Mount Kenya National Park — Attraction in Meru County

The best seasons to climb Mt Kenya are the dry seasons: January to Mid March is an excellent time. The skies are clear and the morning are filled with golden light. However, there is a catch. During the dry season, the mountain has scotching hot days and bitterly bitterly cold nights.

The heavy rains resume Mid March and continue through April. At this time, you want to be armed with proper rain gear. During the rainy season, the mountain has cool days and warmer-ish nights compared to the dry seasons. The exception here is July - this is regarded as the Cold and Wet season.

In most mountains around the world, a man can look down from the base camps and see some civilization but on Mount Kenya, a man is alone.

You'll need a guide for the trails especially going to the summit at night lest you get seriously lost.

The highest peaks Batian and Nelion require a healthy amount of technical climbing knowledge to have a slight chance of making it to the top. Loose rocks, ice falls(the little that is left) and rapid changes in weather are key contributors to failure to summit.

My favorite camping spots are Lakes Ellis and Lake Michelson. There's simply nothing that compared to these spots in the entire country.

I've climbed this great mountain plenty of times over the years. Mount Kenya is a mountain that has a close relevance to my heart.

Having grown up in Nanyuki Town, I saw the mountain every single day. it was always standing majestic and covered in snow from January to December. Gradually, the snow retreated towards the top due to climate change and the weather patterns have never been the same ever since.

NEVER underestimate this mountain by going under-prepared or under-dressed. This mountain has the ability to pull your pants down, rough you up and send you on your way if you don't humble yourself....

CONQUERING POINT LENANA (4 DAYS 3 NIGHTS) Nairobi – Chogoria Gate – Lake Ellis (3,400m asl) On the first day of our Mt Kenya Chogoria route expedition, we headed straight into the mountain and soaked in the beautiful views at features like the Nithi Fall and Caves, Mugi Hill, and the Giant Billiards Table, and spent the night by the beautiful-beautiful Lake Ellis. Trek to Lake Ellis (3,400m ASL) Distance:- 7.5 – 9km Maximum elevation gain:- 600m Day 2:- Journey to Camp Mintos (4,200m asl) On the second day, we set out through the beautiful golden heather and moorland on a relatively steep trail, leading us to Camp Mintos, our home on that eve of getting to Point Lenana.There was breathtaking views of valleys along the way. Distance:- 9km Max elevation gain:- 800m Day 3:- Conquering yourself (4,985m asl) We woke up at 2:00 a.m, had biscuits and strong tea and hit the trail by 2:30 a.m. This would help us get to Point Lenana in time for sunrise between 6 and 7 a.m, granting us breathtaking views across the country as far as the eye can see. With our mission accomplished, we headed on to the enchanting Lake Michaelson for a calm afternoon and evening, reflecting on our journey. Distance:- 11.5km Max elevation gain:- 785m Day 4: Exit and Departure for Nairobi After breakfast, we half-heartedly bid Lake Michaelson and the mountain farewell, as we trekked beside the breathtaking Gorges Valley toward the Chogoria Gate, and back to Nairobi. our hearts were fuller, our bodies healthier and our souls...

I would not recommend visiting as a non resident. The mountain is unbelievably beautiful and the people of Kenya are generally wonderful, but the Kenyan Wild Life department is an absolute joke. The prices are outrageous and their information is entirely incorrect everywhere you go. They insist on you hiring a guide to watch you every moment on the mountain completely ruining any semblance of privacy. This is mandated in an "effort" to promote conservation and to keep tourist safe but it is completely backwards in both cases. Our "guide" was drastically under equipt routinely borrowing our gear making the trip more difficult for us than if we were on our own and he got altitude sickness two days early leaving us alone but still charging us for the two days he wasn't there! As for conservation the mountain is covered in trash and human waste. There was not a single step during our trip out of sight of litter or used toilet paper, and I saw on several occasions local guides or porters dropping cigarette butts or leaving other litter, really defeating the purpose of paying them to be there. I think the trip would have been enjoyable if it wasn't a constant barage of red tape, extortion and human waste but as for now I despise the undeniably corrupt KWS and I resent the fact that I paid them any money let alone the outrageous amount...