Mount Kenya ( Kikuyu: ''Kĩrĩnyaga'', Kamba, ''Ki Nyaa'') is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (), Nelion () and Point Lenana (). Mount Kenya is located in the former Eastern and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

provinces of Kenya; its peak is now the intersection of Meru,

Embu Embu may refer to: Places ; in Brazil * Embu das Artes * Embu-Guaçu ; in Kenya * Embu, Kenya * Embu County Other * Embu people of Kenya *Embu language Embu, also known as Kîembu, is a Bantu language of Kenya. It is spoken by the Embu peopl ...

, Laikipia, Kirinyaga, Nyeri and

Tharaka Nithi Tharaka () was a mythological king from Sri Lanka. According to legend, he designed the craft " Dandu Monara", which was able to fly, but he was unable to build it. Instead the king Ravana built it, and stories from Ramayana tell of him using it ...

counties, about south of the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya. Mount Kenya is a volcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the

East African Rift The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...

. Before glaciation, it was high. It was covered by an

ice cap In glaciology, an ice cap is a mass of ice that covers less than of land area (usually covering a highland area). Larger ice masses covering more than are termed ice sheets. Description Ice caps are not constrained by topographical features ...

for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the peak. There are currently 11 small glaciers, which are shrinking rapidly, and may disappear by 2050. The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya. There are several vegetation bands from the base to the peak. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya, such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax. An area of around the centre of the mountain was designated a

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The park receives over 16,000 visitors per year.

Mount Kenya National Park

Mount Kenya National Park, established in 1949, protects the region surrounding the mountain. Currently the national park is within the forest reserve which encircles it. In April 1978 the area was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The national park and the forest reserve, combined, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The

Government of Kenya , image = , caption = Coat of arms of Kenya , date = 1963 , jurisdiction = Republic of Kenya , url = http://www.mygov.go.ke/ , legislature = Parliament of Kenya , meeting_place = ...

had four reasons for creating a national park on and around Mount Kenya. These were the importance of tourism for the local and national economies, preserve an area of great scenic beauty, conserve the biodiversity within the park and to preserve the water catchment for the surrounding area. Kenya's government has announced a project to discourage animals from straying into small holdings surrounding the Park and devastating crops. The project will see the Park enclosed by an electric fence with five electrified strands. Kenya'
Rhino Ark Trust
a non-profit organization, has been putting up fences in key areas around the country. As of 2021, 250 kilometres out of a planned 450 kilometres has been constructed in the Mt. Kenya area. The fence discharges an electric shock, but is not dangerous to humans or animals.

Local culture

The main ethnic groups living around Mount Kenya are Kikuyu, Ameru,

and Maasai. The first three are closely related. They all see the mountain as an important aspect of their cultures. All these cultures arrived in the Mount Kenya area in the last several hundred years.

Kikuyu

The Kikuyu live on the southern and western sides of the mountain. They are agriculturalists, and make use of the highly fertile volcanic soil on the lower slopes. They believe that God, ''Ngai'' or ''Mwene Nyaga'', lived on Mount Kenya when he came down from the sky. They believe that the mountain is Ngai's throne on earth. It is the place where Gĩkũyũ, the father of the tribe, used to meet with God. Thus according to the Kikuyu records, Gĩkũyũ is the first person on Earth to ascend the mountain. 'Mwene Nyaga' in Kikuyu language can also translate as the "Owner of the Ostriches" or "Owner of the white patches (of snow)" where 'Mwene' translates to 'owner', and 'Nyaga' to Ostriches or white patches. The snow (in Kikuyu: Ira) caps of the mountain symbolically represent a crown on God's habitation . Kikuyu used to build their houses with the doors facing the mountain. The Kikuyu name for Mount Kenya is ''Kirima Kĩrĩ Nyaga'' (Mt.Kirinyaga), which literally translates to the mountain that which has the "Nyaga" – Ostriches.The mountain therefore is locally accepted as 'God's Resting Place' or 'Where God Lives'. The Kikuyu name for Mt. Kenya is ''Kĩrĩnyaga'' which literally means ‘the one with the ostrich’. The ostrich has black or brownish–grey feathers with patches of white. The Kikuyu attributed an ostrich likeness to an object that was dark coloured with white patches. The name ''Kĩrĩnyaga'' therefore figuratively means ‘the one with white patches’, referring to the glaciers among the peaks of the mountain. Translated to the Kamba language, ''kĩrĩnyaga,'' would be ''ki nyaa''. This is the name that Ludwig Kraph was given when he sighted the mountain from Kitui (in Kamba country). He recorded it as Kenya. It became the name of not only the mountain but also the country.

