4 August 1999

Having spent the night at Austrian Hut at a slightly higher altitude, we were loathe to move to Kami Hut on the north of the mountain. Altitude, once gained always has to be climbed up again with any descent. That is if you intend going to the top. Yesterday, we were in absolute awe of the mountain, being less than 1000m from its base. Today has simply been too much to comprehend. From Austrian Hut, we did our first ascent of Pt. Lenana, Mt. Kenya's highest trekking peak. A mere 45 minute walk away, it lead us up right past the full glory of the Lewis Glacier and directly east of Nelion. The sight of the sunrise throwing its golden rays against Nelion made me shiver, despite the sub-zero temperatures we've now become used to.

Upon our arrival at Kami Hut we dug ourselves in and proceeded to have breakfast. We arrived at just after nine and had had a brisk 3 hour hike behind us. After breakfast, our technical guide (who met up with us last night) suggested that we go for a bit of training at high altitude. First off was getting all our gear together and have it inspected by our guide. This done, it was off to the nearest peak, a few hundred meters away. Luckily we had done some training back home, otherwise the goals we were being set may have been sufficient to send us packing. Absailing and rock climbing are both fairly exciting pastimes, but doing them at 4600 meters is something else. To make matters more interesting, it started snowing while we were up there and we were left figuring out ascent routes and descent routes in the snow.

To us 2 weeks ago, this would have been out of our league and beyond our immediate priority list. However, since our first few hours on Mt. Kenya we've steadily become used to the fickle weather and the sudden snowfalls. To say that our learning curve has been steep, would simply be stating a worn-out cliché, but know this, we have bitten off quite a huge chunk. Sitting here in the tent and looking up at Batian, I cannot see the summit. I would have to lean right out of the tent to do that.

Our guide has expressed his satisfaction with weather conditions and our preparation. His view is that we make our bid for the summit tomorrow morning and continue forward as the weather allows. I should say that the snow today was much less than yesterday and that the weather has improved. We will set off at around 06:00 tomorrow morning and should reach the highest point on Mt. Kenya by late afternoon tomorrow. This is a slight variation in our plans, but experiencing this mountain first hand has taught me to take every moment as it comes. Our moment seems to have come just a little sooner.

Tonight we will prepare all our gear and make final preparations. Once we set off and we're successful, we will bivouac at the top of the mountain as a descent in the same day would be near impossible. We will overnight on the summit of Nelion, the second highest peak and will then absail off the day after. There will therefore be no transmission tomorrow, unless of course our first summit bid fails.

This is it. High on Africa - Part two. By the day after tomorrow, we'll know whether we've made it or not. We cannot turn back having come this far. Carpe Diem !