Tuum-Part Three: Mt. Ng'iro

They said it would probably be the steepest mountain I had ever climbed. 
They said that it would be freezing at the top and I would want a coat. I did not believe that, I had done nothing but be fried by the sun for a week, I wouldn't mind a little freezing.
Mt. Ng'iro is the highest point in this part of Kenya, and the base is a ten minute walk from here. It looks like it would be an easy thirty minute scramble to the top, but I know that when it comes to mountains, looks are always deceiving. 

At 643 we set off. Mt. Ng'iro is east of Tuum so there is about an hour and a half between when it gets light and when the sun rises bringing with it unbearable heat. This morning was (comparatively) cool  and cloudy but even so, by the first time we stopped I could wring sweat out of my shirt. I thought my water had leaked. 

There is a band of massive cedars about halfway up the mountain, I have no idea why, but they provided some very welcome shade, (the sun had risen by now) and were a pleasant variation to the acacia trees with their three inch thorns.

After three hours of speed walking up an almost vertical slope, (our guide did not seem to realize that wazungu are mortal and require breaks once in a while) we came over the ridge and entered a different world.
The contrast was amazing. On one side was almost desert, with cactus and sand, on the other, was green. Green trees, green grass, even a small stream. The air was cool, the ground was cool. (I burned my hand on a rock on the other side of the ridge)

We walked beside a creek through a forest of mammoth, moss-draped trees. It reminded me of some forest (I don't remember which) in Lord of the Rings. 

As we continued to increase in altitude the stream disappeared, the verdant  trees gave way to small bushes growing out of the rock. 

When we reached the peak, called Horn of the Buffalo, we could see for many miles, then a cloud came and  we were inside it.

 An icy, refreshing gale roared up out of the valley. My companions were shivering in their coats and huddling in the lee of boulders, I stood on top of the boulders looking over a sea of cloud, watching as bits of cloud were hurled by the wind, up from the valley and into my T-shirt. I could stand on this rock all day...

Bother, my companions are leaving. I guess I had better go as well. Farewell mountain top, I wish I could stay...

Down.
Down hurts. After fifteen minutes my leg muscles are burning and my ankles ache. Only three hours and forty-five minutes more. As we descended the temperature rose, by the time we reached Tuum it was as though we were walking through a solar oven, on broil. 
At 1405 we reached the house, my legs had gotten used to the strain and felt fine but my ankles were in agony. I asked our guide if he was tired. "No, I ready to do it again." And I believed that.

More Pictures

Tuum

A really cool canyon thing.