4985 m climbing to push your limits

January 30th, 2015

Departure on 26/01 for Mount Kenya ascent, highest mountain in this country at 4985m (each meter count especially the 5 last ones). Initially I should have left Nairobi at 7 am, but thanks to Nairobi’s traffic, I finally left at 10 am to Naromuru one of the cities where you can start climbing. During 4 days, I would climb from 2400m until 4985m : a big challenge for me!

I met my guide, William, around 2pm and we started ascending until the first camp. A good start with 3 hours. It’s crazy how much you can meditate when you discover you have a none talkative guide…

Arrived at 3000 m, it was time to pinch the tent, drink a cup of tea and even star to have diner, because when you live in the mountain, eating early is compulsory! Diner is the right time to talk about way of life, traditions, habits, … Even if it’s hard to be understood, I managed to communicate with all guides in the camp. I was hoping that my first night wouldn’t be as cold as what a French guy, that I met on Sunday, told me. Too bad: I moved, squeezed myself so I would not end like an ice cube.

On Tuesday 27/01, I woke up at 7:30 am with my body shaking. Only half an hour to eat my breakfast, fold the tent and to freshen up (let’s forget about the shower we are in the mountain) but 5 hours until our next camp at 4000m height. I could see all kind of landscapes : rocks, trees which are not trees, flowers which looks like trees, some birds (that look like trees?)…. Everything seemed to be supernatural. At 1 pm, we reached the camp where I met Rodrigo, a Chilean guy who definitely knew about walking, he is a mountain guide. A little chatter box, I really liked it, indeed it wasn’t easy with my “quiet” guide for 2 days.Yay! He taught me some tips to avoid getting cold at night : using 2 bottles of boiling water in your sleeping bag. Finally some good news! I however still requested another sleeping bad to be warmer as mine was completely useless. This night would be definitely warmer than the last one.

On 28/01 at 2:30 am, big surprise, my face was swallowing thank to altitude: welcome to the marvelous world at 4000m high! When I asked William how was my face, he totally didn’t care but just asked me to drink as fast as possible my cup of tea. We needed to start climbing at 3am to see the sunrise. I stayed determinate despite the freezing temperature, the night, and tough climbing conditions. I was mentally and physically prepared. When I say physically, I am talking about clothes. I had worn every single thing I got : under-sweater, t-shirt, fleece jacket, padded jacket, k-way, tights, pants, gloves and hat. We reached the summit at 6:30am, before doing via ferrata without any snap hook : everything is alright, TIA! (This is Africa, an expression learnt earlier in the week which means that we are in Africa and you just have to live with the unexpected…) At the top, we stayed to see the sunrise which seemed to last only a second. We took some pictures and we already needed to go down to have a breakfast at 4000m.

One hour later and after having breakfast, we began our descent until the first camp, at 3000m high. The last kilometers and meters were very painful, I just wanted to lay down and rest! This night, diner at 7pm and bed : I had a tiring day.

On 29/01, finally the last day, only few hours of walk and everything would be done. Like a little walk and we arrived at the gate! Yey! Bad news, we ended waiting 3 additional hours for our lift to pick us up. I deserved it after all my delay for diners, parties or family week end of my life : Karma baby! Finally arrived safely at my friend’s home, Othmane and Caro, this was the time to tell them all about my trip. To conclude: a great climbing where you understand what “pushing your limits” means but you forget everything when you’re at the top!