Hiking Mount Kenya: my 5-day possibility dwelling reflections

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Emily Dickinson’s famous ‘I dwell in possibility’ poem encapsulates my Mt. Kenya hiking experience from  20th to 24th December 2021 from all angles. The key lessons that hiking Mt. Kenya taught me was (i) the trail is very doable, to the point where one of our hikers inspired us with a 40-day to Mt. Kenya successful summitting mission, and how to navigate with varied emotions and fear of heights on summit day (ii) there are simple antidotes to zero altitude sickness (iii) seeing opportunities in your valley life seasons.

 

Besides the amazing itinerary (more details shared on this post), what stood out for me at Mt. Kenya was the serenity, simplicity and magnificence of the expansive area. I had thought it would be one huge climb from bottom to top (this only happens on summit day on your way up to point Lenana)…turns out Mt.Kenya is its own national park, and with quite an expansive range also accompanied with other hills eg Mugi hills. Besides the famous trio peaks – that is, Lenana, Batian and Nelion peaks, you’ll also encounter numerous other peaks along the journey – about 16 more – the Delamere Peaks stood out for me as they were neighbouring Lenana Peak. There were also treats in form of occasional spotting of the unique rock hyrax which evolved from elephants, as well as other unique flora and fauna (check out this video). 

Delamere Peaks adjacent to Lenana Peak (rightmost)

Rock hyraxes enjoying veggie leftovers at Shipton's camp

If you’ve been to some or all of the Aberdares ranges, Mt. Kenya is like a collection of them all, from the marshiness of Elephant hill and Mt. Satima, to the long stretches reminiscent of Mt. Kipipiri, and the sharp and a bit scary summit that is nostalgic of the fourth Rurimeria hill summit, only that here at Mt.Kenya it’s magnified multiple times. Besides the summit, it was striking to note that the rest of the Mt. Kenya terrain is actually easy – dwell on that refreshing possibility for a moment - even the health app statistics showed that Rurimeria, one of the Aberdares trails, is in fact is more challenging given the threshold heart zone ranges it takes you to – in Mt. Kenya, you’ll find you’re navigating in the warm-up and easy heart zone ranges, and very occasionally in the aerobic heart zone. 

Lenana Peak statistics

Rurimeria Hill statistics

Connected to this, it was heart-warming to learn one of our hikers had purposed to climb Mt. Kenya 40 days prior to the hike, and had only relied on home workouts as preparation for Mt. Kenya – yes, it’s very doable…but the beauty with the high altitude prep hikes is that they help your body familiarize and work through altitude sickness – which our 40-day to Mt.Kenya hiker struggled a bit with – so you may still need to factor in the high-altitude prep hikes to make your Mt. Kenya experience smoother, more enjoyable and relatable.  But even if you don’t have time for this, it still works – I recall our hiker colleague mentioning that if they knew all it took to prep for Mt.Kenya, they might have never tried out hiking Mt. Kenya – so interesting! For me, the toughest part for the entire hike was on summit day – the sharp ascent and descent was frightening and I was on all fours for more than I’ll care to admit – though it presented an opportunity to work more on my fear of heights (thanks to this, we have an upcoming opportunity to get to try ziplining and from there probably bungee jumping...possibility dwelling attitude and altitude indeed). Another summit lesson, upon reflection, was that it was a varied emotional day...among us the hikers, there was crying, laughing, fear, pressure points and a bit, or a lot, of short tempers all mixed up. In life, don’t we all go through mixed emotions daily – it’s what we are constantly telling ourselves that matters most – and that determines defeat or success. On a more practical note, if fear of heights may be an issue for you too, try hike in a small group – there’s higher likelihood you’ll go at a slower pace and there’ll be less pressure when you’re giving it your best (but it doesn’t look like so to the outside world), plus you’re more likely to find a guide who will hold your hand and basically help you out dedicatedly.

There were strong points

and weak points in equal measure...

Just before the summit, there's a staircase (a via ferrata), named as ''olanana'', currently the world's highest via ferrata, at 4985metres

Another lesson I picked is the possibility of a successful summit lies in the simplicity that hikes, and life in general, really asks for – one step at a time and you’ll reach your summit, drinking plenty of water and walking slowly, which are also antidotes to altitude sickness…and one step at a time you eventually reach your summit. For water, inasmuch as we had (simple and complex) snacks, once I had my main meals and especially a heavy breakfast, I didn’t consume most of these snacks I carried during the day – instead, water is what was needed and it was truly life-giving – I have found the more I hike the less food but more water I need – taking in more water than usual also kept at bay altitude sickness, as it provides the much-needed oxygen in the thinning high-altitude. I even found ways to keep water warm enough to drink by keeping a hot water bottle next to my water bladder in my daypack. Another thing that kept altitude sickness at bay is walking slowly – our guide almost daily reminded us to walk ‘polepole’ (slowly) , anytime we started walking at a fast pace…such simplicity was breathtaking.