Embu

The

Embu people The Embu are a Bantu people inhabiting Embu county in Kenya. They speak the Embu language as a mother tongue. To the south of Embu are to be found their cousins, the Mbeere people. In essence Embu county encompasses the ethnic Kî embu dialec ...

live to the south-east of Mount Kenya, and believe that the mountain is God's home (the Embu word for God is ''Ngai'' or ''Mwene Njeru''). The mountain is sacred, and they build their houses with the doors facing towards it. The Embu people are closely related to the Ameru and

Mbeere The Mbeere or Ambeere people are a Bantu ethnic group inhabiting the former Mbeere District in the now-defunct Eastern Province of Kenya. According to the 2019 Kenya National census, there are 195,250 Ambeere who inhabit an area of 2,093 km� ...

people. The Mbeere and

Akamba The Kamba or Akamba (sometimes called Wakamba) people are a Bantu ethnic group who predominantly live in the area of Kenya stretching from Nairobi to Tsavo and north to Embu, in the southern part of the former Eastern Province. This land is ...

are the settlers of the southeast side of the mountain.

Ameru

The Ameru occupy the east, north and north-western slopes of the mountain. They are generally agricultural and also keep livestock and occupy what is among the most fertile land in Kenya. The Meru god ''Murungu'' was from the skies. Their name for Mt. Kenya is ''Kirimara'', which means 'mountain with white features'.

Maasai

The Maasai are semi-nomadic people, who use the land to the north of the mountain to graze their cattle. They believe that their ancestors came down from the mountain at the beginning of time. The Maasai name for Mount Kenya is ''Ol Donyo Keri'', which means 'mountain of stripes', referring to the dark shades as observed from the surrounding plains. At least one Maasai prayer refers to Mount Kenya:

Geology

Mount Kenya is a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

that was active in the Plio-Pleistocene. The original crater was probably over high; higher than Kilimanjaro. Since it became extinct there have been two major periods of glaciation, which are shown by two main rings of

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

s below the glaciers. The lowest moraine is found at around . Today the glaciers reach no lower than . After studying the moraines, Gregory put forward the theory that at one time the whole summit of the mountain was covered with an

, and it was this that eroded the peaks to how they are today. The lower slopes of the mountain have never been glaciated. They are now mainly cultivated and forested. They are distinguished by steep-sided V-shaped valleys with many tributaries. Higher up the mountain, in the area that is now moorland, the valleys become U-shaped and shallower with flatter bottoms. These were created by glaciation. When Mount Kenya was active there was some satellite activity. The north-eastern side of the mountain has many old volcanic plugs and craters. The largest of these, Ithanguni, even had its own ice cap when the main peaks were covered in ice. This can be seen by the smoothed summit of the peak. Circular hills with steep sides are also frequent in this area, which are probably the remains of small plugged vents. However, as the remaining mountain is roughly symmetrical, most of the activity must have occurred at the central plug. The rocks that form Mount Kenya are mainly basalts, rhomb porphyrites,

phonolite Phonolite is an uncommon extrusive rock, of intermediate chemical composition between felsic and mafic, with texture ranging from aphanitic (fine-grained) to porphyritic (mixed fine- and coarse-grained). Phonolite is a variation of the igneous ...

s, kenytes and trachytes. Kenyte was first reported by Gregory in 1900 following his study of the geology of Mount Kenya. The geology of the Mount Kenya area was first described scientifically by Joseph Thomson in 1883. He saw the mountain from the nearby Laikipia Plateau and wrote that it was an extinct volcano with the

plug Plug, PLUG, plugs, or plugged may refer to: * Plug (accounting), an unsupported adjustment to an accounting record * Plug (fishing), a family of fishing lures * Plug (horticulture), a planting technique * Plug (jewellery), a type of jewellery wor ...

exposed. However, as he had only seen the mountain from a distance his description was not widely believed in Europe, particularly after 1887 when Teleki and von Höhnel ascended the mountain and described what they considered to be the

crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...

. In 1893 Gregory's expedition reached the Lewis Glacier at . He confirmed that the volcano was extinct and that there were glaciers present. The first thorough survey by Europeans was not undertaken until 1966.

Peaks

The peaks of Mount Kenya are almost all of a volcanic origin. The majority of the peaks are located near the centre of the mountain. These peaks have an Alpine appearance due to their craggy nature. Typically of Alpine terrain, the highest peaks and gendarmes occur at the intersection of ridges. The central peaks only have a few

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

es,

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.volcanic ash and soils. The vegetation growing on these peaks is typical for their vegetation band. The highest peaks are Batian (), Nelion () and Pt Lenana (). Batian and Nelion are within of each other, separated by the ''Gate of the Mists'' gap of . Coryndon Peak () is the next-highest, but unlike the previous peaks it does not form a part of the central plug. Other peaks around the central plug include Pt Piggot (), Pt Dutton (), Pt John (), Pt John Minor (), Krapf Rognon (), Pt Peter (), Pt Slade () and Midget Peak (). All of these have a steep

pyramidal A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

form. Significant craggy outlying peaks include Terere () and Sendeyo () which form a pair of twin peaks to the north of the main plug. Together, they form a large parasitic plug. Other notable peaks include The Hat (), Delamere Peak, Macmillan Peak and Rotundu. File:Batian Nelion and pt Slade in the foreground Mt Kenya.JPG, Batian on the left, Nelion on the right, and Slade in the foreground File:Pt_Lenana_Mt_Kenya.JPG, Lenana, the third highest peak, is the most ascended File:Mount Kenya Lenana Nelion Batian.jpg, Mount Kenya, left to right: Point Lenana (4985m), Nelion summit (5188), Batian summit (5199m) File:Krapf rognon and glacier after snowstorm.jpg, Krapf Rognon () and Krapf glacier File:Hut_tarn_4500m_and_Midget_Peak_Mt_Kenya.JPG, Midget peak can be climbed in a day. File:Terere and Sendeyo.jpg, Terere and Sendeyo are two craggy outlying peaks File:Mugi_hill_and_giants_billards_table.jpg, Mugi hill and the Giant's Billiards Table offers some of the best hillwalking in Kenya. File:Batian.jpg, Nelion from Batian in Dec 1974 File:Point john from top.jpg, Looking down the Diamond Glacier to Pt John

