The day to climb Mt. Kenya had eventually arrived. We awoke early to get all our gear and clothes finalised and packed and then it was down to have a good breakfast before we would start the climb up along the Sirimon Route. Our guide, Robin, arrived to meet and greet us before we headed off to Mt. Kenya National Park where we would begin the hike. The first day is just a short 3 hour hike up so we started around lunchtime and by the time we got to the first hut where we would spend the first night we were greeted by 2 other climbers who were also making their way up.

The next day it was up early and again we had a awesome day of weather, so off we headed for a full day of hiking up and down into valleys until we reached Shiptons Camp where we would get a some sleep before awaking early the next morning to summit. From Shiptons you can see Point Lenana peak (4895m) which we would summit as this is the only peak which can be reached by hikers. The next morning at 2.30 am we were woken up so we could get ready to leave at 3am for the summit hike.

The sky was clear and bright from the stars and moon shining. It was a slow, cold walk up and eventually at around 5.30 am when we were only about 15 min's from the summit we had a good break one for ourselves to get our breathes back before the final stretch and also to give the sun some time to rise so we could watch the sunrise from the summit. Once you reach the peak you realise that it is such a small peak that luckily there was just 3 of us hikers at the top and no fighting for some space. We had such a great view as we sat to watch the sunrise and then it was time to get some pics and head down again as it was getting quite chilly!

The walk down to Shiptons Camp is quite quick as most of it is sliding down as the gradient is quite steep - we were glad that we attempted the summit in the dark as you don't get to see much around you! After a short rest and some breakfast we headed back to the first hut we stayed at where we would spend the final night before heading out to the gate the next day. It was a great hike up and down Mt. Kenya and one that was achievable with the great team of porters, cook and guide we had.

We would highly recommend High Peaks Expeditions for climbing Mt Kenya or Mt Kilimanjaro, they are a professional outfit & have great people, which makes dealing with them such a pleasure. They went out of their way to ensure we could achieve our goals of climbing both peaks & seeing the sights & sounds of Tanzania & Kenya.