 

On a more soul-deep level (this gets a bit philosophical, but stick with me), I saw the opportunity to dwell in the possibility of better embracing and thriving in life’s valley seasons, and not necessarily rushing through them as one may be tempted to do. Besides the joy of being at the summit, my next best moment at Mt. Kenya was meandering through and soaking in the beauty of the valleys, especially at the junction between Mackinder’s and Liki valleys where we even had an unrushed lunch picnic (on the sirimon route) – and taking breathtaking photos at the gorges valley (on the chogoria route). I later learnt that it is in these valleys that the water streams from Mount Kenya originate from – they directly provide water to more than 2 million people – how impressive! Collectively, Mount Kenya is the main water catchment area for two large rivers in Kenya – Tana river (the largest river in Kenya) and the Ewaso Ng’iro North…with this deeper view, I hope it’s clearer to see the beauty that abounds in the valley - if you’re willing to look for it, you will find it, and you can learn to love and thrive in this sometimes rather challenging life season – not all seasons in your life will be summer – and that’s a good thing – all seasons are there for a reason as they contribute to shaping you to better appreciate the beautiful full circle of life.

Overlooking the breathtaking gorges valley and waiting for lunch at the Mackinder's/Liki Valley intersection

Below are 20 practical tips to consider as you prepare for Mt. Kenya (it’s likely to apply for other high-altitude mountains too)...thanks to my seasoned hiking friends, notably Brenda, James, Kinoti, Lucy, Nemoh, Salome, Paul and Robert, for the additional insights too:

