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Mount Kenya.
Mount Kenya is the
highest mountain in Kenya, and the second highest in Africa (after Mount
Kilimanjaro). The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian (5,199 m - 17,058
ft), Nelion (5,188 m - 17,022 ft) and Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft). Mount Kenya
is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around 150 km (95 miles)
north-northeast of Nairobi. The area around the mountain is protected in the
Mount Kenya National Park, which is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The
National Park is around 620 kmē (240 square miles), and receives up to 15,000
visitors every year.
Glaciers on Mount Kenya
The Lewis glacier is the largest on Mount KenyaThe glaciers on Mount Kenya are
retreating rapidly. The Mountain Club of Kenya in Nairobi has photographs
showing the mountain when it was first climbed in 1899, and again more recently,
and the retreat of the glaciers is very evident. Descriptions of ascents of
several of the peaks advise on the use of crampons, but now there is no ice to
be found. There is no new snow to be found, even on the Lewis Glacier (the
largest of them) in winter, so no new ice will be formed. It is predicted to be
less than 30 years before there will no longer be ice on Mount Kenya.
The glacier names are (clockwise from the north)
Northey, Krapf, Gregory, Lewis, Diamond, Darwin, Forel, Heim, Tyndall, Cesar,
Josef.
The area of glaciers on the mountain was measured in the 1980s, and recorded as
about 0.7 kmē (0.25 square miles). This is far smaller than the first
observations, made in the 1890s. |