KENYA · MOUNT KENYA · 0.15°S 37.31°E · SHOULDER · JAN–FEB & AUG–SEP
Mount Kenya Circuit
The connoisseur's African summit: a circuit of Mount Kenya's cathedral spires through valleys of giant groundsel, finishing up Point Lenana, 4,985m, by the scrambly north-east ridge at dawn. Wilder than Kili, and quieter by a factor of fifty.
THE ROUTE, CHARTED
The elevation profile
GPS-logged. Camps and key points marked; the shape of the route is the honest version of the brochure.
THE SHAPE OF THE TRIP · 7 DAYS
The itinerary
Chogoria to Michaelson
Through bamboo and rosewood forest to the roadhead, then moorland walking past the Nithi gorge's waterfalls to Lake Michaelson, camped on a grass shelf inside a 200m rock amphitheatre. An acclimatisation day here: the tarn circuit, or blissful nothing.
The high circuit
Up the Temple's rim past Lake Simba to Simba Col camp at 4,620m — groundsel giving way to frost-shattered rock, the peaks rearranging with every hour of the traverse. Cold nights, enormous stars, the summit route in plain sight.
Lenana and the long descent
Away at four for the north-east ridge's easy scramble to Point Lenana, 4,985m — sunrise ignites Batian and the ice of the Lewis glacier's remnant — then the huge descent by Mackinder's valley and the Sirimon track's zebra country to the gate.
WHY THIS ROUTE
The expedition
Mount Kenya is what mountaineers mean when they say the best mountain in Africa: a shattered volcanic core whose twin summits, Batian and Nelion, are climbers' business — but whose trekkers' peak, Point Lenana at 4,985m, comes with the same cathedral architecture and a fiftieth of Kilimanjaro's traffic. We circle the peaks the long way through the Chogoria valley's tarns and gorges — Lake Michaelson's amphitheatre camp is the single best campsite we use on any continent — before the pre-dawn scramble to Lenana for sunrise over a hundred miles of Kenya. Zebra and elephant on the drive in; hyrax and eagle owls at camp. Honest note: the circuit crosses 4,500m twice before summit morning and weather arrives horizontally; this is a genuine mountain undertaking wearing a walking-trip's name.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Point Lenana, 4,985m, at first light
- Lake Michaelson's cliff-ringed camp — our best site anywhere
- The Chogoria route's tarns and gorge
- Batian and Nelion's towers overhead for days
- Fifty times quieter than Kilimanjaro, measured loosely
- Giant groundsel forests and duiker-haunted moorland
STRAIGHT ANSWER
Is this for you?
You should be able to say yes — honestly — to all of these:
- You have real multi-day experience and can handle big consecutive days — this is honest grade 4 ground.
- You accept that altitude sets the schedule — this route reaches 4,985m and the guide's altitude call is final.
- You are happy in a tent, in weather, with no shower and an early kettle.
- You have a steady head for exposure — there is hands-on ground here, protected where it matters.
Grade 4 means grade 4. If you're not sure, ring us — we'd rather lose a booking than carry a struggle.
THE LEDGER
What £2,380 covers
INCLUDED
- Wildtrace guide (Elin Vaughan) at a max ratio of 1:8
- Tents, group camp kit and all meals on trek
- Daily oximeter checks and an acclimatisation schedule that is not negotiable
- Group safety kit: inReach satellite comms and expedition first aid
- Pre-trip video call, training plan and the real kit list
NOT INCLUDED
- International travel to the start point
- Personal travel insurance covering trekking to 4,985m — required, checked before departure
- Visas and permits payable on entry, where applicable
- Tips for local crew (we publish a guideline per trip)
- Sleeping bag — bring your own or hire ours (£30/trip)
- Lunches and drinks on travel days
PACK THIS, NOT EVERYTHING
Kit, previewed
The items that matter most on this route. The full list — with honest notes on what not to buy — lives in the kit room and is sent on booking.
Broken-in boots matched to the terrain. Broken-in is the load-bearing phrase.
Waterproof jacket and trousers you actually trust.
A day pack that fits — 30–35L covers almost every trip.
Headtorch plus spare batteries. Early starts are a feature.
SPF50, lip block and category 3–4 glasses. High-altitude sun does not negotiate.
Sleeping bag and mat rated for the trip's coldest night (hire available, £30).
Grippy gloves for cabled or rocky sections; a helmet where needed is provided.
2L capacity plus purification where the trip notes say so.
WHO'S TAKING YOU
Your guide
Elin Vaughan
IML · HIMALAYA LOGISTICSRuns our Asian operations — permits, mule teams, oxygen, all of it — across nine Himalayan seasons. Speaks enough Ladakhi to argue about yak butter prices, and win.
HOW WE RUN IT
Max 8 walkers. inReach satellite comms carried and checked daily. Escape routes planned before we sell a single place. And the weather rule that built this company: we turn back. That's the deal. Full detail on our safety page.
NO PAYMENT AT THIS STAGE
Ask about this trip
Send this and a guide rings you back — Tuesday or Thursday evening, usually. Fifteen minutes, honest questions both ways, no hard sell.
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