Glaciers

The glaciers on Mount Kenya are retreating rapidly. The Mountain Club of Kenya in Nairobi has photographs showing the mountain at the time of the first recorded ascent in 1899, and again more recently; the retreat of the glaciers is very evident.''Recession of Equatorial Glaciers. A Photo Documentation''
, Hastenrath, S., 2008, Sundog Publishing, Madison, WI, , 144 pp. Descriptions of ascents of several of the peaks advise on the use of crampons, but this is true only in some cases and at higher elevations. Every year there is less new snow accumulating in winter than melting on summer, even on the Lewis Glacier (the largest of them) in winter, so there is no formation of new ice. It is predicted to be less than 30 years before there will no longer be ice on Mount Kenya. Glacial retreat and disappearance can be caused by change in temperature trends, or by change in precipitation trends. The glacier names are (clockwise from the north): * Northey, Krapf, Gregory, Lewis, Diamond, Darwin, Forel, Heim, Tyndall, Cesar, Josef. The total area covered by glaciers on the mountain was recorded as about in the 1980s, far less than that recorded by the first observations, made in the 1890s.

Periglacial landforms

Although Mount Kenya is on the

the freezing nightly temperatures result in periglacial landforms. There is

permafrost Permafrost is ground that continuously remains below 0 °C (32 °F) for two or more years, located on land or under the ocean. Most common in the Northern Hemisphere, around 15% of the Northern Hemisphere or 11% of the global surface ...

a few centimetres (inches) below the surface. Patterned ground is present at to the west of Mugi Hill. These mounds grow because the repeated freezing and thawing of the ground draws in more water. There are blockfields present around where the ground has cracked to form hexagons. Solifluction occurs when the night temperatures freeze the soil before it thaws again in the morning. This daily expansion and contraction of the soil prevents the establishment of vegetation.

Rivers

Mount Kenya is the main water catchment area for two large rivers in Kenya; the Tana, the largest river in Kenya, and the Ewaso Nyiro North. The Mount Kenya ecosystem provides water directly for over 2 million people. The rivers on Mount Kenya have been named after the villages on the slopes of the mountain that they flow close to. The Thuchi River is the district boundary between Tharaka Nithi and Embu. Mount Kenya is a major water tower for the Tana river which in 1988 supplied 80% of Kenya's electricity using a series of seven hydroelectric powerstations and dams. The density of streams is very high, especially on the lower slopes which have never been glaciated. The

which used to cover the mountain during the Pliocene eroded large

U-shaped Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a bell-shaped curve has the shape of the vertica ...

valleys which tend to only have one large stream. Where the original shape of the

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

is still preserved, there have been millions of years for streams to erode the hillside. This area is therefore characterised by frequent deep

fluvial In geography and geology, fluvial processes are associated with rivers and streams and the deposits and landforms created by them. When the stream or rivers are associated with glaciers, ice sheets, or ice caps, the term glaciofluvial or fluviog ...

V-shaped Many shapes have metaphorical names, i.e., their names are metaphors: these shapes are named after a most common object that has it. For example, "U-shape" is a shape that resembles the letter U, a Gaussian function, bell-shaped curve has the shap ...

valleys. The gradual transition from glaciated to fluvial valley can be clearly observed. Rivers which start on Mount Kenya are the tributaries of two large Kenyan rivers: the Tana and the

Ewaso Ng'iro Ewaso Ng'iro, also called Ewaso Nyiro, is a river in Kenya which rises on the west side of Mount Kenya and flows north then east and finally south-east, passing through Somalia where it joins the Jubba River. The river's name is derived from ...

rivers. A lot of Mount Kenyan rivers flow into the Sagana which itself is a tributary of the Tana, which it joins at the Masinga Reservoir. The rivers in the northern part of the mountain, such as the Burguret, Naru Moru, Nanyuki, Likii, Sirimon flow into the Ewaso Nyiro. The rivers to the south-west, such as the Keringa and Nairobi flow into the Sagana and then into the Tana. The remaining rivers to the south and east, such as the Mutonga, Nithi, Thuchi and Nyamindi, flow directly into the Tana.

Natural history

Mount Kenya has several altitudinal ecological zones, between the savanna surrounding the mountain to the nival zone by the glaciers. Each zone has a dominant species of vegetation. Many of the species found higher up the mountain are endemic, either to Mount Kenya or East Africa. There are also differences within the zones, depending on the side of the mountain and aspect of the slope. The south-east is much wetter than the north, so species more dependent on moisture are able to grow. Some species, such as the bamboo '' Yushania alpina'', are limited to certain aspects of the mountain because of the amount of moisture.

