru Mount Kenya Lodge where we'll stay for the night. Even then, that 200m walk took us a good 45 minutes and it was nightfall at 6.40pm when we reached the lodge. Along the way, we have to shoo away some dangerous looking buffaloes which stood in our way. Before long, our guide had the fireplace burning bright and warm and it was joyful tucking into our delicious dinner of fried fish fillet, potatoes, mixed vegetables and topped off by a fruit dessert spread. The night was a cool 7 degrees inside the lodge but it was a comfortable cold inside my warm & trusted North Face sleeping bag.

SECOND DAY - Chogoria to Mintos Hut

Today was a long long day of walking. In anticipation of this, I spared no effort in wolfing down the great breakfast spread. My only regret was not having the capacity to store more extra calories as reserve energy for the long hours of walking ahead.

During the night, we could hear buffaloes knocking at the lodge as they wandered around outside. In the morning, all that was left of them was their calling cards of poo poo or landmine litter. It was a great sunny morning and from the lodge, we could see the Mount Kenya peaks in the distance. The lodge was located at 3000m and this was moorland and beyond this, there were no more tall trees blocking our views of the landscape in front. As we started our trek from the lodge to the Chogoria Park Gate just a short distance away, we were kept company by the happy chirps of birds and even entertained by the sight of a bushbuck in a nearby overgrowth.

The day walk was indeed a long one as the trail winded its way parallel to the Gorges Valley and we arrived at our campsite only after 7.5 hours. Despite being only into his 3rd day at altitude, Paul was surprisingly strong and stayed ahead of me throughout the day. He had climbed Mount Chimborazo 6310m and Cotopaxi 5897m in Ecuador the previous year and the thought of it assuaged my ego a bit about not being able to trek as fast despite being more well-acclimatised after almost 10 days at altitude.

The Chogoria trail lived up to its name as the least-trekked route as we only came across another 3 hardcore British self-sufficient trekkers with their heavily-laden backpacks and their sole guide. We learnt from them that it snowed 5 inches of snow the previous night near the summit. It looked like we were in for a cold night ahead but as the day progressed, it was however a good cool walk and there were rewarding views of various protea flowers with the highlights of the day being the fabulous view of the head of the Gorges Valley as we neared our campsite. There was a light drizzle about 2 hours from camp but thankfully, it dissipated after about 30 minutes.

The Mintos Hut campsite stands at a good spot at 4300-m ASL on one side of the cliff top at the head of the horse-shoe shaped Gorges Valley with fantastic views of the valley below, and the snow peaks of Kenya peeking over the high ridges. There are 2 separate small ponds behind the camp surrounded by a prolific growth of giant groundsels and lobelias. Against the setting sun, the scene was unforgettably beautiful ... this was undoubtedly the most beautiful spot on the entire mountain for me.

As the only 2 clients on this trip, Paul and myself were privileged to be allocated each a mountain tent and we gratefully lapped up our privacy as we retire to do our 'dry-cleaning'. On a mountain trip where the weather is too cold and washing water non-existent, a standard procedure after arriving in camp is the ritual of dry-cleaning ourselves with wet-tissues and powdering our 'vital' areas to stay dry and fresh. In any case, stickiness of the body from perspiration was a non-issue as our body dried up within half an hour of checking into camp as we were suitably attired in moisture-wicking trekking tees and well-ventilated waterproofs. Cold was kept at bay with careful layers of thermal wear and insulating fleece jackets while our waterproofs took care of the wind and rain. Mountain comfort is as much an art as a science as we need to experiment with what suits our individual preferences and needs since no two persons take to the same layers and types of synthetic fabrics in exactly the same way as the other. I was glad to have found the right formula for myself after having tested it out in many previous high mountain treks.

After another mouth-watering dinner of beef steak, we were happy to retire to our tents for a few hours of sleep before our big summit day ahead. Outside, the wind were flapping at our tents ... and it was a good thing the night temperature ( inside the tent ) didn't dip below freezing point.

