Mt. Kenya ...
OK, so some of you know that starting tomorrow, I’m going to climb Mt. Kenya with two of my housemates and another friend of ours from the UN. A few of you have expressed some concern about this endeavor – “Isn’t the altitude going to be a problem?” “Isn’t it going to be cold?” “Um, Erica, don’t you tend to fall and hurt your ankle when climbing mountains?”
These are all definitely concerns, but as you guys know, I don’t really do many things w/o thinking them through, so …
1) The altitude.
Yup, the summit is pretty high – about 16,000 feet. Altitude sickness and becoming too short of breath to make it all the way to the top are definitely possibilities. However, we’re going with a guide who was recommended to us by a friend of ours at the UN. Our guide used to work for the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Mountain Rescue Squad, so he definitely knows what he's donig. He told us there are three main things to remember – you have to keep your pace really slow (slower than you feel is actually necessary) in order to let yourself get acclimatized to the change in altitude, you have to eat a lot food, and you have to drink a lot of water. Also, even though the four of us are from sea-level places, we’ve all been living and regularly exercising at about 5,500 feet for the past two months, so hopefully are lungs are in pretty good shape.
Everyone in our friend’s group made it to the summit with no problems, so hopefully we will too. And in the worst-case scenario, you just have to turn around before reaching the top.
2) The cold.
Yup, it’s going to be cold. That’s why I’m bringing many, many, many layers of fleece, a sleeping bag, thermal underwear, a hat, gloves, etc. We’ll be staying in mountain huts on the way up and down the mountain, which I think will be slightly warmer than sleeping on the ground in tents. Also, I did recently survive a night of sitting in a sleeping bag on 2nd Street, waiting for Supreme Court tickets (I am such a dork) in Washington, DC in February. When we “woke up” (we didn’t really sleep that much) there was frost on the outside of our sleeping bags, and we got through that experience with all of our toes!
3) My klutziness,
Yup, I can be a klutz sometimes. However, in my defense, the first time I fell I was rock climbing, not hiking. Climbing Mt. Kenya – at least the way we’re doing it – involves no rock climbing at all. It’s just hiking. The second time, what can I say – I just rolled my ankle the wrong way – it happens. I will be as careful as possible, and if I do end up making an ankle twisting hat trick, at least I’m going up the mountain w/ a former member of the Mountain Rescue Squad, right?
Anyway, I am so excited. This is the thing I’ve wanted to do the most ever since I decided to come to Kenya for the summer. I’m just really glad that I met nice people here who also wanted to give it a try. We’ll be back on Sunday evening, so I’ll type to you all on Monday – hopefully with great photos and two good ankles!
These are all definitely concerns, but as you guys know, I don’t really do many things w/o thinking them through, so …
1) The altitude.
Yup, the summit is pretty high – about 16,000 feet. Altitude sickness and becoming too short of breath to make it all the way to the top are definitely possibilities. However, we’re going with a guide who was recommended to us by a friend of ours at the UN. Our guide used to work for the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Mountain Rescue Squad, so he definitely knows what he's donig. He told us there are three main things to remember – you have to keep your pace really slow (slower than you feel is actually necessary) in order to let yourself get acclimatized to the change in altitude, you have to eat a lot food, and you have to drink a lot of water. Also, even though the four of us are from sea-level places, we’ve all been living and regularly exercising at about 5,500 feet for the past two months, so hopefully are lungs are in pretty good shape.
Everyone in our friend’s group made it to the summit with no problems, so hopefully we will too. And in the worst-case scenario, you just have to turn around before reaching the top.
2) The cold.
Yup, it’s going to be cold. That’s why I’m bringing many, many, many layers of fleece, a sleeping bag, thermal underwear, a hat, gloves, etc. We’ll be staying in mountain huts on the way up and down the mountain, which I think will be slightly warmer than sleeping on the ground in tents. Also, I did recently survive a night of sitting in a sleeping bag on 2nd Street, waiting for Supreme Court tickets (I am such a dork) in Washington, DC in February. When we “woke up” (we didn’t really sleep that much) there was frost on the outside of our sleeping bags, and we got through that experience with all of our toes!
3) My klutziness,
Yup, I can be a klutz sometimes. However, in my defense, the first time I fell I was rock climbing, not hiking. Climbing Mt. Kenya – at least the way we’re doing it – involves no rock climbing at all. It’s just hiking. The second time, what can I say – I just rolled my ankle the wrong way – it happens. I will be as careful as possible, and if I do end up making an ankle twisting hat trick, at least I’m going up the mountain w/ a former member of the Mountain Rescue Squad, right?
Anyway, I am so excited. This is the thing I’ve wanted to do the most ever since I decided to come to Kenya for the summer. I’m just really glad that I met nice people here who also wanted to give it a try. We’ll be back on Sunday evening, so I’ll type to you all on Monday – hopefully with great photos and two good ankles!
posted by Erica at
8:23 AM
2 Comments:
You will have the time of your life! How exciting! I will be keeping my fingers crossed and pressing my thumbs (that's what the Germans say) for two strong ankles. Can't wait to see the full report next week:-)
By
Erin, at 9:37 AM
Ok, be safe!
By
Pritilata, at 4:55 PM
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