Zones

The climate of Mount Kenya changes considerably with altitude, forming belts of community types. Around the base of the mountain is fertile farmland. The people living around the mountain have cultivated this cool relatively moist area for centuries. Mount Kenya is surrounded by forests. The vegetation in the forests depend on rainfall, and the species present differ greatly between the northern and southern slopes. As time has passed the trees on the edge of the forest have been logged and the farmland has encroached further up the fertile slopes of the mountain. Above the forest is a belt of ''Yushania alpina''

African alpine bamboo ''Oldeania alpina'', the African alpine bamboo, is a perennial bamboo of the family Poaceae and the genus ''Yushania''. It can be found growing in dense but not large stands on the mountains and volcanoes surrounding the East African Rift betwee ...

. This zone is almost continuous, but is restricted to small isolated bunches in the north because of low rainfall. The bamboo is natural, and does not require forest disturbance. Tracks are common through the bamboo. Bamboo suppresses other vegetation, so it is uncommon to find trees or other plants here. Above the bamboo is the timberline forest. The trees here are often smaller than the trees in the forests lower down the mountain. The forest here is more intact, because it is less accessible and better protected. When the trees can no longer grow the vegetation changes into heathland and

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

, at around . Heathland is found in the wetter areas, on the west side of Mount Kenya, and is dominated by giant heathers. Chaparral is found in the drier areas and grasses are more common. and bush fires still occur. As the altitude increases the temperature fluctuations become extreme and the air becomes thinner and drier. This region is known as the Afro-alpine zone. The environment here is isolated, with the only similar area nearby being the Aberdares, which are away. Many of the species here are endemic, with adaptations to the cold and fluctuating temperatures. Typical plants here include giant groundsels (senecios) and giant lobelias. The region where the glaciers have recently retreated from is nival zone. It is the area that plants have not yet been able to colonise.

Flora

The flora found on Mount Kenya varies with altitude, aspect and exposure. As the altitude increases, the plants have to be more specialised, with adaptations to strong sunlight with ultraviolet, lower mean temperatures and freezing night temperatures. Plants in the Afro-alpine zone have overcome these difficulties in several ways. One adaptation is known as the giant rosette, which is exhibited by giant senecio, giant lobelia and giant thistle (''

Carduus ''Carduus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, and the tribe Cardueae, one of two genera considered to be true thistles, the other being ''Cirsium''. Plants of the genus are known commonly as plumeless thistles.

''), which use bud leaves to protect their buds from freezing. Giant rosette senecios form single-aged stands that drive community structure over decades. Many plant species in the Afro-alpine zone of Mount Kenya are giant versions of lowland (or temperate) relatives. However, nearer the nival zone the plants decrease in size again. Cape Hyrax Mt Kenya 1

Fauna

The majority of animals live lower down on the slopes of Mount Kenya. Here there is more vegetation and the climate is less extreme. Various species of monkeys, several antelopes, tree hyrax, porcupines and some larger animals such as elephant and buffalo all live in the forest. Predators found here include hyena and leopard, and occasionally lion. There are fewer mammals found at high altitudes on Mount Kenya. The Mount Kenya

hyrax Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially simil ...

and common duiker are able to live here, and are important to the ecosystem. Some smaller mammals, such as the

groove-toothed rat African vlei rats (''Otomys''), also known as groove-toothed rats, live in many areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Most species live in marshlands, grasslands, and similar habitats and feed on the vegetation of such areas, occasionally supplementin ...

, can live here by burrowing into the giant senecios and using their thick stem of dead leaves as insulation. The Mount Kenya mole-rat '' Tachyoryctes rex'' occurs at high altitudes, living in visible mounds. Leopards are resident in the alpine zone. Other mammal species are only occasional visitors. Remains of elephants, monkeys and

bongo Bongo may refer to: Entertainment * ''Bongo'' (Australian TV series), on air from August to November 1960 * Bongo Comics, a comic book publishing company * Bongo (''Dragon Ball'') or Krillin, a character in ''Dragon Ball'' media * ''Bongo'' ...

have been found high in the alpine zone, and other sightings are remembered in names such as Simba Tarn (simba means lion in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

). Several bird species live in the Afro-alpine zone, including sunbirds,

alpine chat The moorland chat (''Pinarochroa sordida''), also known as the alpine chat or hill chat, is a species of songbird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is endemic to north-east Africa where it is common in its habitat. It lives at high altitud ...

s and starlings and the raptors, augur buzzard, lammergeier and Verreaux's eagle, the latter of which specializes in hunting hyraxes. Birds are important in this ecosystem as pollinators.

Climate

The climate of Mount Kenya has played a critical role in the development of the mountain, influencing the topography and ecology amongst other factors. It has a typical

ial mountain climate which Hedberg described as ''winter every night and summer every day.'' Mount Kenya is home to one of the Global Atmosphere Watch's atmospheric monitoring stations.

