POINT LENANA
Waking up at Shiptons camp was in itself a night to forget, for all I remember I slept a maximum of two hours, the high altitude cold was extremely harsh, we woke up as early as 3AM to get to the trails. Point Lenana was the catch in question and it was beckoning from afar, I was ready or at least I thought.
My heart began to pound as we received final instructions before we got started. it was pitch black, we could only see by the help of the headlamps. A sequence of movements could be heard from a distance as there were several other group of trekkers in business. I couldn’t see much but we were moving at snail pace, the slope was utterly steep as we kept slowing for a breath every few minutes.
The difficulty level was expert but we continued channeling that jolt of energy hidden somewhere within us, I devised a hack myself, push harder, pull away and rest abit as I waited for them to catch up, it was the unfairest way to gain good ground.
The raw sound of wind was slapping us with a faint hint of pride, it ruffled my neck scarf with a reminder this wasn’t home and we were just but visitors. We had to be extra focused, it was quite easy to give up if you took your eyes off the ball.
A stream of water ran right beside our trail making annoying nature sounds.
First light
Half past 5am and first light was peeping from afar distance from the edge of a Mountain cliff., a sigh was evident from the group. I pulled out my phone to seize the moment, the negative temperatures could be felt on a gloveless palm, the fingers got numb and the pinching pain exarcerbated, I wasn’t sure if that required acclimatisation too but I was willing to risk it, so I shook it off.
First light was re-energizing as I almost considered filing a complain for not being given warnings of the magnitude at which a mountain can humble someone, I was swearing not to catch myself punishing my innocence that much ever again.
The dramatic Mountain light
We soldiered on but I could see the struggles bite from across the group, their faces dropping with despair, silence echoed harder with signs of withdrawal but we gave each other the needed kick from within. Our guides were motivated and kept feeding us good words as if trying to breathe life into an ailing calf. I started resonating with why I’d term it to be self-inflicted pain, we never did any prep-hikes. It would have been way easier if we scheduled that a few weeks or a month before going eye-ball to eye-ball with the mountain.
I might have been going out of a limb as I was definitely finding some new love with the Mountain, a small mass of frozen water was before me, a piece of glacier, it was six on the dot and the mountains were getting lit up, it was time to switch off the headlamps as they were surplus to requirements in the current state.
Mt. Kenya Sunrise
A Glacial Lake in Mt.Kenya
I hovered my eyes into the expanse terrain enjoying the near light with the air saturated with an uncommon humidity.
I had never been to the mountains before and I was definitely starting to see why they were so marketable as the sun kept spraying its endless rays. I had cast a line in waters I didn’t know nothing about, trying to see what would eventually bite. The glaciers were appearing in large sums and we kept pushing-by water masses adjascent to the trails as the slope got unbearably steep.
Priceless views
Half past 7 and were on the last ascent, I felt a bolt of excitement that was thrilling as i took the ladder to for what would seem to be the last climb.
The joy after the last ladder climb
The spotless blue sky and an expanse of mountain terrains was the welcome note and the icing to this cake called Mt. Kenya. We graced the third highest peak with the endless satisfaction of having answered every question and challenge the Mountain threw at us. I smiled at the happy ending, I had no idea a mountain could get me grinning that much.
The expanse terrain
We all made a beeline for the Point Lenana signpost, I swore to paint my room with the wall to wall writings of the Mountain.
Enjoying the view as far as it went
It had cast its spell with almost enough light to illuminate my adventurous spirit. I was fortunately not oblivious to my travel-counterparts adventure-love-attack either. Faces were beaming and it was a joy to behold especially after the trails deliberately humbled everyone.
A few clinking of glasses and toasting from a new high
So we snapped away and toasted to moments we never had before.
Mt. Kenya had cast it’s spell and we were compelled to give it all the desired attention.
POINT LENANA
Authors insight.
Mt. Kenya has two sides to it just like anything in the world, it has the thrill and on the other end the hostility, the difficulty in scaling it can be adverse. The mitigation would be preparing enough before the hike, train hard to fight easy. It’s a battle but the juice is worth every squeeze.
Careful consideration has to be made before climbing Mt. Kenya as rainy seasons can make trekking a lot more difficult. The trails get extra muddy, slippery and the rock pathways become harder to navigate.
During wet seasons you’d likely experience snow at the peaks which is an epic experience of it’s own but the trade-off is you’ll miss out on all the breathtaking views of the expanse terrain and the blue skyline the mountain exudes. If you lucky, you’ll experience one of the most magnificent sunrise of your life.