December 07 - January 08 |
Hot Rock in KenyaThis stage has finished. Click on the silk road or arc of asia trips for up-to-date expedition information |
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Safari paradise, melting pot of cultures, Mount Kenya - the ultimate mountaineers' mountain, the insane chaos of Nairobi ... Kenya is a country of vivid images. And after our 6 weeks here, you'll agree that the rock climbing is right up there. The rock here is simply sensational, and our first climbing destination will be Lukenya.
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Deservedly one of Kenya's favourite crags it consists of several outcrops up to 100m in height with everything from airy V Diffs (5.4) to hard E3 trad routes. Hot Rock has put up a number of sports routes including the aptly named "Happy Happy Joy Joy" (6c+), with the somewhat easier "Jolly Jolly Good Good" (5b) and the ungradeable "Rude Root Route" right next door. And there is great potential for more.
On
the last trip a couple of guys with bows and arrows marched up to our campsite
at dusk and demonstrated their not inconsiderable archery skills over a few
beers with us.
Nadan had this to say about Lukenya:
" .. .it's a wonderful climbing crag in Kenya just outside of Nairobi that has a guidebook and everything. There are proper sport routes (a rare ingredient in the recipe for fun), proper bouldering, proper multi-pitch trad routes ... proper everything. So for one time we let go of our new routing habits, let go of our need to explore new rocks and went out to hunt for pure enjoyment. I've pushed the grades so hard I damaged my elbow, which was really good cause I finally could get some rest.
I even bolted a new route there, a beautiful 20 meters 5c+ with two stars and everything. The only problem with it was that next evening, at the Mountain Club of Kenya, I found out it was climbed traditionally by a guy with some micro nuts sometime in the sixties. Those guys in the sixties, I tell you, had no fear. Funny enough, he named it 'the accidental tourist'. How appropriate."
From Lukenya we will head a short distance south to Nzaui, Yale and Kitwa Tembu, where we’ll climb abouve big game in the Tsavo West game park. These destinations offer a series of 200m + crags in a friendly farming area which Hot Rock will have begun to investigate on the previous trip. We are in touch with the very small community of local activists who will give us the most up-to-date beta on the area and hopefully even climb with us too.
The
Mountain Club of Kenya is both active and enthusiastic about Hot Rock; they'll
make sure we don't miss any gems; we'll be making every effort to help them
out with developing their crags!
Depending on the quality of the rock, and the new routeing opportunity, we may chose to spend a few extra days here. Alternatively we can follow our schedule and head up-country towards the plethora of fantastic crags in the remoter North.
Then it’s off to Frog, a crag which hosts some of Kenya's best sports climbing. Situated in a low fault valley with giraffe and zebra wandering around, we will base our camp near the crags (but away from the army firing range as we did last time). There are over two hundred routes along the edge with potential for quite a few more, it¹s time to crank up the Hilti and get new routing on the masses of compact sandstone with sharp in-cuts abound. Great routes to aim for include “Karma Sutra” (19) and “Masai Burning” (28).
The
rock at Frog, which looks a little disappointing at first, proves to be of
uniformly good quality, like Burbage North with bolts and big game. We will
have a few days to explore the low cliffs and entirely burn our fingers out
before making the dramatic descent into the rift valley as the African plains
sweep out before us.
From here we’ll spend a couple of days exploring crazy Nairobi where
we’ll enjoy another final-night party as some leave and others join
the truck, before heading out to the flamingoes of Lake Naivasha & Hell's
Gate. 
It is down to a group vote but we can visit the very rare lava tube cave systems at the extinct volcano Suswa, or the impressive Thompsons Falls, on the way to Lake Naivasha. At the tranquil fisherman's camp, as hippos and Colobus monkeys wander around, we can set off for the nearby Hell's Gate national park. .
Probably one of the only game parks in the world that permits climbing inside, The 150m cracked volcanic walls at the Gate offer routes not un-similar to Devils Tower in the U.S. Such classics as “Andromeda” 175m (VII-) and “Mr Olympia” 175m (VI+) give fine airy outings as well as the easier range of climbs on Fischer's Tower such as the “Groove” 45m(V+).
As Dave said in the 2001 expedition report;
“Climbing at Hells Gate is fantastic. After yet another new route I sat at the top of the cliff looking out over the lower grass and watched Warthogs, with tails erect, scamper around the much easier going Zebra. The giraffe had moved on further down the valley and a large storm was building so we decided to call it a day and cycle back to Naivasha via the flamingos at crater lake.”
On a rest day in Naivasha we can go and walk amid giraffes and zebra at the nearby Crater lake, take cream tea on Joy Adamsons lawn, take boats out onto the lake or simply relax in the campsite with the playful Colobus monkeys before we move on to Lake Baringo, one of Hot Rock’s favourite crags.
Baringo gallery |
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The locals will paddle us to Devil’s Island (thought by some to be inhabited by the devil) where the Deep Water Soloing is of unrivalled quality. Our wild cries when we take the plunges into the water certainly help this myth. Those who have been more vigilant in their animal spotting (crocs, hippos and Nile monitor lizards) may prefer to head off and develop some of the 12km of virgin 2-pitch crags in the area – a sort of mega Stanage. The only crag developed to date was opened up by Hot Rock, and sentimentally called “Touching my Void”. Lovely. There is potential for at least 10,000 routes so if you have a new route name stored up you had better dust it off.