Seasons

The year is divided into two distinct wet seasons and two distinct dry seasons which mirror the wet and dry seasons in the Kenyan lowlands. As Mount Kenya ranges in height from , the climate varies considerably over the mountain and has different zones of influence. The lower, south eastern slopes are the wettest as the predominant weather system comes from the Indian ocean. This rainfall supports dense montane forest on these slopes. High on the mountain most of the precipitation falls as snow. Combined, these water sources feed 11

glaciers A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...

. The current climate on Mount Kenya is wet, but drier than it has been in the past. The temperatures span a wide range, which diminishes with altitude. In the lower alpine zone temperature usually do not go below . Snow and rain are common from March to December, but especially in the two wet seasons. The wet seasons combined account for 5/6 of the annual precipitation. The monsoon, which controls the wet and dry seasons, means that most of the year there are south-easterly winds, but during January and February the dominant wind direction is north-easterly. Mount Kenya, like most locations in the tropics, has two wet seasons and two dry seasons as a result of the monsoon. From mid-March to June the heavy rain season, known as the ''long rains'', brings approximately half of the annual rainfall on the mountain. This is followed by the wetter of the two dry seasons which lasts until September. October to December are the ''short rains'' when the mountain receives approximately a third of its rainfall total. Finally from December to mid-March is the drier dry season when the mountain experiences the least rain.

Daily pattern

During the dry season the mountain almost always follows the same daily weather pattern. Large daily temperature fluctuations occur which led Hedberg to exclaim ''winter every night and summer every day.'' There is variation in minimum and maximum temperatures day to day, but the

standard deviation In statistics, the standard deviation is a measure of the amount of variation or dispersion of a set of values. A low standard deviation indicates that the values tend to be close to the mean (also called the expected value) of the set, while ...

of the mean hourly pattern is small. Sunrise over Mount Kenya

A typical day is clear and cool in the morning with low humidity. The mountain is in direct sunlight which causes the temperatures to rise quickly with the warmest temperatures occurring between 0900 and 1200. This corresponds to a maximum in the pressure, usually around 10 A.M. Low on the mountain, between , clouds begin to form over the western forest zone, due to moist air from

Lake Victoria Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...

. The

anabatic An anabatic wind, from the Greek '' anabatos'', verbal of ''anabainein'' meaning moving upward, is a warm wind which blows up a steep slope or mountain side, driven by heating of the slope through insolation.katabatic winds blowing down the valleys. Above the lower alpine zone there is usually frost every night.

History

European sighting

The first European to report seeing Mount Kenya was Dr Johann Ludwig Krapf, a German missionary, from

Kitui Kitui is a town and capital of Kitui County in Kenya, 180 kilometres east of Nairobi and 105 kilometres east of Machakos. it covers an area approximately 30,496.4 km squares and lies between latitudes 0°10 South and 3°0 South and longitudes ...

, a town away from the mountain. The sighting was made on 3 December 1849, a year after the first sighting of Mount Kilimanjaro by a European. Krapf was told by the

that lived around the mountain that they did not ascend high enough on the mountain because of the intense cold and the white matter that rolled down the mountains with a loud noise. This led him to infer that glaciers existed on the mountain. It was Krapf who gave the mountain the name "Kenya", but the derivation of this is not known with certainty. Krapf also noted that the rivers flowing from Mount Kenya, and other mountains in the area, were continuously flowing. This was very different from the other rivers in the area, which swelled up in the wet season and completely dried up after the rainy season had ended. As the streams flowed even in the driest seasons he concluded that there must be a source of water up on the mountain, in the form of glaciers. He believed the mountain to be the source of the

White Nile The White Nile ( ar, النيل الأبيض ') is a river in Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other being the Blue Nile. The name comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. ...

. In 1851 Krapf returned to Kitui. He travelled closer to the mountain, but did not see it again. In 1877 Hildebrandt was in the Kitui area and heard stories about the mountain, but also did not see it. Since there were no confirmations to back up Krapf's claim people began to be suspicious. Eventually, in 1883, Joseph Thomson passed close by the west side of the mountain and confirmed Krapf's claim. He diverted his expedition and reached up the slopes of the mountain but had to retreat because of trouble with local people. However, the first European exploration high onto the mountain was achieved in 1887 by Count Sámuel Teleki. He managed to reach on the south western slopes. On this expedition Teleki mistakenly believed he had found the crater of a volcano. In 1892, Teleki and von Höhnel returned to the eastern side, but were unable to get through the forest. Finally, in 1893, an expedition managed to ascend Mount Kenya as far as the glaciers. This expedition was traveling from the coast to Lake Baringo in the Rift Valley, and was led by Dr John W Gregory, a British geologist. They managed to ascend the mountain to around , and spent several hours on the Lewis Glacier with their guide. On his return to Britain, Gregory published

papers Paper is a thin, flat material produced by the compression of fibres. Paper(s) or The Paper may also refer to: Publishing and academia * Newspaper, a periodical publication * ''Paper'' (magazine), an American monthly fashion and culture magazin ...

and a narrative account of his achievements. George Kolb, a German physician, made expeditions in 1894 and 1896 and was the first to reach the moorlands on the east side of the mountain. More exploration occurred after 1899 when the Uganda Railway was completed as far as the future site of Nairobi.

