Mount Longonot

FROM WIKIPEDIA

Mount Longonot is a dormant stratovolcano located southeast of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, Africa. It is thought to have last erupted in the 1860s. Its name is derived from the Masai word oloonong'ot, meaning "mountains of many spurs" or "steep ridges".

Mt. Longonot is protected by the Kenya Wildlife Service as part of Mount Longonot National Park. A trail runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim, and continues in a loop encircling the crater. The whole tour is only about 8–9 km long but very steep, so that the round trip of park gate - Longonot Peak - park gate takes around 5 hrs hiking. The gate is around 2150 m asl and the peak at 2780 m asl but following the jagged rim involves substantially more than the 630 m vertical difference.

A forest of small trees covers the crater floor, and small steam vents are found spaced around the walls of the crater. The mountain is home to various species of wildlife, notably zebra andgiraffe and buffaloes (droppings on the rim) and hartebeest. Leopards have also been reported but are extremely difficult to spot.

Mt. Longonot is 60 kilometres northwest of Nairobi.

On March 21, 2009 Brush Fires burned up the side of the mountain and descended into the crater, trapping wildlife and feeding on drought ravaged brush.

OUR TRIP

We hiked Mount Longonot the day after my Lokori visit on December 23rd. I really didn't know what to expect. I was thinking something between Enchanted Rock and the Rocky Mountains but it was not like either. It was mostly just very dry dirt thus lots to DUST!! With each step a small cloud of dust would surround your shoes. Some parts of the climb were very steep so steep that the park had placed bags of dirt to act as steps to assist climbers. They were like bags we would fill with sand to line a riverbank to prevent flooding but these were stairs to help climb the mountain. After climbing for about 25-30 minutes there is a plateau with quite a few trees and brush. We just kept climbing following the dust dirt trail all the way to the top. After starting the climb again after the plateau we were able to see about 6 giraffes high above the tree line. They were some distance away but they were still there!! It was pretty sweet. Then we started climbing again this time I noticed that the grey dirt seemed more black like that of Northern California near the Red Wood forests along the Pacific Ocean. Emily said that it might be from the fires that occurred here last March. After she said that I noticed a lot of the brush and trees seemed burned. And the soil was a very dark grey, a change from the dirt at the base of our climb.

Finally we had all reached the top. After a few minutes to take pictures and take turns looking at the 9 giraffes down below it started to thunder and sprinkle. Over to the right towards Lake Naibasha there were dark clouds and looked as they were coming our way. We did not take the very steep climb around the volcano to the tip top due to the impending rain storms. As we were heading down the steep climb of dirt making sure not to slip and fall down the mountain the rain began to get heavier and the winds started really blowing and the temperature dropped! During the plateau part we were in almost dead sprint running as fast as we could down the mountain. At this point we were already completely soaked and the raining beating on our faces stung a little too. Our shoes are filled with mud and the dry dirt just sticks all over our legs and ankles. My hands are numb and my face just hurts all over but none of that matters because we still need to get off the mountain and into the car!! Racing to the cars and down the mountain somehow we all survived with no injuries. Even though I slipped a few times on the dirt bags and Emily saw her life flash before her eyes we all made it the car safe!!

On the car ride back to the house it just started pouring. And being that most of the roads are next to the dirt, mud was just EVERYWHERE!! Rains increased and strong winds blew trash and debris across the roads. Then it began to hail! Marble sized hail that lasted about 10-15 minutes during our drive home. Then almost all at once it was like we had out run the storm and the lands were completely dry and as the winds blew you could see the red dust. Once finally at the house we unloaded and went into the house through the laundry room to remove all our muddy shoes and soaked socks. Moments later the rains began here!!!