1. While not mandatory, high altitude prep hikes help a lot – any or all of the 7 Aberdares range hills are your friend – at the bare minimum, do Mt. Satima – as the third highest mountain in Kenya, it is great for familiarizing your body to high altitude and how to cope. If you have more time, I was advised on the following sequence of Aberdares ranges to tackle, and the order worked great for me: Kipipiri, Elephant, Table, Rurimeria, Satima (I found if I had hiked Rurimeria as the first one it would have been unnecessarily overwhelming – it’s the second toughest after Kinangop hill - and both are not necessarily an accurate representation of how Mt. Kenya is like).
2. On gear items, you do need a summit pant for the summit day (this is different from fleece pants) – I found it made a difference when I needed to sit on snow when on all fours– they are (near) waterproof pants – plus your hiking pole is a must on the sharp terrains, and if you need extra help for your knees, also have your knee supporters with you – they do make a difference.
3. Other essentials that peoples easily forget:  soap (if you have skin prone to breakouts when not washed), power bank & its cable too (there’s no electricity), toothbrush, toothpaste, and tissue paper.
4. Besides all the mandatory gear packing, it’s a nice idea to carry your best outfit as there are unique photo places eg at Lake Ellis, Nithi Falls.
5. It’s better to go in a group where you’re all strangers and thus creating opportunities to get to know each other. Having said this, if you’re religious, I have seen the value of praying about the people you’ll be hiking with in advance, as well as praying during each of the trek days for the grace to hike and summit in good health and spirit – it’s not automatic - back to the type of people you encounter, good company makes a huge difference in how you experience the multiple-day Mt. Kenya hike and there’s potential to make new and lasting friendships or at the very least have meaningful and life-changing conversations, when the company is right.
6. Don’t bother carrying lots of snacks from home – just have the bare minimum – ORS sachets, dates and nuts/trail mix are enough -  you’ll eat really well while out in the bush – it was a truly hotel experience actually – and you need water more – it’s common at the end of the trip to bring back home extra snacks.
7. No need to carry extra bottled water too – it increases your luggage weight –plus there are plenty of water streams where you’ll fetch cleaner and tastier water, especially if using chogoria route. Carry an empty reusable water bottle instead to ease in fetching stream water, and of course your water bladder/camelback.
8. Invest in a high degree rating sleeping bag - ask for this info when buying or renting one -10 or -20 degree Celsius or four seasons are great options. You may find it may be bulkier, but not a big issue as porters can help - you need the warmth to sleep well on the chilly mountain nights. I got an amazing -20 degree rating sleeping bag but it meant it was bulky and couldn’t fit into my porter bag – which looking back wasn’t such a bad thing –I carried it separately on a garbage bag.
9. Sleeping in a tent and sleeping bag for the first time can be both exciting and daunting – a good sleeping bag means you are more likely to sleep well (on our first night at first campsite the rains found us in our tents making the tents flood and the sleeping bags soaking wet…having a heavy one meant not all water seeped through and the experience wasn’t too disturbing).
10. You don’t get to shower – make peace with this in advance – wetwipes are your friend – ladies, also panty liners work like a charm
11. For a first timer, using the bush as bathroom (and toilet) is an interesting experience, especially as a lady. Thankfully, most men and women hikers and porter team are very understanding and you just need to inform them when you need to use the bush so they can move at a slower pace so you are able to catch up with them easily. Late at night, for both ladies and gents, best to avoid going outside the tent even for short calls – you are likely to encounter wild animals, especially on the chogoria side – one way this worked for us was to reduce/or stop water intake after dinner/you may find it even better to reduce much earlier ie when back at the camp which can be around 5 or 6pm…
12. Elevation affects everything – ladies, this includes unexpected /early periods –how to navigate:
• Carry emergency sanitary protection – even if not for you, you can help a fellow lady hiker.
• If your periods have delayed and the trip is coming up, you don’t have to postpone your trip – and neither do you have to take drug to postpone periods in advance – just go with the flow, if/when your periods start, you can take the pill at that point and it will reduce the periods in next 12hours or so. One recommended medication to delay periods is Norethisterone – apparently it has no side effects, but you should not take it for more than 14 days.
• Ibuprofen also reduces the intensity of your periods
• If you don’t prefer to take any drugs, just go with the flow – you can change along the summit and in the bushes (I saw this demonstrated with such grace by a fellow hiker), and ask for extra water in the evening both for some washing and to soak your feet
13. To increase your water intake during the day (it’s usually cold so  you may not be easily incentivized to drink water)– try these tips (i) at the camp in the morning, if available, request they put for you warm water in your water bladder (ii) ensure your water bladder has an insulated cover for the extended part going over the bag –usually black in colour – so it conserves the heat (iii) carry a hot water bottle and also ask for hot water daily and put it next to your water bladder  in your daypack to warm your water (iv) carry a 1L thermos (I had 500ml one – next time I’ll get a bigger one) – this you can use to dilute with the cold water stream you fetch along the way.
14. You don’t have to get altitude sickness and you don’t need to take the altitude sickness pill (Diamox it’s called) – one of the hikers bought it but decided not to take it unless things got bad – myself, after a lot of back and forth, I decided not to buy it – but bought the other recommended medicines for diarrhea, headaches etc – thankfully, I didn’t use any pill from the many medicine packs I carried – I found the best trick to prevent altitude sickness is to (i) drink lots of water (try about double your usual intake during the day –you’ll pee in the bush a lot but I found it better than managing a headache or other altitude sickness symptoms– and reduce/stop heavy water intake when back at the camp so you can have undisturbed sleep and no need to go out during chilly nights), and (ii) walk at a slow pace.
15. Having being optimistic, it’s common to encounter some slight altitude sickness symptoms – here’s how to work around these:
• Slight headaches are common – ensure you have painkillers in your daypack
• Bloating on summit day is also common – have activated charcoal pills or powder in your daypack, or some eno powder if you prefer this instead
16. On summit day, you need sunglasses to stare at the snow without causing damage to your eyes – if you can, get (prescription) polarized sunglasses.
17. And oh, you need sunscreen and preferably with high SPF even when it doesn’t seem sunny – plus don’t forget lipbalm with SPF factor (managed to get SPF 30 but my lips still got super dry and choppy – if there’s higher one, try this). If your skin still gets scarred, for recovery, arimis brand (cow’s milk jelly/ mafuta ya ngombe) is your friend.
18. If you need an extra hand eg on summit day, or even if you don’t, it’s a good idea to carry loose change to tip the entire support team (I learnt better to gather tips amongst all hikers and give collectively to the support team - the guides, porters, chefs and tent bearers etc ..if you happen to separately tip a guide who gave extra help, ask them to keep it confidential so as to not to create any animosity or jealously – after all, all porters and guides help equally in their differently assigned roles).
19. Line both your porter and daypack with a big paper bag eg a garbage bag (you will need it to prevent your items from getting soaking wet during the abrupt rains) –and also if you have overpacked, carrying a few extra garbage will help to distribute weight among other lighter bags, if these are there, that is
20. While I had all the right gear (thanks to advise by tons of friends), packing light remained a challenge– here I could use some tips – my porter bag was heavy – grateful we were a small group and the porters divided some of my luggage amongst themselves but can’t always expect to get help all the time - any helpful videos and other tips for carrying light (while having everything needed alongside)? – I got the below suggestion but it didn’t work for my bulky sleeping bag ..for those whose sleeping bag fitted in the porter bag, when unpacking in the evening/morning, it means they needed to remove the sleeping bag from the bottom ie remove all bag contents.

 

 

Well, I hope this article has shed more light on the multi-dimensional experience that Mt. Kenya had to offer and will especially help those preparing for Mt. Kenya to be better-equipped and grapple less in the dark so you can focus on enjoying the experience more. 

 

Over to you…I would be keen to learn on any of these: have you got any additional packing tips you could share to keep porter’s bag essential-full but light-weight? If you’ve been to Mt. Kenya, what new challenges have you encountered, and how did you solve these? Did you also gain any additional new insights from your trip that you could share? Looking forward to your thoughts, thanks in advance.