Mackinder's expedition

On 28 July 1899,

Sir Halford John Mackinder Sir Halford John Mackinder (15 February 1861 – 6 March 1947) was an English geographer, academic and politician, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy. He was the first Principal of University Ex ...

set out from the site of Nairobi on an expedition to Mount Kenya. The members of the expedition consisted of 6 Europeans, 66

Swahilis The Swahili people ( sw, WaSwahili) comprise mainly Bantu, Afro-Arab and Comorian ethnic groups inhabiting the Swahili coast, an area encompassing the Zanzibar archipelago and mainland Tanzania's seaboard, littoral Kenya, northern Mozambique, ...

, 2 Maasai guides, and 96 Kikuyu. The Europeans were Campbell B. Hausberg, second in command and photographer; Douglas Saunders,

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

; C F Camburn, taxidermist; Cesar Ollier, guide; and Josef Brocherel, guide and porter. The expedition made it as far as the mountain, but encountered many difficulties on the way. The country they passed through was full of plague and

famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including war, natural disasters, crop failure, Demographic trap, population imbalance, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. Th ...

. Many Kikuyu porters tried to desert with women from the villages, and others stole from the villages, which made the chiefs very hostile towards the expedition. When they reached the base camp on 18 August, they could not find any food, suffered two of their party killed by the local people, and eventually had to send Saunders to

Naivasha Naivasha is a large town in Nakuru County, Kenya, lying by road north west of Nairobi. Overview The town has a total population of 198,444 (2019 census). The main industry is agriculture, especially floriculture. Naivasha is also a popular t ...

to get help from

Captain Gorges Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, the Government Officer there. Mackinder pushed on up the mountain, and established a camp at in the Höhnel Valley. He made his first attempt on the summit on 30 August with Ollier and Brocherel up the south east face, but they had to retreat when they were within of the summit of Nelion due to nightfall. On 5 September, Hausberg, Ollier, and Brocherel made a circuit of the main peaks looking for an easier route to the summit. They could not find one. On 11 September Ollier and Brocherel made an ascent of the Darwin Glacier, but were forced to retreat due to a blizzard. When Saunders returned from Naivasha with the relief party, Mackinder had another attempt at the summit with Ollier and Brocherel. They traversed the Lewis Glacier and climbed the south east face of Nelion. They spent the night near the gendarme, and traversed the snowfield at the head of the Darwin Glacier at dawn before cutting steps up the Diamond Glacier. They reached the summit of Batian at noon on 13 September 1899, and descended by the same route.

1900–1930

After the first ascent of Mount Kenya there were fewer expeditions there for a while. The majority of the exploration until after the First World War was by settlers in Kenya, who were not on scientific expeditions. A Church of Scotland mission was set up in

Chogoria Chogoria is a town located in Mwimbi Division of Tharaka-Nithi County of Kenya. It is located roughly 97 miles (about 186 km) from Nairobi. It is connected to the rest of the country by an all-weather, tarmacked road, the Meru-Nairobi highway. ...

, and several Scottish missionaries ascended to the peaks, including Rev Dr. J. W. Arthur, G. Dennis and A. R. Barlow. There were other ascents, but none succeeded in summitting Batian or Nelion. New approach routes were cleared through the forest, which made access to the peaks area far easier. In 1920, Arthur and Sir Fowell Buxton tried to cut a route in from the south, and other routes came in from Nanyuki in the north, but the most commonly used was the route from the Chogoria mission in the east, built by Ernest Carr. Carr is also credited with building Urumandi and Top Huts. On 6 January 1929 the first ascent of Nelion was made by Percy Wyn-Harris and

Eric Shipton Eric Earle Shipton, CBE (1 August 1907 – 28 March 1977), was an English Himalayan mountaineer. Early years Shipton was born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1907 where his father, a tea planter, died before he was three years old. When he was eigh ...

. They climbed the Normal Route, then descended to the Gate of Mists before ascending Batian. On 8 January they reascended, this time with G. A. Sommerfelt, and in December Shipton made another ascent with R. E. G. Russell. They also made the first ascent of Point John. During this year the

Mountain Club of East Africa A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

was formed. At the end of July 1930, Shipton and

Bill Tilman Major Harold William Tilman, CBE, DSO, MC and Bar, (14 February 1898 – November 1977) was an English mountaineer and explorer, renowned for his Himalayan climbs and sailing voyages. Early years and Africa Bill Tilman was born on 14 Feb ...

made the first traverse of the peaks. They ascended by the West Ridge of Batian, traversed the Gate of Mists to Nelion, and descended the Normal Route. During this trip, Shipton and Tilman made first ascents of several other peaks, including Point Peter, Point Dutton, Midget Peak, Point Pigott and either Terere or Sendeyo.

