Disclaimer. If you are deciding whether hiking is for you or not, I present to you the Elephant Hill, the hill that can end your hiking career.
It was a very cold and rainy morning at 4:30 am when we started the trip to the South Kinangop gate of the Aberdare National Park. The van couldn’t reach the gate because of how slippery the road was hence we had to begin the hike 1 km to the Park’s gate.
Once at the gate, the usual checking in to ensure everyone is accounted for and park fees are settled. This whole time it was raining. To begin as we did at around 7:30am, there is a 3 km walk to the starting point.
Once at the start point (6km to the peak) it was all gears go through mud and wet terrain. The start features mainly a gentle climb until you get to the tail of the elephant (start of the bamboo forest).
The bamboo forest is the hardest climb and descent, a hiking pole will do you good.
It was foggy, rainy, and windy all at the same time. The bamboo forest dense cover helps to minimize the elements but sooner rather than later we were out of the safety. Then we arrived at the point of despair which is halfway, and here is where people quit. The altitude hits you harder from this point to the peak. Some hikers go back and never come back to the hill at this point.
After this was the real rocky sections of the climb. Due to the heavy fog we could not see which hill was the peak as we continued to trudge on. A good thing about the hike is it’s marked repeatedly hence you can easily regain your way should one get lost.
5 and a half hours later we summitted the famous elephant hill. It was so foggy, there were no views, only a hiker on top of a hill telling you everything about the outdoors.
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