5 Men, One Challenge ,The Nyandarua Traverse.By Adiey Joe
We got to the gate and connected with Muhia the last member of the adrenaline gang.
Riitho is a long standing Bucketlist follower with a remarkable hiking and climbing experience and definitely the one with the most reliable knowledge of the Aberdare National park as well as bush whacking and wilderness navigation.
Dennis Safaris is one of my colleagues from Savannah outdoor and an experienced mountain guide and tour leader.He decided to tag along a panga to save us from the thorns.
Hailing from Kinangop, we asked him what questions or submissions he had about the plan, however his only concern was whether there will be teaππ.
Lance or Daktari wa Mlima was a last minute slide and thankfully so, since Gitonga Wa Ndai from Hikemaniak was unable join us.Lance is an accomplished EMT and Wilderness guide ( a fact I came to learn 3 days later hauling a 1.5kg first aid kit when he had a better oneπ‘π‘).
Lance who is highly favored with great Swahili, ensured we had good food throughout the tour and earned the title master chef for this particular crazy adventure.
Next up was Philemon Kemboi one of the most experienced rangers in the Aberdares National Park personnel. Having done Kinangop with him many times, I had referred him to the team and he came strongly for another adventurous craze. He is always reliable to bring wilderness experience to the team in regards to navigation ,using line of sight and animal trails.
Joseph Wambugu is one of the guides from Table Mountain guides Club, a brainchild of the former Senior Warden Simon Gitau. We needed him on this tour to build local capacity for the trail in future and also help in bush whacking skills.
Last on the crew is myself Munyaka Njiru the convenor of this foolish idea and one whose role would turn out to be the official dissenting voice when deciding about routes ππ. And the headmaster of the trip when people ate food rations like it was the last day π‘.
On this day all the stops were taken with photos and rest from start point to Bamboo to despair. At despair the sun was out in its full glory and we would continue to experience great weather for the rest of the day.
At the elephant summit we left our bags at the Kinangop Junction and made our way for some photos. It was noon and the first day hikers caught up with us at the summit a sign that we were making great progress with time. Soon we were descending the steep section going down the Elephant summit to Kinangop. On this section I have the authority to say it has the most dramatic view in the Nyandarua ranges.
The slope is slippery and due to the recent rains , it was flanked by two small waterfalls on both sides.
The 5kms stretch to Kinangop would be the most treacherous hike for me in a long time but I distracted myself with taking photos.
Soon we rounded the first false peak of Kinangop and 30mins later made it to Kinangop. Now Kinangop is mystical,mostly shrouded in mist past noon and has a scramble to die for. I was shaking out of altitude by the time we dropped our bags at the base of the outcrop that forms the kinangop summit.
Anyone with real fear of heights is unable to do this by the way and as such it’s quite something. However the sun came out in full glory just like Elephant hill and cheered us on. We were in luck. After a short stint at the summit and a hazy descent for me (altitude sickness) we decided it was too early to camp around there.
We descended towards Mutarakwa. There was suggestion to camp at the moorland with “network” but we overuled and decided to find a sheltered campsite used by the Mutarakwa guides. We went down comfortably but ended up at a different river.
A suggestion to go find it was met by vehement opposition and resignation that it was too late for that as it was pushing 6pm.