1931 to present day

In the early 1930s there were several visits to the moorlands around Mount Kenya, with fewer as far as the peaks. Raymond Hook and

Humphrey Slade Humphrey Slade, EBS, KBE (4 May 1905 – 13 August 1983) was a British-born Kenyan lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Legislative Council and later the National Assembly between 1952 and 1970. He was the inaugural Speaker of ...

ascended to map the mountain, and stocked several of the streams with trout. By 1938 there had been several more ascents of Nelion. In February, Miss C Carroll and Mtu Muthara became the first woman and African respectively to ascend Nelion, in an expedition with Noel Symington, author of '' The Night Climbers of Cambridge'', and on 5 March Miss Una Cameron became the first woman to ascend Batian. During the Second World War there was another drop in ascents of the mountain. The most remarkable ascent during this period was by three Italians who were being held in a British

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

camp at the base of the mountain in Nanyuki. They escaped from camp to climb the mountain's third peak, Point Lenana, before "escaping" back into camp.

Felice Benuzzi ''No Picnic on Mount Kenya'' ( it, Fuga sul Kenya) by Felice Benuzzi is a mountaineering classic recounting the 1943 attempt of three escaped Italian prisoners of war to reach the summit of Mount Kenya. It was first published in 1946 in Engli ...

, the team leader, retold his story in the book '' No Picnic on Mount Kenya'' (1946). In 1949 the

Mountain Club of Kenya A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...

split from the Mountain Club of East Africa, and the area above was designated a National Park. A road was built from

Naro Moru Naro moru is a small market town in Nyeri County in central Kenya, lying on the Naromoru River, between Nyeri and Nanyukiits 21.8 km to Nanyuki town. Its main industry is tourism, as a base for hikers ascending Mount Kenya, to its east ...

to the moorlands, allowing easier access. Many new routes were climbed on Batian and Nelion in the next three decades, and in October 1959 the Mountain Club of Kenya produced their first guide to Mount Kenya and Kilimanjaro. On Kenyan independence in 1963, Kisoi Munyao raised the Kenyan flag at the top of the mountain. He died in 2007 and was given a heroic funeral attended by Kenyan president

Mwai Kibaki Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki (15 November 1931 – 21 April 2022) was a Kenyan politician who served as the third President of Kenya from December 2002 until April 2013 and is regarded as one of Kenya's founding fathers. He had previously ser ...

. In the early 1970s the Mount Kenya National Park Mountain Rescue Team was formed, and by the end of the 1970s all major routes on the peaks had been climbed. On 19 July 2003, a South African registered aircraft, carrying 12 passengers and two crew, crashed into Mount Kenya at Point Lenana; nobody survived. This was not the first aircraft lost on the mountain; there is also the wreckage of at least one helicopter that crashed before 1972. In March 2012 a massive fire raged on Mount Kenya, devouring thousands of hectares of ancient forests and endangered wildlife.

Mountaineering

Climbing routes

Most of the peaks on Mount Kenya have been summited. The majority of these involve

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

as the easiest route, although some only require a scramble or a walk. The highest peak that can be ascended without climbing is Point Lenana, . The majority of the 15,000 visitors to the national park each year climb this peak. In contrast, approximately 200 people summit Nelion and 50 summit Batian, the two highest peaks. When ascended directly, Batian is usually climbed via the North Face Standard Route, UIAA grade IV+ (or 5.6+ YDS). The first recorded ascent of Batian was on 13 September 1899 by Sir Halford John Mackinder, Cesar Ollier and Josef Brocherel. The Normal Route is the most climbed route up Nelion, and thence across to Batian. It was first climbed by Eric Shipton and Percy Wyn-Harris on 6 January 1929. It is possible to traverse between the two peaks, via the Gates of Mist, but this often involves spending a night in the Howell hut on top of Nelion. There is a bolted abseil descent route off Nelion. Mount Kenya's climbing seasons are a result of its location only from the equator. During the northern summer the rock routes on the north side of the peak are in good summer condition, while at the same time the ice routes on the south side of the peak are prime shape. The situation is reversed during the southern summer. The two seasons are separated by several months of rainy season before and after, during which climbing conditions are generally unfavorable. Mount Kenya is home to several good ice routes, the two most famous being the Diamond Couloir and the Ice Window route. Snow and ice levels on the mountain have been retreating at an accelerated rate in recent years, making these climbs increasingly difficult and dangerous. The Diamond Couloir, a steep ice couloir fed by the fusion of the upper Diamond Glacier, was first climbed by National Park staff Phil Snyder and Thumbi Mathenge in October 1973. A direct finish was pioneered in 1975 by Yvon Chouinard and Michael Covington The couloir was once climbable in summer or winter but now is virtually unclimbable in summer conditions and is seldom deemed in climbable condition even in winter. Last climbing reports describe the route very difficult, especially in the lower section. The route has changed into a modern ice climb with a very difficult 60m first pitch, starting with 8m of overhanging M7 dry tooling, followed by 50m of USA Grade V ice and by others 6 pitches of moderate climbing on good ice and finally one pitch of water ice USA Grade IV+ ice at the headwall before getting to the Upper Diamond Glacier. The satellite peaks around the mountain also provide good climbs. These can be climbed in Alpine style and vary in difficulty from a scramble to climbing at UIAA grade VI. They are useful for acclimatisation before climbing the higher peaks and as ascents in their own right.

