September 1 to 11, 2007 Tom and Yours Truly Summit: Batian Elevation: 5199 m Approach trek: 3 days, 22km, 3000m elevation gain Climb: North Face Standard Route Grade: IV+ (5.6) Length: 600m Time: 2 days Days without rain or hail: 2 Where: Mount Kenya National Park, Kenya Map showing our trekking route from Nanyuki to Mount Kenya.  Nariobi is about 150km        south of this map. First night in a Nairobi hotel. Early morning view from hotel window.  The afternoon before, after Tom had checked into the        hotel and was waiting for me to arrive, a guide appeared in the room, totally out of the blue,        offering to organize our trip to Mount Kenya.  Tom had to haggle with him for over an hour        to persuade him that we didn't need porters and a guide.  He ended up organizing a taxi and 4x4        ride up to the park gate, though.  Photo credit: Tom. Day 2: taxi from Nairobi to Mount Kenya National Park (150km, about 4 hours).  Photo credit: Tom. Matatu: the local form of public transportation.  These vans occupy easily more than 50% of the        road traffic in Kenya and they drive like madmen, trying to get as many customers as possible.        Very scary! Typical Nairobi slums. Kenyan bike repair shop. Our first view of Mount Kenya.  As our guide told us, it's a shy mountain!  And indeed it is:        As of 10am every day of our trip(except for 2 days), the mountain would disappear in clouds,        followed by an afternoon of torrential hail and rain.  At sundown, the skies would seuddenly        clear, temperatures dropping to just below zero. Obligatory stop at the equator.  All these shacks are souvenir shops called "American store #1" or "Texas store #5", etc.  The guys on the side of the road, on the right, are showing all the tourists how water spins in different directions on each side of the equator, and not at all at the equator.        Of course you have to tip them after their forced demonstration.  The funny thing is, our guide asked us if we wanted to stop here, and we said no.  So we stopped anyways.  Ha.  They're pretty cunning businessmen, the Kenyans! More on the businessmen aspect of the Kenyans: here, even after 45 minutes of stark refusal on        our part, these guys are still trying to convince Tom to buy some trinkets or trade his watch.        Apparently one of their necklesses will give you good luck, and as soon as your boss sees you        wearing it, he will spontaneously give you a raise.  Therefore, there's no reason we can't afford        to buy one.  Good reasoning! Nanyuki: town bordering the park.  Here we bought gas for our stove.        The buildings in this photo house a "Shape-up Gym."  Pretty classy! Here, our guide, to whom we'd specifically told we didn't want        any porters took us to a touristy restaurant (good food) and        introduced us to a "friend of his."  Turns out he was a porter...        Photo credit: Tom. Here, our guide (on the right) and our porter, both dejected that Tom        and I were refusing their services. After a 4x4 Subaru ride up 10kms of dirt roads to the park gate and the beginning of the        Sirimon trekking route.  Photo credit: Tom. The only interesting African animals we saw the whole trip!  Baboons.  Go figure.  Photo credit: Tom. Hiding from a torrential downpour at the park gate (2650m). Getting used to the 30 kilo packs on extremely slippery red mud.  Photo credit: Tom. First camp: Judmeier Camp (3400m).  Mount Kenya poking out in the background.  Photo        credit: Tom. Day 2.  Photo credit: Tom. Arriving at our next destination: the Liki North Hut (3993m).  Classy official Mountain Club of        Kenya hut.  Photo credit: Tom. Hiding out from an early afternoon hail storm.  The hut was crowded        with 2 Canadians from Toronto and 6 porters.   No room for us!        Christ was it cold! Camp 2.  Near the Liki North Hut.  Nice and dry. Morning of day 3 with Terere (4714m) and Sendeo (4704m) at the head of the valley. Traversing a senecio forest, on the way to Shipton's Camp.  Photo credit: Tom. A Rock Hyrax, kind of like the marmot of Africa.  Apparently they're        the closest living relative of ... the elephant!  During the Miocene, they        were pushed into the water by their new bovine roomates, ie. cows,        and they started turning into elephants.  Some of them, however,        managed to survive as Hyraxes, and this is what they look like now.        Like elephants, they have toenails, padded feet, tusks and very good        hearing.  But I can only confirm the toenails. Day 4: from Shipton's Camp, which turned into our base camp, we did        a short acclimatization climb up the peak in the background: Point Peter.        Appartently 5 pitches of 5.6ish, but we did it in 2.  