Mount Kenya- conquered and sore- 16,153 FT!!!

This is an excerpt from an email I sent to my family- more to come tomorrow- pictures included... but for now I think this will suffice :)
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Well I did it!! I conquered Mt. Kenya. 4895 meters, 16153 ft! Can you believe it?? Most people do it in 4 days, our group did in 3 days, not recommended!

I have to admit that from the get go when the idea was proposed I was extremely daunted by the idea of climbing this mountain. First off it would be the highest I have ever climbed and secondly I wasn’t quite sure I would actually be able to do it.

So here are some details:

Group members:

• Mailie (works for Save the Elephants, is Australian and is leaving next week to go back to Australia)
• Ivy (SUPER fit, lives with Jake, is a consultant, Kenyan)
• Atieno (works in IT- Kenyan)
• Ed (new in town, not sure where he works, but is from San Francisco)

So that was our group- and everyone was totally great! Definitely an excellent group to go up with.

On Saturday morning we left at 5:45 am, picked up the rest of the troops and caravanned towards Mt. Kenya. I was driving and so was Ed. We arrived at the Sirimon route gate at about 10:30 am and started hiking at about 11. Thankfully we had porters- phew, so all we had to carry was our day packs. The altitude was already starting to get a bit pressing so we all took our time going up. We arrived at our first camp at 2:30 pm- had naps and then ate supper. I think we all fell asleep at about 8 :30 pm, because we knew the next day was going to be tough.

Sunday morning we packed up and started on our 6 hour hike to the base camp of Mt. Kenya. Mailie, Ed and I stuck with our guide who was going at a very reasonable pace and wanted to ensure that we did not get altitude sickness… it was great! Slow and steady. When we arrived at base camp, Atieno who was following Ivy got altitude sickness – they pushed it too hard. Poor thing- I know what that is like from macchu picchu and I never want to experience that again. On this 6 hour hike we experienced rain, hail, and snow… not fun. When we arrived at base camp 13,500 ft. it was snowing so we could not pitch our tents. Everyone else in our group decided to sleep in the huts with bunk beds that are at base camp, but Mailie and I were determined to stick it out in the tent. It was warmer with two bodies and the huts were full of mice… NO THANK YOU. So once the snow subsided we set up the tent. We all ate supper early and were in bed by 7:30 pm as we had a 2:45 am wake up call to start our ascent to the summit.

At 3:22 am we started our ascent. It was very similar to the way in which you see people climb Everest. Ice axes and slow…. Slow… slow…. It was difficult not only because of the altitude but because of snow and the timing that we had to start. It was by the hardest thing I HAVE EVER DONE! When we finally made it to the summit, at 6:30 am it was sunrise and incredibly beautiful. But we couldn’t stay long because it was incredibly cold AND we had to start the hike down to make it back to the bottom where our cars were by 4:30 pm to make it back to Nairobi. I tried to take a video up there, but it was too cold- the camera went wonky.

We made our way down, had breakfast at base camp, packed up and started onwards. Monday in total was a 12 hour hike!!! AWFUL. For 7 of those hours it POURED rain. I fell about 4 times, as did everyone else, was sopping wet by the time we arrived to the cars at 4:30 pm and freezing. We all piled into our cars to have another dilemma- cotton mud… which is like the black ice of mud. So…. I had to 4 wheel drive it the whole way to the tar road… swerving, getting stuck in ditches… thankfully Mailie and Atieno were in the car to help me out.

We finally made it home at 10:00 pm…where we showered and collapsed. Mailie stayed over because she lives a bit out of town. Martin was in awe and shock at the look of us… muddy… barely walking…. Blisters….not pretty.

Today I feel a great sense of accomplishment!! What it taught me is that you don’t have to physically fit but you need to be positive about every step!!

I’m walking like an old woman who just had hip surgery and have band aids all over my feet… but I made it back safe and sound!!