3 August 1999

What was supposed to be a gentle hike to Austrian Hut (we thought so because we were told that it was only a 2 hour hike), turned out to be a marathon slog uphill over a few steep ridges. We have gained some more altitude and are now sitting just below the 5000m mark.

Austrian Hut is situated in the most remarkable spot just below Pt. Lenana. In fact, Pt. Lenana is a mere 45 minutes walk away and as I sit here and type, the peak is shrouded in thick mist. It's been snowing all afternoon and the area around the hut is snow white. Visibility is down to about 50 meters and we are huddled up inside the hut. Earlier this afternoon when we arrived, we had a very real and close-up glimpse of Pt. Nelion, the second highest peak of Mt. Kenya. It is situated across the Lewis Glacier which starts outside our front door. The most prominent feature about Austrian Hut is the commanding views of the major peaks of Nelion and Lenana and also its close proximity to the Lewis Glacier. This is our first close-up view of our main goal and we are at once, very respectfull.

High on Africa is still perfectly on schedule, despite two days of very foul weather. We are both strong (I say that because I've been sitting down for an hour) and we will spend the whole day tomorrow around camp. The past two days have been tough, both physically and mentally. Having never before climbed here, one has no concept of distance or time travelled. This afternoon we came across a sign indicating Austrian Hut to be 400m away. After about 15 minutes we came across another sign: "Austrian Hut 200m away"! This was made particularly tough in the light of us walking in fresh snow and the slope around 45 degrees.

We're expecting our technical guide to arrive some time tomorrow and will then enter an entirely new world of high altitude technical climbing. We've planned for some acclimatisation, but will definitely undergo some final preparations and last minute pointers about what to expect. We're not convinced that a summit bid is possible under the circumstances, but we've seen the weather change in minutes up here. We have some time and will wait it out for as long as possible.