After a good summer in the Alps, Elizabeth "Mo" Moceri and Emery Dameron joined us on our little "safari" to Mount Kenya. Our goal was to mostly have fun, but also to make an ascent of the highest summit, Batian, at over 17,000 feet. This is a challenging and technical rock climb and a great ascent.

Our first day, only an hour or so from the trailhead. We are hiking in the Sirimon Route. Heading for Old Moses Camp. Though the route looks benign enough, we passed lots of tracks of Cape Buffalo and there certainly were a lot of odd noises coming from the woods.

Mo and Kathy, enjoying hearty breakfast at Old Moses Camp. Our cook, Daniel, was superb, and our only complain was that we tended to gain more weight than we would have liked.

This photo is from Two Tarn Lake, on our circuit around the peak. Point John is reflected in the water. The strange plant life is one of the most fascinating aspects of this trip. These are ostrich plume lobelia.

Dark clouds over Point John as seen from Mackinder's Camp. Though our staff used the shelters which surround Mount Kenya, we opted to sleep in our own tents, gaining a bit of privacy and a quieter night.

The noble Rock Hyrax. These more resembled a goofy looking marmot than a relative of elephants, as we were told. Around the huts they were quite tame and, if food was about, darn-right friendly.

This is a view of Mount Kenya from near the Mackinder's Hut. Point John is on the right and the twin summits of Batian and Nelion (right and left, respectively) are behind. The Diamond Couloir drops down from the Gate of Mists between them.

Sammy, our Kenyan trekking guide, Emery, Mo and Kathy, on the summit of Point Lenana during our "acclimatization hike".

Sammie, our Kenyan trekking guide, leads us down Point Lenana in the misty morning. We climbed this third highest summit of Mount Kenya during our initial circumnavigation of the peak. The hike gave us a bit of additional acclimatization in preparation for the climb of Kenya's highest summit, Batian.

Kathy climbing on the South Ridge of Point Peter, a short route we did as a bit of a warm-up. Though the surroundings are impressive the climb itself is only about 3 pitches, all fun and quite exposed.

Kathy and Emery on our climb of Batian. We are just above Firman's Tower on a short section of easy ridge.

This is from the climb of Batian. Here, Kathy and Emery work along the summit ridge of Batian, only a few meters from the highest point. The rock here is excellent and very much resembles the beautiful orange granite of Chamonix.

Emery rappelling down Firmin's Tower, the crux of the route.

The view from Hall's Tarns. We spent the night here on the way out. Mount Kenya is left of center and Point Lenana is to its left. The Route we climbed on Kenya closely follows the right-hand skyline.

Nearly at the end of the trip, Kathy and Emery toast their "Tusker" beers.

On the hike out, a gentle reminder of where you are.

And at last, the 4 wheel drive down the endless muddy road.