From here we move on to one of the undisputed highlights, not only of this trip but of world mountaineering as a whole – mighty Mount Kenya.
We will base ourselves at the comfortable Timau river lodge. This oasis of calm with log cabins, wandering peacocks and wonderful Indian food will be our base for an attempt on the mountain.
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At 5,199m Mt. Kenya is Africa's second highest mountain and in many peoples opinion, including my own, the most beautiful. The eroded and jagged peaks of Batian and Nelion can only be reached by Severe (5.5) and above multi pitch rock climbs such as the reasonable-grade but long Mackinders and North Face Standard routes. For our alpinists, a number of Scottish grade IV-VII ice routes exist, including the simply stunning Diamond Couloir. January is rock climbing season on one side of the mountain and ice climbing season on the other so there will be something to suit all tastes. Climbs start from the comprehensive network of high altitude mountain huts, and successful summitteers are rewarded by the out-of-this-world view from the top. Sat in snow on the equator having completed 30-odd pitches of challenging alpine-style climbing, looking over the savannah and deserts below is an unforgettable experience. |
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Last time, Hot Rock also put up one or two new routes on the myriad of outlying rocky pillars, including “Slab and Tickle” (HVS 5a).
There is a choice of trails up the mountain depending on the objective that usually take 2-3 days. From the top huts the trekking peak of Pt. Lenana at just under 5,000m can be reached, and many of the other surrounding peaks such as Pt. Piggot and Tillman peak offer excellent technical climbing. The comprehensive Mt. Kenya guidebook by Iain Allan can be bought in most bookshops for further info.
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Mt Kenya gallery |
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frog gallery |
Meeting up back at Timau river lodge we will celebrate our successes (with a bit of luck), and leave the high plateau Northwards, to enter truly remote Samburu tribal territory on the fringe of the Chalibi desert.
At this point we have the choice to head to the towering unclimbed 500m cliffs at Ololokwe and the nearby pinnacles of the Cat and Mouse, where the odd lion straying from the nearby Shaba game park has to be considered as an objective climbing danger. Whilst here we’ll camp in a Samburu village and exchange souvenirs and chit chat with the friendly locals. The one wearing a North Face fleece is called David – Conversations with him are one of my outstanding personal memories from the whole trip last time. His chapattis leave a little to be desired though…
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Here’s Nadan again: “‘Cat and Mouse’
are famous. When we first saw them it was hard to imagine the resemblance
to a cat or a mouse, but it was obvious which one is which. Mouse was small,
cat was big. Very big. And scary. And steep. Two granite towers in the middle
of a place that calling it ‘nowhere’ would be giving it a name,
and it just doesn’t deserve one. But the next morning Dunc and I started
our way towards ‘Cat’. After fighting with the bastard bushes
for two hours, getting stung by hornets on the way, we finally started climbing
about 9 am. The first pitch was a nice slab with some protection, then we
reached a wide ledge that gave us time to think. We had three options to go
up: A wide gully on the left, an OK face straight up, and a beautiful solid
‘6a’ start with a sharp flake to layback on for the first 5 meters
and then god knows. It looked like the best climbing. It took me some time
to persuade Duncan to do that ‘6a’ start with the layback. It
was his turn to lead so I didn’t care. But after three goes Dunc had
on it, while I lowered him off a shitty cam placed behind nothing, he said
something like: “You wanna do it? Lead it yourself”. Needless
to say I was afraid, and yet my pride took over. Sometimes I really hate my
pride. I started my
way up there to discover the hardest climb of my shaky life. No protection
what so ever, loose rock, and long 6b moves which I don’t like doing,
not to mention on trad gear. I reached a damn tree after climbing the thing
for more than two hours, and hugging its branches with love I cannot describe
I shouted ‘Safe!’ As Duncan started his way up, shouting and cursing
and what ever, I prayed to god for that tree’s roots to hold, for it
was basically growing on air in the middle of that vertical face. And I have
the picture to prove it. We finished with two more doable pitches just to
find 2 one-shilling coins in a crack on the peak of ‘Cat’ basically
saying: “we’ve been here before you”. Well, maybe you have.
But I bet you didn’t use our way up. We decided to call that route ‘No
mercy’, just because.”
Or we could leave the road entirely and go through the bush in locally rented
land rovers to the base of Poi, one of Africa's great wilderness climbing
experiences.
Poi
is a huge 600m sugar-loaf of rock that rises sheer from the northern Kenyan
desert floor. The remoteness of the mountain, and the largely intact culture
of the colourful local Samburu tribes truly give a wonderful feel to climbing
in the area. The climbing was first opened up by Kenyan enthusiast Andrew
Weilachowski with the down right fear inspiring 600m “Gas Hole face”
route (E1). As Pat Littlejohn said when he did the second ascent, "We
did an immaculate 5b pitch, with one runner, ending at a dodgy belay on a
small tree that had partly come away from the face". Not for everybody,
but there is loads more to do in the area. There is a V.Diff scramble that
is the easiest route to the summit plateau, loads of good bouldering and ranges
of 50-150m cliffs below the main crag.
More recently Pat Littlejohn and co opened up only the second climbing route on the wall with 'Dark Safari' a very serious 700m E6 done ground up on natural protection. At the same time Americans Paul Piana and co did a route up the other side bolting it from the top down, this ‘sports’ climb goes at a 20 pitch 5.13 (i.e. bloody hard)
