Elephant Hill: How eating your elephant a bite at a time is the best way
Located at the Aberdares Ranges, what’s with the (in)famous Elephant hill besides the sometimes scary stories about this trail? Well, there have been so many reviews on this trail that it takes a bit of time to find your own voice and a personal take from all the well-meaning info out there. Hiking at a moderate pace below is an average hiker's most likely expected statistics from this trail.
There are five key trail markers while at elephant hill, that is, (i) starting point, (ii) bamboo gate, (iii) desperado (a point of despair), (iv) tail, and, (v) summit. Some say these five all come together to form the shape of an actual elephant, while others say the trail is named so because elephants pass enroute. Below is a video on the overall elephant hill trail (video courtesy of Jambee):
The bamboo gate stands out in its beauty and magnificence. However, most enjoy this beauty more so during the dry weather. When it's rainy, the bamboo zone can be the toughest part of the trail due to an excessively soggy stretch that doesn't dry quickly due to the overshadowing bamboo cover.
Desperado is literally a point of despair for some hikers - it marks 50% of the trail distance, and some give up at this point, unfortunately - I found that to move beyond desperado, your mind needs to supersede the physical fatigue you are most likely experiencing.
Of course, your determination to keep on going with be rewarded with reaching the breath-taking summit
At this point, I'll deviate from narrating the trail intricacies and draw unique encounters I picked from the people and views on this trail. The late Desmond
Tutu wisely said ‘There is only one way to eat an elephant ... a bite at a time'. Connected to this is the ‘1% better’ rising movement encouraging folks to reach
their full potential and how you can do it too. I hope the rest of the reflection encourages you to reach just 1%
better in your own unique fashion in your everyday life moments, with yourself, and with the people that life brings your way.
The trail turned out to be a nice surprise, with the sunshine
upon us on an active early Sunday morning (while the weather was a hit, hiking
on a Sunday was a miss – my wonderfully resilient body made me pay a heavy
penalty this time as I nursed the fatigue coupled with a packed week, but now
we are back on track). Grateful for the rare sunshine treat at elephant hill (I
hear it’s a disaster when it rains, especially at the aforementioned bamboo gate – I can see that – I still fell a couple of
times during the slippery descent, and my knees hurt for a bit longer than
usual despite wearing knee supporters). Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the
people we met and were with on the trail – anytime one wanted to stop there
would be someone encouraging you to take one more step, even past the point of
desperation trail marker (did I mention that except for our jovial guide, we
found ourselves in an all-ladies’ team this time round – been a while since
last saw such energy on a trail – to the extent of one of us leading the rest
of us in a short dance performance at each trail stop!). And then there were
elite male hikers we encountered– I forget his name but we shared the trail
with a famous guy who has hiked all over the world. Everyday heroes also showed up – a guy who
hiked with his mountain bike all the way to the summit and back – plus an
11-year old boy who was marching fast giving the rest of us quite a spectacle –
talk of an uplifting day!
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| Seeing a hiker cycling all the way to the summit was a rare treat |
The trail also presented a deeply sombre perspective – recall the Kenyan SAX plane crash back in 2018? Well, this was near the summit of elephant hill as well…thanks to the refrigeration-like cold, the scene looked as fresh as if the crash just happened a short while ago.
Talking of a perspective shift, when we reached the summit, it was inspiring to see a big group of Dawoodi Bohras (most of my Indian friends refer to them as Bohris) celebrating their summit experience by laying their upto now elegantly hidden mats to pray (most usually celebrate reaching the summit by taking photos). We needed to wait for them to finish praying, then we took some photos, as well as a warm drink and some snacks, plus took a power nap. Well, this time the altitude sickness came in form of sleeping at the summit on the moorland ‘pillow cases’ … this was quite an experience in itself.
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| Sleeping at the summit can be very comfortable😀 |
As you walk through your hopefully long and elephant-sized life's journey, consider taking the proverbial elephant-like circumstances you encounter along your way a bite at a time. While at it, may you be inspired to make a positive difference to the people around you in your 1% way – it could be by a smile, an uplifting word, or even just encouragement by your actions and how you carry on with this precious but fragile life.
I certainly learned lots from the many wonderful hikers we shared the elephant hill trail with, and hope you have also managed to pick up some inspiration to boost your soul as you journey through your everyday life.
I went to this trail where it rained 90%of the time wueh. It was proper character development hehe but it's a good challenge
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your feedback - that's a great attitude right there - hopefully next time you get to go it will a much smoother ride given you've experienced the tougher side of it already
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