Mount Kenya Sirimon–Chogoria Traverse — 5 Days

Day-by-day itinerary

1. 1

   Nairobi to Sirimon Gate — Into the Afromontane Forest

   After an early morning departure from Nairobi (approximately 3.5–4 hours by road), you pass through Nanyuki town — a good spot to pick up any final supplies — and reach the Sirimon Gate at around 2,650 metres. After KWS registration and a safety briefing with your guide, the trail climbs steadily through dense Afromontane cedar and olive forest alive with colobus monkeys and a rich chorus of sunbirds. The afternoon's target is Old Moses Camp at 3,300 metres, where you settle into mountain huts as the equatorial twilight falls quickly and temperatures drop sharply.

   🏨 Old Moses Camp (huts, 3,300 m) 🍽 L, D
2. 2

   Old Moses to Shipton's Camp — Across the High Moorland

   An acclimatisation morning walk above Old Moses gives the body time to adjust before the main push begins. The trail climbs through the heather–moorland transition zone and onto the open Mackinder's Valley, where giant groundsels rise like prehistoric sentinels from the tussock grass and the jagged silhouette of the main peaks comes into full view. You arrive at Shipton's Camp (4,236 m) in the early afternoon, allowing time to rest, rehydrate and take a gentle exploratory walk toward the Hausberg Col before a warm dinner and early bed in preparation for the summit push.

   🏨 Shipton's Camp (huts, 4,236 m) 🍽 B, L, D
3. 3

   Summit Day — Point Lenana at Dawn, Descent to Mintos Hut

   Waking at around 02:30, trekkers don headlamps and full cold-weather layers for the two-hour ascent to Point Lenana (4,985 m) via the Austrian Hut col. The final slopes are steep scree and loose rock, demanding careful footwork and a steady pace, but the reward — standing on the summit at first light as twin glaciers blush pink and the shadow of the mountain stretches west across the Laikipia plateau — is deeply memorable. After photographs and a moment to absorb the panorama, you descend the eastern face toward the Chogoria route, passing the Lewis Glacier moraines and the vivid turquoise of the Top Hut tarn before reaching Mintos Hut (4,300 m) for a well-earned hot lunch and afternoon rest.

   🏨 Mintos Hut (4,300 m) 🍽 B, L, D
4. 4

   Mintos Hut to Chogoria Forest — Through the Valley of Giants

   Today's descent through the Chogoria valley is among the most scenic mountain walks in all of East Africa. The route passes above the spectacular Hall Tarns before contouring around the rim above Lake Michaelson, a deep glacial lake held in a sheer-walled cirque that mirrors the sky with extraordinary clarity. Vivienne Falls thunders over a basalt ledge on the valley floor as the trail steepens and vegetation thickens from moorland to giant heather to cedar–olive forest. Bandas at the Chogoria roadhead make a comfortable overnight stop, and the forest air — warm and fragrant after days above 4,000 metres — is a welcome reward.

   🏨 Chogoria Forest Bandas (3,000 m) 🍽 B, L, D
5. 5

   Chogoria Gate to Nairobi — Farewell to the Mountain

   A final walk or short vehicle transfer through the lower cedar forest brings you to Chogoria Gate, where your road vehicle is waiting. The drive south via Chuka and Embu skirts the lower eastern slopes, offering a last look at the peaks before the road flattens onto the Kenyan central highlands. Arriving in Nairobi in the early afternoon, trekkers are dropped at their hotel or the international airport — tired, satisfied and carrying memories of one of Africa's great mountain traverses.

   🍽 B

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