Walking routes

Mount Kenya Climbing Routes and Huts photomap-en

There are eight walking routes up to the main peaks. Starting clockwise from the north these are the: Meru, Chogoria, Kamweti, Naro Moru, Burguret, Sirimon and Timau Routes. Of these Chogoria, Naro Moru and Sirimon are used most frequently and therefore have staffed gates. The other routes require special permission from the Kenya Wildlife Service to use. The Chogoria route leads from

town up to the peaks circuit path. It heads through the forest to the south-east of the mountain to the moorland, with views over areas such as Ithanguni and the Giant's Billiards Table before following the Gorges Valley past the Temple and up to Simba Col below Point Lenana. The Mountain Club of Kenya claims that Ithanguni and the Giant's Billiards Table offer some of the best hillwalking in Kenya. The Naro Moru route is taken by many of the trekkers who try to reach Point Lenana. It can be ascended in only 3 days and has bunkhouses at each camp. The route starts at

town to the west of the mountain and climbs towards Mackinder's Camp before joining the Peak Circuit Path. The terrain is usually good, although one section is called the Vertical Bog. The Sirimon route approaches Mount Kenya from the north-west. The path splits on the moorlands, with the more frequently used fork following the Mackinder Valley and the quieter route traversing into the Liki North Valley. The paths rejoin at Shipton's Cave just below Shipton's Camp on the Peak Circuit Path. The Peak Circuit Path is a path around the main peaks, with a distance of about and height gain and loss of over . It can be walked in one day, but more commonly takes two or three. It can also be used to join different ascent and descent routes. The route does not require technical climbing. Image:Mt kenya gorges valley chogoria route.jpg, The Gorges Valley is a major feature on the Chogoria Route. Image:Vertical Bog Mt Kenya.JPG, Vertical bog on Mount Kenya on the Naro Moru Route. File:View into the Mackinder Valley 3900m.JPG, Looking towards the peaks up the Mackinder Valley on the Sirimon Route.

Recent development

Development is currently underway for a new route up the mountain starting from the Ragati conservancy and running up the ridge between the Naro Moru route and the old Kamweti trail.

Accommodation

Accommodation on Mount Kenya ranges from very basic to luxurious. The more luxurious lodges are found on the lower slopes, in and around the forest. These lodges have hotel-style accommodation, often with log fires and hot running water. Many offer guided walks and other activities such as fishing and birdwatching. The huts higher on the mountain are more basic. Most have several bunkrooms with beds, and also offer somewhere to rest, cook and eat. Some also have running water. A few huts are very basic bothies and offer only a space to sleep that is sheltered from the weather. Beds in the huts can be reserved at the park gates. Camping is allowed anywhere in the

, but it is most encouraged around the huts to limit environmental impact. It is possible for campers to use the communal spaces in the huts for no extra fee. File:Mt kenya austrian hut with nelion.jpg, Austrian Hut is found near the Lewis Glacier on the slopes of Point Lenana. The hut sleeps 30 people, with Top Hut nearby for porters. File:Mt kenya liki north hut.jpg, Liki North Hut is a small

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

in the Liki North Valley. It offers little more than shelter from the weather. File:Mt kenya shiptons camp with sendeyo.jpg, Shipton's Camp is at the top of the Sirimon Route. It has a large communal area and running cold water. File:Mount Kenya 14200ft camp.jpg, Camping is allowed anywhere within the

. File:Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club Resort.jpg, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club is a resort located in Nanyuki at the base of Mount Kenya. The resort has over 120 rooms and is one of the most exclusive in the region.

Etymology

The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words ''Kirinyaga'', ''Kirenyaa'' and ''Kiinyaa'' which mean "God's resting place" in all three languages. In the 19th Century, the German explorer, Ludwig Krapf, recorded the name as both ''Kenia'' and ''Kegnia'' believed by some to be a corruption of the Kamba version. Others however say that this was on the contrary a very precise notation of the correct African pronunciation . Wangari Maathai tells the following story about the naming: Krapf and Johannes Rebmann asked their guide, a member of the Kamba community, who was carrying a gourd, what they called the mountain, and the guide, believing that the Germans were referring to the gourd, replied ''kĩĩ-nyaa'', which became the name of the mountain and then the country. In any case, the name was for a long time pronounced by colonial-heritage Europeans as . The European pronunciation has been abandoned in modern times, in favor of the African version.

Names of peaks

The peaks of Mount Kenya have been given names from three different sources. Firstly, several Maasai chieftains have been commemorated, with names such as Batian, Nelion and Lenana. They commemorate Mbatian, a Maasai

Laibon The Maasai (; sw, Wamasai) are a Nilotic ethnic group inhabiting northern, central and southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are among the best-known local populations internationally due to their residence near the many game parks of t ...

(Medicine Man), Nelieng, his brother, and Lenana and Sendeyo, his sons. Terere is named after another Maasai headman. The second type of names that were given to peaks are after European climbers and explorers. Some examples of this are Shipton, Sommerfelt, Tilman, Dutton and Arthur. The remaining names are after well-known Kenyan personalities, with the exception of John and Peter, which were named by the missionary Arthur after two

disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in ...

. There is a group of four peaks to the east of the main peaks named after European settlers; Coryndon, Grigg, Delamere and McMillan.

References

External links

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