If you asked me a month ago, before I headed to the Rwenzoris, if there was a chance for me to reach day 4, I wouldn’t have given you a Yes or a No. All I would say, then, was thet I was optimistic.
Stationed at 4505 meters above sea level (ASL), Bukuju Camp doesn’t make my instincts any different on whether I’ll make it to the next camp or even farther to the Margherita Peak.
Day Four wasn’t any different. We woke up to a bright sunny but chilly morning with beautiful views of Mt. Baker and the cloud-covered Mt. Stanley right in the face of our dormitory entrance.
For your reading pleasure, I’ve put together a summarised video of our Day 4 trek to Elena Hut. You may simply watch the video or continue reading.
Getting on the go
Remember when I mentioned a harness, ice axel, crampons and snow glasses in my day 1 blog, well, while at Bujuku Camp, we had to confirm with our guides and porters that we each had these items stocked.
Like you already know from my day 3 blog, the night at Bukuju Camp was our finest not only because we had enough beds but also the fact that all members got to arrive at the camp before sunset. We also had meals together and partied till midnight. This raised our spirits and got us ready to attack rocky trek to the Elena Hut in what turned out to be an 8-10 hours hike from Bujuku Camp.
Elena Hut (camp) posses its own challenges which makes it so different from all the other camps. Since the altitude at Elena is so high, the coldness is out of this world especially for first-timers in hiking like me. If you want to have a feel of how cold it is at Elena, get a cloth and soak it in cold water, then put it out and feel it with the back of your palm. I could feel the same coldness on my sleeping bag in the evening before I immersed myself into it. It can get even colder when snow falls at the camp.
Elena coldness on the side, let’s talk about the Altitude.
As a first-timer hiking a mountain, Elena hut was the first test I took on altitude. This is where you come to realise that you can struggle to breathe because the air here is thin, since it has less oxygen.
That aside, altitude sickness could kick in. Before you experience it, it even doesn’t make sense simply reading about it. But here is a first-timer experience.
The evening I arrived at Elena Hut all was good and I felt normal. I chatted a bit with friends before it got dark. I had dinner and slept off. Since we had to hike up to the summit the following day, the night at Elena was rather short. Therefore, we woke up at around 1:00 am and started preparing everything we needed for the trek to and fro the summit.
Guess what, after about one hour, out of the blue, I started feeling dizzy, feeling general body weakness, a bit of headache and for a moment I couldn’t hold myself up or stand still. I needed support or to simply rest on the ground.
I therefore decided to share with my guide how I was feeling. He later disclosed to me that all these were signs of the high altitude sickness I was experiencing. When this happens, the options then are; you either begin your descend to a camp of lower altitude or for you to take some high altitude sickness tablets like Diamox. However, it is not guaranteed that they’ll work. You need to relax and listen to your body and how it reacts to it.
Ps. It is highly advisable not to continue with the trek if you experience high altitude sickness. The trek to the summit is long and takes on average 16 hours to and fro. If you can’t make it back from the summit, you pose a danger to yourself and to others on the trek.
Trekking to Elena Hut – 4970m ASL
In my opinion, the trek from Bujuku to Elena Hut will give you a good taste of what to expect on your trek from Elena to the summit.
Beefed up with bog in the first section from Bukuju for about 2 hours, then boggy, rocky and steep ascends whilst challenging escapades including climbing ladders will be part of the great challenge you have ahead of yourself.
There are two resting points as you trek to Elena, the first being an intersection with trails to Kitandara hut and Irene camp.
The second resting point is under a standing rock cliff. There are no seats and seems rather sketchy, but that will be the last thing you’ll even think about. At this point, you have about three more hours of ascending to do just after about 5 hours in.
Like I’ve told you in the previous posts, Mt. Rwenzori will punish you but later reward you with beautiful things.
It rained during our trek to Elena Hut and the more we trekked, the more steep and challenging it got. But again, the rewards started to surface. While trekking, we got our first sight of the Stanley glacier.
Later, we saw the first camp used by another hiking company which we thought was our destination. Then we sighted a church-like structure which we later learnt from the guides that it was infact Elena Hut, our last stop before we reached the summit. It seemed to be close but it took us another two hours to get there.
Being that it had rained, the last two hours of the hike were the worst. It was all rocky, I mean huge rocks that we had to traverse in order to find our way to the camp. They were all stinking slippery and it is here that I saw how all physically fit men and women skim on the rocks with their butts. It was a dreadful hell of an experience but worth it all.
About an hour before we could conquer the Elena trek, we were blessed to have some porters bring us tea along with a bite (chapati). This is one of those things the RRHA team does and you’ll forever be thankful how mindful and caring these guys are. We took a 15 minutes break to feast on these.
After the tea break, we continued with our ascend, attacking even more challenging, slippery and steep sections of this mountain and before we knew, we were there. About 3 hikers had to be rescued with help of the guides and porters so they could reach Elena hut safely and before it got dark.
Think about it this way, you may forge a way through John Maata to Bukuju in the dark but my friend, not your ascend to Elena. If you do, you risk sliding off a rock cliff and fall 1000m down. And this is where big thanks and cheers go to the guides for all their efforts in ensuring the safety of all hikers.
Getting to Elena Hut
Don’t be shocked when you find out that Elena Hut is a very tiny place with very limited beds and it is not adviseable to stay there for more than three nights. In fact, all porters are not allowed to sleep at Elena Camp. They had to bring up our baggage from Bukuju Camp to Elena, then descent back to Bujuku Camp the same day.
In the next blog, I share with you our trek from Elena Hut to the magnificent Margherita Peak and back. One of those treks that will test your endurance and patience but also give you the best views of the Stanley and Margherita glaciers.
Above all, reaching Elena Camp is a milestone of its own. When you reach Elena, you have experienced at least 65% of Mt. Rwenzori challenges and spending a night at Elena Hut is an experience I’ll live to celebrate.