THIRD DAY - Summit Day

At 4am, my watch alarm rang and woke me from my slumber. I felt a bit retarded and took quite a while to pack my backpack and breakfast was 30 minutes later in the cosiness of the hut. At exactly 5am, after topping up my Nalgene bottle with boiling water, we started on our ' p o - l e ' , ' p o - l e ' ( or 'slow, slow' in the Swahili language ) trek to the summit.

The temperature was a suitably cold 1.5 degree at this altitude of about 4300m and after half an hour, we sighted our first snow on the trail. The ground was frozen in the morning cold and crackled as we walked along. After a hour of walking, the ground started to get rockier and steeper as we gradually gained ground on the scree slope which was thankfully still frozen and make for pretty good walking. If this was daytime, the hike would undoubtedly be physically draining as well as frustrating as scree ground are notoriously loose and crumpy, making it one of the most undesirable walking surfaces for trekkers.

As we continued to gain altitude, there were more and bigger patches of snow along the way and the ground started to become relentlessly steep ... this stretch was a slow uphill slug over at first one ridge, then another, then yet another ridge, before levelling out at an open area with a small lake known as Simba Tarn ( tarn means lake or pond in the local Swahili language ). I was glad for the breather as I started to feel the strain the thin cold air exerted on my lungs. It was a good thing I was already well-acclimatised and didn't feel any ill-effect from the high altitude. For most trekkers with only 2-3 days spent at altitude, bad headaches and nausea are a common affliction and a deadweight to their trek progress and comfort. It's not uncommon to see trekkers beating a retreat back to the lower altitudes where they will make a quick recovery with more oxygenated air . I thanked my lucky stars for feeling pretty good but still couldn't understand how Paul could acclimatize so well as all I could see of him was his butt, and not his face, for the entire trek.

The summit seemed just a short distance away, just beyond the plateau higher up the ridge from where I was standing next to the lake. The temperature was a bearable cool minus 2 degree but my fingers felt frozen as all I got was a pair of thin liner gloves with a half-fingered fleece glover over them. Going up that final ridge to the plateau took quite a fair bit of effort as my legs began to turn jelly if I walked at too fast a pace. The time appeared to come to a standstill in that laborous 'po-le po-le' hike up the last few hundred metres on jellied legs. It was a great relief as we stumbled up to the the last ridgeline and what was left was just a gradual walk along the relatively flat ridgeline and then up a snow-covered chimney-like rock gully before topping up at Point Lenana. Here we got a clear good view of Point Batian, which is the highest peak at 5199m, and Nelion which is just 11 metres lower.

Finally just after 8am, on 09 August 2000, which happened to be Singapore's National Day, I dragged myself up the big rock face and stood atop Point Lenana. The views were a stupendous 360 degree panorama of Mount Kenya with the giant twin pillars of Batian and Nelion just to the right in front of us. Further afield were the subsidiaries grey peaks of Mount Kenya. Right below us was the fast-receding Lewis Glacier which is reckoned to disappear in less than 15 years and on our left, Austrian Hut which appeared as a tiny dot a couple of hundred metres away. We congratulated ourselves with some high-fives and a hot drink & biscuits to refuel ourselves ... and of course the obligatory summit photos.

For me, Mount Kenya Point Lenana was a satisfying end to a successful East African Tri-Peaks trekking campaign ... the final piece of puzzle after Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to complete my East Africa mountain climbing trilogy.

Of the 3 mountains, Kenya was probably the most satisfying as it was the least-stressing as I played the role of a trekking client whose needs were seen to and well taken care of at every stage of the trek. There was no stress compared to that of being a trek leader having to ensure that all things run well and that my travel companions were alright all of the way. Besides, there was a real feeling of trekking a high mountain when on Mount Kenya with its fabulous views of open valleys, gorges, and both jagged brown-grey colour and snow-capped peaks. In contrast, due to its enormous bulk and flatness, there is a lack of jagged peaks on Kilimanjaro which gave me the feeling of being on a giant molehill instead.

If the question is : " which is the more beautiful mountain ? ", unequivocally my answer would be " Mount Kenya " !