Mt Kenya - Day 3, when will it end?!?!

Hello,

So, today we got up around 2, and by 3, me and the six UK folks and their guide (Elijia?) were heading from McKinders Camp up a few thousand feet to Point Lenana. The pace Elijia set was pretty good. I could huff and puff and respond to questions, and it was no problem keeping up. We went up the mountain slow but sure, and eventually passed other groups on the way up. We made good progress and I dropped my pack at Austrian hut (15,720 ft). We all piled into a room for a 30 min breather since no one wanted to be on the summit too long before sunrise - temps were more than just freezing, near 0 F!

We scrambled up the trail and arrived at the summit shortly before sun rise. There was a fairly large crowd gathered and it was almost comical seeing that many people there to see the sun come up. After dropping my pack, I was surprised that the pace seemed no easier to maintain. The only person who seemed oblivious to the lack of O2, the pace of progress, or anything else was Andy, our nonstop entertainment radio. From McKinders to Lenana's summit, he cracked jokes, engaged everyone who could huff and puff an answer in conversation, and... During any breaks we took, he killed off cigarette after cigarette. Insane lung power and he's a smoker!

After the summit, we headed back to Austrian Hut, where I thought my day was done. The UK folks said their good-byes and headed down off the mountain. I rested for a couple hours and then my guide Mark suggested we go for a quick hike to a beautiful lake Ahh, what the heck, why not? Which shoes? I had ended up using the rented boots for Lenana because my feet were freezing in my shoes, and Mark said what I hoped he'd say... Running shoes so we can make faster progress! He wore his shoes, not boots, as well.

We headed down the Chagoria trail and dropped down a lot of elevation. We ditched the trail proper and went on a use trail to turn the trip into a nice loop. At this point, let me take back anything negative I said about the speed and strength of my Kenyan crew. I think the reality is that they didn't let on how heavy their packs really were. Without packs, Mark and Joseph were easily 50% faster than me and they didn't need to breath hard, regardless of smoke breaks. Mark started taking smoke breaks while having me and Joseph go on and he'd catch us minutes later. OK, they are superhuman, too...

The valley we entered looked almost like a high desert Yosemite, with huge, very climbable walls on both sides (looked like El Cap and Half Dome). The river down the middle tumbled down a series of waterfalls and cascades to a lake below, probably dropping 500 ft non-continuously. We found a trail right along the falls and dang was that steep! But, the valley and lake that we then came upon were indeed beautiful. We descended to the lake - there's a camping spot there... If I was to come back, that might be on my list of places to camp. Heck, I hate fishing, but I might even take a whack at it just to have an excuse to hang out there all day. BTW, the lake was at 4100 meters

So we started circumnavigating the lake and one of my guys (Joseph, porter) says 'wow, you are very lucky to see all this beauty on such a clear day!' I should have thrown him in the lake as he spoke. Not 2 minutes later, hail started coming down. I grabbed me waterproof layer out and we started hiking double-time. We came around the lake and the ascent we then began is probably (i use that word because I've now described several routes this way) the steepest "trail" I've ever followed. Temps started increasing (we'd been around 15 F most of the day) probably due to the close overhead clouds, and hail alternatively turned to rain and back to hail. The downpour became so violent that twice we waited it out under overhanging cliffs or in caves (I have pics of both but Zain has the worst cell phone coverage possible in Africa, so I'll send them later). By this time, everything was drenched. Which means, of course, our running shoes were soppy sponges.

The trail back was probably a very fun trail. We meandered through bogs and marshes (the kind where, when its raining, you can't stand in one spot long because any time you're not moving, you're sinking, and I got shin deep at least a couple times), scrambled up class 3 made to class 4 by ice and hail and water (hands and feet on the rocks, just like Lenana had been), and hiked up huge valleys (full of fresh snow, of course). The best part was at high altitude again, where we did class 4 scrambling over rocks that had a fresh 2-3 inches of snow on them... In soggy wet running shoes.

BTW, Mark and Joseph took turns carrying my lightweight (5 kg / 11 lbs.) pack because they wanted to get every last ounce of speed out of me. I was completely knackered by then (having been hiking for 9 hours already), and going up the final scree hill back to the Austrian hut was killing me. Took us 6:15 to do the 6-7 hour loop, which covered 60% of the Chagoria trail (yep, could have just exited the park instead of climbing back those 700 meters!), and when we got back, we boiled up some water and made warm water foot baths. All of us were lacking toes from hiking in cold wet shoes over snow...

The Kenyans have an interesting solution to cold feet. Wash them in warm water, dry them, and then coat them in petroleum jelly, and put on a dry pair of socks. I was skeptical, but damn, my feet stayed warm!

All in all, a tough day. From McKinders (4200 m) to Lenana (4985? m) to the lake (4100 m) to Austrian hut (4790 m) and about 9-10 hours of hiking, almost all of which was higher than the highest peaks in the continental US!

I wish I could send this to y'all. Voda, Safari, and Orange all have signal here, Zain does not. I found a spot to send messages and was able to get an email out, but later, that spot was useless - cloud cover decreased the range. Ah well, I'm alive and having a blast, especially when I meet up with other fun people - like Jamie and Alex on Kili and Anna, Sally (Captain Kirk, as one of the guys had to point out a couple times), Andy, Dan, Pete, Nick, argh.. It'll come to me... I'll add his name when I remember (be prou I remembered even one of the names!) Damn useless brain!

Oh, meeting the technical guide, which happens tonight, will go into tomorrow's report.

Joel