Mount Kenya #1
It was a dark and stormy night..
ok, just kidding. The night was actually not stormy (this would be christmas eve)but it certainly was dark, without any moon or stars. i was convinced that we would reach the summit and see--fog, fog, more fog--which, after climbing to 16,500 ft would be a bit depressing! more on that later though..
We started hiking at 3:00am on christmas eve, after getting up at 2:30, drinking a quick cup of instant coffee and downing six cookies each (ah, breakfast of champions!) our guide Charles urged us out the door and up the trail, ahead of the fifty other people planning to summit that morning as well. Looking behind us as we headed up the trail, i could see a line of headlamps and flashlights winding up the (very!) steep trail. i had prepared myself for the intensity of hiking at night, and so the first hour and a half i managed to stay fairly upbeat. We didn't talk much, and it actually wasn't that cold (Charles commented- "It feels like Mombasa tonight!"-mombasa is a beach town in kenya-).
We took a few short breaks, but by the time we reached the snow line (probably 15,000 ft) I was whipped! In addition, my feet were wet and frozen, and as we started hiking along a narrow trail with a long, steep plunge to black oblivion on my left, I started to become more and more nervous. With my nervousness growing and my feet slowly freezing ( i pictured the feet of persons suffering from frostbite, i pictured myself crippled with stubs at the end of my calves as a result of this hair-brained adventure...) I became, well, a bit ornery. Eric said I was grumpy, actually. I may have said something like 'Do we have to follow him?????' as Charles went to lead us around the pack to the front of the line. Eric's calm response was, 'well, he is the guide you know.' sheesh.
i panted and struggled, and it seemed the trail would never end...i resorted to counting my steps 'one, two, three, four, five. repeat!' we were shoving our feet into the packed snow, trying to gain purchase and not fall into the aformentioned valley of the shadow of mount kenya.
we finally (as the air around us became grey with first-light)scrambled over the last cliff in our way and saw the peak of Mt kenya looming before us (the one we weren't climbing, as it required ropes, axes, experience, etc) We were on Point Lenana, at 16,500.
I cannot quite describe the scene. I wish I didn't have to, but i have not managed to get pictures up yet (promise, I will keep trying). Our dear white mountains in new hampshire are the definition of beauty, but they are also, somehow, comforting. this mountain inspires fear, awe- it made me want to go belly-down on the peak and hold on for dear life (and not just because the alittude was making me so dizzy that the horizon shifted alarmingly).
Sadly to say, I was still a bit (or a lot) grumpy. (i'm really blaming it on the altitude, you know that oxygen deprivation can make people obstinate!) Eric kept insisting that I take off my gloves and take pictures of him (in reality, this probably only happened twice, but i felt like he made me take about twenty pictures). then he tried to make me sing 'joy to the world.' did he think i had any extra breath for that sort of nonsense?
just so you don't think it was all bad, i was in a kind of awe, the snow-covered peaks and rocky valleys played out around us was one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen in my life, and an extraorinary way to greet the day in which we celebrate the birth of Christ (and just so you know, i did spend some more reverent time in worship later that day--at a lower alititude, when i wasn 't in danger of losing limbs to frostbite).
however, i was somewhat glad when charles led us off the summit and towards the sunnier valley. i was even gladder when he sat down for a rest near a small hut, wiped his brow and said 'i am so glad when i finish that part of the hike. so many people get injured hiking there!' well thanks, charles! i am so glad he waited to share that until we were safely down.
we hiked for a few more hours, the mountain still enjoying the sunshine we had been missing for the last few days and we enjoying the warmth that came slowly as we slid down the shale path that led to our breakfast.
ok, just kidding. The night was actually not stormy (this would be christmas eve)but it certainly was dark, without any moon or stars. i was convinced that we would reach the summit and see--fog, fog, more fog--which, after climbing to 16,500 ft would be a bit depressing! more on that later though..
We started hiking at 3:00am on christmas eve, after getting up at 2:30, drinking a quick cup of instant coffee and downing six cookies each (ah, breakfast of champions!) our guide Charles urged us out the door and up the trail, ahead of the fifty other people planning to summit that morning as well. Looking behind us as we headed up the trail, i could see a line of headlamps and flashlights winding up the (very!) steep trail. i had prepared myself for the intensity of hiking at night, and so the first hour and a half i managed to stay fairly upbeat. We didn't talk much, and it actually wasn't that cold (Charles commented- "It feels like Mombasa tonight!"-mombasa is a beach town in kenya-).
We took a few short breaks, but by the time we reached the snow line (probably 15,000 ft) I was whipped! In addition, my feet were wet and frozen, and as we started hiking along a narrow trail with a long, steep plunge to black oblivion on my left, I started to become more and more nervous. With my nervousness growing and my feet slowly freezing ( i pictured the feet of persons suffering from frostbite, i pictured myself crippled with stubs at the end of my calves as a result of this hair-brained adventure...) I became, well, a bit ornery. Eric said I was grumpy, actually. I may have said something like 'Do we have to follow him?????' as Charles went to lead us around the pack to the front of the line. Eric's calm response was, 'well, he is the guide you know.' sheesh.
i panted and struggled, and it seemed the trail would never end...i resorted to counting my steps 'one, two, three, four, five. repeat!' we were shoving our feet into the packed snow, trying to gain purchase and not fall into the aformentioned valley of the shadow of mount kenya.
we finally (as the air around us became grey with first-light)scrambled over the last cliff in our way and saw the peak of Mt kenya looming before us (the one we weren't climbing, as it required ropes, axes, experience, etc) We were on Point Lenana, at 16,500.
I cannot quite describe the scene. I wish I didn't have to, but i have not managed to get pictures up yet (promise, I will keep trying). Our dear white mountains in new hampshire are the definition of beauty, but they are also, somehow, comforting. this mountain inspires fear, awe- it made me want to go belly-down on the peak and hold on for dear life (and not just because the alittude was making me so dizzy that the horizon shifted alarmingly).
Sadly to say, I was still a bit (or a lot) grumpy. (i'm really blaming it on the altitude, you know that oxygen deprivation can make people obstinate!) Eric kept insisting that I take off my gloves and take pictures of him (in reality, this probably only happened twice, but i felt like he made me take about twenty pictures). then he tried to make me sing 'joy to the world.' did he think i had any extra breath for that sort of nonsense?
just so you don't think it was all bad, i was in a kind of awe, the snow-covered peaks and rocky valleys played out around us was one of the most beautiful things i have ever seen in my life, and an extraorinary way to greet the day in which we celebrate the birth of Christ (and just so you know, i did spend some more reverent time in worship later that day--at a lower alititude, when i wasn 't in danger of losing limbs to frostbite).
however, i was somewhat glad when charles led us off the summit and towards the sunnier valley. i was even gladder when he sat down for a rest near a small hut, wiped his brow and said 'i am so glad when i finish that part of the hike. so many people get injured hiking there!' well thanks, charles! i am so glad he waited to share that until we were safely down.
we hiked for a few more hours, the mountain still enjoying the sunshine we had been missing for the last few days and we enjoying the warmth that came slowly as we slid down the shale path that led to our breakfast.
posted by Christi-Lynn at 3:45 PM
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