It was 2.30 am when I had to get up today
and 0 degrees! I slowly dragged myself
out of my sleeping bag and slipped my boots on, considering the temperature I
had decided to not get undressed before I went to sleep so I didn't have to
much to do to get ready other than wash my face and teeth and down a cup of coffee.
At around 3am Nicholas and I left to
climb to the summit of Mount Kenya. As
soon as I stepped outside I was astonished at how dark it was compared to
England at night and the sky was unbelievably clear! I felt like I could pluck the stars out of the
sky as the seemed so bright and close.
My vision was extremely restricted during the initial stages of the day’s
ascent, and all I could make out for the first hour was my guide’s feet with my
head-torch.
Now I don’t mean to boast (well I do
actually) but I didn't feel any altitude sickness whatsoever and managed to
rocket up the mountainside in 2 hours! It normally takes 3.5; according to
Nicholas I was the fastest Englishman to climb it in his 12 years of being a
guide! As we approached the top it was starting to get light so we sat and
waited in -5 temperatures for the sunrise, I have to admit this was possibly
the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed!
All around me was a carpet of clouds with small peaks poking through, as
was the glorious sun as it rose.
It
was so cold and windy that my camera refused to turn on but luckily I managed
to get this cheeky snap from my mobile phone. I considered this lucky as
otherwise I would have had no proof I made it!
Once I saw the sunrise and took my picture
I decided I wouldn't hang around as I was starting to lose the feeling in my
feet, so Nicholas and I belted down the peak twice as fast as it took us to
climb! I suppose the thought of
breakfast and a quick rest aided in our enthusiasm to descend. Over our breakfast Nicholas told me that we
were 2 ½ hours ahead of schedule so I suggested that rather than walking to our
first camp ‘old moses’ and camping the night there, that we should just mission
it all the way back to the start considering my time in Kenya was fairly
limited and I didn't want to waste any unnecessary time. He looked at me like I was crazy but in the
end agreed that it was a fairly sensible idea so we packed our stuff up and
made our way back, and after 22km we arrived at ‘camp old moses’ for lunch.
Once my stomach was satisfied and I had
comforted my overly sore feet we embarked on the final 10km to where we had
began. This last section was possibly the most exciting of the whole trek as
the wildlife seemed to be rife! At one point we were surrounded by literally 50
baboons acting like a bunch of drunken teenagers on there first holiday!
Needless to say I was rather anxious but I was reassured that they were more
scared of us than visa versa (Yeah right!!!).
I was also stopped in my path by some female bushbuck, these are
basically African deer but with some interesting marks and stripes. A little
further down our path and after 4 days of hard graft I had completed my
challenge! I was overjoyed and rather
proud of myself and was very much looking forward to finally having a shower
and a well-deserved Tusker! (A Kenyan beer).
JOB DONE!!!.
P.s.
Just for fun I decided to trek the whole day dressed as a monkey!
Needless to say every guide and mountaineer I passed laughed at me. (And yes
they are clouds casually blowing past).
