Getting to the summit of Mount Kenya.

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Letter from Graham to Grandma & Grandad 7 Feb 1977 –

At the weekend the children looked after themselves most of the time while Judy and I walked up Mt Kenya. We reached a peak called Lenana by a route which involves no climbing and were very pleased with ourselves. Starting at 7am from the top of the road (about 10,000ft altitude) we climbed up to more than 16,000ft in altitude and returned the same day to our starting point. It took us just under 12 hours.

Judy & Guri with Graham on arrival at the campsite.

Letter from Juliet to Grandma & Grandad 9 Feb 1977 –

Mummy and Daddy went up Mt Kenya with some friends last weekend and Helen and Fiona were left in my care with friends and neighbours next door keeping an eye out. They left on Friday afternoon and drove straight to the Met. Station which is at the top of the forest on the slopes of Mt Kenya. They started walking on Saturday morning and reached the top of Point Lenana and then got back by the evening. They didn’t drive home until after they had lunch at the hotel on Sunday.

Letter from Judy to Nanny & Grandad 14 Mar 1977 –

A few weekends ago Graham and I took the weekend off and with 2 friends set off to climb Lenana – the highest accessible peak on Mt Kenya (the two higher being serious climbing peaks). We had planned to climb from the roadhead up to Lenana and back in a day – a distance of some 15 miles but 7000 ft up (and back again of course). We were not deterred by everyone telling us it was impossible but were only the more determined to try. The altitude always makes Graham ill so the only chance seemed to be to get up and back down to 9,000ft as rapidly as possible. Fortunately everything went right – the weather was perfect and the path in good condition and we succeeded in the total journey in just about 12 hours – spurred on our way in the last few miles by the knowledge that we must get down through the forest before it was really dark as the wild animals are a real hazard. Several of our friends were on the mountain climbing so witnessed our success, otherwise I’m sure no-one would have believed us ! I think we were lucky that we all hit our bad patches at different times so were able to jolly each other along – my worst part was climbing the glacier which was steep and very slippy and one had the unpleasant knowledge that one would slide an awful long way down even though it was not really dangerous there being no precipices or crevasses in the area of the path. Anyway, we were all very pleased with ourselves and though Graham was sick most of the way down he had fully recovered by the time we reached camp. We spent the next day lounging around at Outspan, one of the post tourist hotels and consumed an enormous and very expensive celebratory dinner.

Photos and commentary by Graham:

At 10,000ft altitude near the equator it could be quite warm. We’re having a tea break after arriving and setting up camp. Guri, Judy & Faith.
Not yet a quarter of the journey but we need a rest. The air is thin here, we breathe faster to get enough oxygen. We have just finished a steep ascent of boggy ground and reached a ridge with our first view of the Mt Kenya peaks. Guri, Graham and Judy.
Descending into the Teleki Valley with strange giant lobelia plants.
A fine view of the peaks. Will we really get up there?
Really struggling now and that’s me in the lead, probably for the last time as we climb a long scree slope. We take 3 or 4 steps and then stop to gain oxygen for the next go.
After a rest at Top Hut which was stuffy and crowded with people we decided to go on up the snow slopes to Point Lenana. No sunshine here but at least it’s not snowing.
On the summit, 16300ft above sea level (4985m) and utterly amazed that we’ve reached there. Tired and emotional so smiles don’t come easily. Guess who got there first…the smallest of us, Faith. Who was last then? Big strong Graham was last but so glad to have got there.
On the way down I trailed behind and vomited miserably several times as a result of the altitude. As we descended the air got better and we recovered. This is a short rest with giant heather in the background. We reached our camp 14 hours after we had left it. One of the longest times any of us had spent walking in a day and all of it above 10,000 feet of altitude.
Victory drinks for the successful party next day.
We all had aching legs but we were very happy.

Letter from Graham to Grandma & Grandad 7 Feb 1977 –

The children made popcorn and chocolate biscuits in our absence and obviously enjoyed themselves. Other people gave them some meals and there was no shortage of company; most of their friends were at home.

Letter from Juliet to Grandma & Grandad 9 Feb 1977 –

We had a nice weekend as it was very hot and sunny so we did a lot of swimming. I am certainly glad that I have got some years ahead of me before I need to do my own cooking and washing every day.

Diary entry by Helen 4 Feb 1977 –

Mum has gone to Mt Kenya for the weekend so we came home from school to an empty house which wasn’t very nice.

Diary entry by Helen 5 Feb 1977 –

This morning Juliet brought me breakfast in bed which was nice. For lunch we went down to our friends house (Catherine’s). We had a kind of barbecue and put up our small tent. The eggs did not work so we did them on the cooker. It was fun. This afternoon we went swimming – it was great fun as usual and I did lots of jumping in. This evening Juliet went next door to babysit while I did my homework.

Diary entry by Helen 4 Feb 1977 –

Fiona slept on Mum and Dad’s water bed. After lunch Juliet made some biscuits called Chocolate Kisses. They turned out very nice and I thought they were delicious. She made about 70 but they were only a mouthful each. Mum and Dad came home at about 7:30pm and they were very tired. They had climbed right to the top of Mt Kenya on Saturday.

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