Today began the        pounding headaches.  And we didn't even have a peek of the peak!        Nothing but fog ... and hail. Photo credit: Tom. First pitch of Point Peter. The summit (4757m). Blind rapping in the fog. Day 5, 6am: view from the base of the North Face Standard Route.  We decided to do the North Face Standard Route instead of the more technical East Gate        route due to the bad weather, not being able to see the peak or the start of the route, and due to the amount of snow everywhere!  So off we go, rain or shine.        Photo credit: Tom. Pitch xx.  Finally warming up.  Note the sunshine!  Photo credit: Tom. View of the valley we hiked up with Terere and Sendeo in the centre, from pitch xx somewhere on the route.  The Great Rift Valley is seen in the background. One of the crux pitches, contouring the gendarme (called Firmin's Tower).  Crux due to the snow        and ice!  In the mist below is a vertical drop of about 400m.  Yikes.  Photo credit: Tom. View of the top of Firmin's Tower (with rap slings) and Terere and Sendeo in the background.        Photo credit: Tom.  Photo credit: Tom. So at 2pm, we arrived at the first decent bivi spot on the ridge just above Firmin's Tower.  With        pounding headaches and exhaustion setting in, due to the altitude, we decided to stop for the        day and pitch camp.  Now began a long wait for the next day.  Our dinner went bad so we ended        up eating only dry food and a soup.   Altitude: ~5000m.  Photo credit: Tom. View straight down from our tent door.  The ledge was just barely big        enough to fit our tent so we couldn't properly stretch out the flysheet.        The thing flapped like a madman ALLLLLL night!  And Tom kept        getting pounded on the head by the tent wall.  Didn't help the headaches! Day 6: Pitch 2 above our bivi.  The vague turquoise spot on the middle-        right of the photo is Shipton's Camp, our base camp. Tom hanging his butt over 500m of emptiness after crossing a fragile        knife-edge ridge "a cheval".  Loose blocks everywhere.  Yikes. Photo credit: Tom. As we neared the summit, the clouds rolled in again.  Doh!  Photo credit: Tom. 5199m!!!!!  Yeehaw.  What a stunning view.  Now let's get the hell off this pile of rocks. Rapping into space, part 1.  Photo credit: Tom. Rapping into space, part 2. Back at the base of the route.  Yeehaw, we made it.  Check out the route potential above us!!!        Sweet.  Photo credit: Tom. View from the base of the route. Shipton's Camp.  This is where all the trekking groups came up to (up to 50 people, easily).  The porters would cook for them and everything.        We were the star attractions of the area since we were the only ones camping, cooking and carrying for ourselves...and climbing!  Photo credit:        Tom. Day 7: Our first good view of the mountain!  North Face Standard Route up Batian on the left and the acclimatization route we did up Point Peter on the right.  Our original plan was        to climb straight up the lower peak of Mount Kenya (ie. Nelion - see following picture) just to the left of the "supercouloir" that splits the two summits.  It was covered in ice and snow,        and we never actually saw it until today!  And it was supposed to be the dry season!!! Point Lenana on the left is the trekker's peak.  They start from Shipton's Camp at 3am and hike up there for the sunrise.  It's a lot higher than it looks!!! Ahem...yeah.  We had too much gasoline with us, so we burnt it to lighten our load for the        descent.  I guess the altitude started getting to us a little here!  Photo credit: Tom. After hiking out the 22kms to the Park Gate in half a day, and getting        completely soaked to the bones from a severe downpour, we piled into        this sweet old land rover and were driven down the horrendously slick        road back to Nanyuki.  On the way down we happened to bump into        an acquaintance of Tom's who lives in Nairobi and was doing an        x-country run there that day.  Small world!!!!!  She invited us to stay        at her place back in Nairobi. Day 8: sorting out gear in a $10 hotel (including fabulous dinner) in Nanyuki. So, after meeting Anjali and Amy (in photo), Tom's acquaintance and       her roomate in their hotel in Nanyuki, they organized a ride for us back       to Nairobi where we stayed with them overnight.  Our ride was with a       rich engineer-doctor couple who drove us to this wild restaurant in the       middle of the Nairobi slums where they served bbq goat leg with spinach.       Mmm mm good.  Anjali and Amy were extremely helpful and kind,       organizing matatus and taxis for us, telling us where to eat and what to       see, etc, etc.  The next day, I flew back home.  What a wild trip!