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Mount Kenya is Africa's second highest mountain Brandon Saad Blackhawks Jersey , after Kilimanjaro. It is estimated to be 2.5 million years old, and Kilimanjaro at 750,00 years of age is really an upstart. Time has really taken its toll, and the peak is thought to have dropped from 6,500 m those millions of years ago to 5,199 m today. The mountain is an extinct volcano Artem Anisimov Blackhawks Jersey , whose plug forms what is today the peak area. The crater was long ago, done to death, by nature's untiring erosion agents.


Mount Kenya is an awe-inspiring spectacle that dominates the central Kenyan highlands. It is perhaps understandable that the Kikuyu people who reside on its lower slopes thought it fit for Gods' abode. And it inspires people in strange ways. In 1943, Felice Benuzzi, an Italian prisoner of war held at Nanyuki at the base of the mountain, and two companions Richard Panik Blackhawks Jersey , escaped and attempted to scale the summit. With just a few handmade climbing tools, he managed reach Point Lenana, the mountain's third highest peak.


But Benuzzi was at least an accomplished mountaineer. In 1988, the Mount Kenya Rescue Team discovered and retrieved an elder of the Meru people way up at the chilly heights of Peak Nelion (5,188 m). Only experts, with proper equipment and guides reach Nelion. He appeared unaware of the feat he had accomplished and was perturbed by the fuss his rescuers raised. He explained his mission was "going to God". He was kitted in a manner you will not see recommended in any guide book- in a single blanket and open sandals. The animals do weird things too: a few years ago Alex DeBrincat Blackhawks Jersey , the frozen bodies of a leopard and colobus monkey were discovered at Nelion.


Mount Kenya is located 180 km to the north of Nairobi. The mountain falls within Mount Kenya National Park. The park is made up of a protected area above 3,200m altitude, together with two small salients reaching to 2,450 m along the Naro Moru and Sirimon trails. It was set up in 1949 and covers an area of 715 sq km. It is further surrounded by the Mount Kenya National Reserve, which extends over 2,075 sq km. The park has the distinction of being simultaneously a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve.


The mountain is made up of three main zones: the rocky peak region Brent Seabrook Blackhawks Jersey , the afro-alpine moorland with its scattering of giant vegetation, and the extensive lower slopes covered in mountain forest and bamboo. The astonishing ecological diversity is one of the attractions of this giant. The ecological processes that have brought about the afro-alpine flora in particular intrigue scientists. There are 81 species of plants here that are found nowhere else in the world.


In the lower forest zone, there is plenty of wildlife including buffalo, elephant, sykes monkey and bushbuck. The animals are however generally difficult to see. Further up, the animals are even scarcer though hyena Corey Crawford Blackhawks Jersey , leopard, buffalo and civet cats have been sighted. The only animal you are likely to see in the upper alpine zones is the rock hyrax. Though it is the size of a domestic cat, it resembles a rat more. The seemingly humble rock hyrax has some powerful relatives in the animal kingdom and it counts the elephant as its biological kin.


The mountain attracts over 30,000 enthusiasts every year. Point Lenana (4,985 m), the so-called trekkers peak Jonathan Toews Blackhawks Jersey , can be reached by any reasonably fit and suitably prepared person. The summit has the twin peaks of Batian (5,199 m) and Nelion (5,188 m), and is accessible to only those with technical mountaineering and rock climbing experience. This mountain is not an easy one to conquer and each year not more than 100 climbers make it to the twin summit peaks. Mount Kenya is in fact considered to be more technically challenging than the higher Kilimanjaro (5,894 m). But those who make it to the top experience some of Africa's finest rock and ice climbing.


The mountain has very many fans and especially fascinates technical climbers. The author and mountaineer, Rick Ridgeway - author of the Seven Summits Duncan Keith Blackhawks Jersey , declares that of all the worlds' mountains this is his favourite. Halford Mackinder planned and led the first expedition on record to reach the summit in 1899. But if the Meru elder mentioned above is anything to go by, the locals must have long ago been to the mountaintop. The Mackinder trip was a great success and his party discovered many species of animal and plant life then unknown in Europe. A new species of eagle owl, for example, was first recorded by this expedition and subsequently named after Mackinder.


Though Mount Kenya is practically on the equator, you will find snow and ice and even glaciers. However, in the one hundred years since Mackinder conquered the mountain Patrick Kane Blackhawks Jersey , the number of glaciers has dropped from 18 to only 7 that remain today. The culprit for this is the global climate change that has accelerated in recent years. Scientists tell us that during the ice ages large glaciers reached below 3,000 m. Today the largest glacier is the Lewis Glacier at 4,600 m. The continuing retreat of glaciers is expected to have a negative impact on downstream eco-systems, not to mention the scenic appeal of the mountain.


Mount Kenya is the source of Tana River- Kenya's biggest river- and was for many years seen as an inexhaustible water fountain. Not any more- the loss of glaciers and forest cover has brought this assumption into disrepute. The loss of forest cover is particularly worrying, because it is avoidable. How to save the forests of Mount Kenya has long engaged environmentalist Wangari Maathai-the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner. She was born on the lower slopes of the mountain and has in her lifetime witnessed the changes up at the mountain.


You can reach the peak area by taking one of three routes: Naro Moru, Sirimon and Chogoria. Good roads will get you form Nairobi to Naro Moru Marian Hossa Youth Jersey , Nanyuki and Chogoria - the base towns for each of the trails. There are alternative routes but most have fallen into disuse and you nee