This is a definitely challenging route: muddy when wet, rough underfoot, an overgrown track more used by elephants than humans, no clear camping grounds and with dense montane forest and tall giant bamboo – why would you like to tackle it? Well, it’s meant for real wilderness aficionados like you.
The route provides a unique and totally natural mountain hiking and trekking experience. All the way to Point Lenana, and then, descending to connect the Chogoria route. It offers some of the most spectacular views.
Itinerary
Drive from Nairobi to Nanyuki town Stay in a base hotel.
We will hike for 4 hours through the dense stands of towering bamboo forest to the Giant Bamboo Camp at 2600m. Dinner and overnight in the tents. This region is a home to buffalos.
The thick bamboo trees will yield to enormous pencil cedar and podocarpus forest. Higher up the trail, we climb to the hygenia rosewood zone at the edge of the moorlands. After a picnic lunch, we go up through the extraordinary groundsels and giant lobelia. We camp close to the sheer lava cliffs of the "Highland Castle" at 3,700. Total hiking time will be 5-6 hrs with a height gain of 1,100m
After breakfast, we hike out of the valley to spectacular scenery. The jagged volcanic peaks and the shimmering glaciers towering above our trek, as we join the summit circuit path. The eagles and buzzards soaring overhead - it is unbelievable we are on the equator! Dinner and overnight in the camp
After the sun hits the camp, breakfast will be served. We climb up the steep scree with the sites of Mahinder’s camp on the Tereki Valley giving us something to smile about. Lunch will be served at Austrian hut. Afternoon spent exploring the remaining glaciers. Overnight stay in the hut.
Start the summit attempt just after the day break. Reach Pt Lenana at 4,985m in time for the sunrise. If it will be a clear morning, Kilimanjaro will be visible 340kms away to the south. We will then do a 2-3 hours descent to Hall Tarns (4,300m), for breakfast.
We will later descend further down on a broad ridge enjoying magnificent views back up the valley to the snowy peaks. The waterfalls, tarns and lava flows in the Gorges Valley removes any sign of tiredness. With lunch at road head camp, we head down to Anabas lodge. In the cabins, log fires, hot showers, beds - and Tusker beers awaits us. In evening waterbucks, elephants and buffalos can be seen grazing outside our cabins!
We descend after breakfast for 3hrs through the bamboo forest to meet our vehicle. We take the return journey to civilization and then to Nairobi, arriving in before dusk.