Mt Meru Run Trip Report

On Wednesday, I ran Mt Meru. At 4562m/14968ft, it’s the second highest peak in Tanzania and fifth highest in Africa.

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Route

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On Wednesday, I ran Mt Meru. At 4562m/14968ft, it’s the second highest peak in Tanzania and fifth highest in Africa. The idea to run it was originally suggested to me way back in May by Seth Wolpin, a clinical professor of nursing at UW and badass adventurer.

The trickiest part about running Meru is that you have to cross through an open grassland wildlife zone at the bottom with a ranger on the way up and down. Consequently, you need to find a park ranger willing to run with you, and you also need to run fast enough to pass through through the wildlife area both ways in the daylight. Hence, climbing Meru in one day is called the “12 hour challenge”. Fortunately, my partner in crime Emmanuel aka Ema aka Rocky, who is a safari and mountain guide, found a park ranger willing to run with us early in the morning.

We showed up at Momella Gate (1500m/4921ft) in Arusha National Park and met Bryson, our ranger, rocking a big ol’ fashioned hunting rifle. We exchanged pleasantries and started running when the clock struck 8am. I led with Rocky and Bryson close behind. As we passed through the open grassland, we saw giraffes, buffalo, zebras, and other animals grazing. Running by the giraffes had to be one of the more epic moments of my life.

As we hit the trail and began ascending, I commented to Rocky on the many large patches of open grass we passed. He told me that before Arusha National Park was created, people used to climb the slopes of Meru to hunt and cut firewood.

After 80 minutes, we got to the first hut, Miriakamba (2514m/8250ft). Submerged in thick chilly fog, I felt like I was running through a cold, wet sock. The environment at this hut is so wet in fact that the entire water supply comes from rain. We stopped for just five minutes to fill water and eat a quick snack.

As we continued up, the vegetation gradually got smaller and the air dried out. Eventually, we rose above the clouds, and the environment transitioned from forest to heather. I arrived at Saddle Hut (3566m/11700ft) about 90 minutes after leaving Miriakamba. I took out my lunch box and ate 2 bananas and 2 hard boiled eggs. There is no water source at Saddle Hut, so porters perform the superhuman task of carrying water from Miriakamba. Thankfully, they were generous enough to let me fill my water.

After about 15 minutes at the hut, Rocky and I started cruising again. I pulled ahead pretty quickly and then was on my own. From Saddle Hut to the top I only passed one other group the whole time. Though Meru still has plenty of tourists and porters, it definitely offers more opportunities for solitude than Kilimanjaro.

Above the saddle, the landscape transitioned again from heather to alpine. From Rhino Point (3850m/12833ft) to the summit, the trail follows the ridge of the old rim of the volcano. Steep rocky outcrops on either side of the ridge and epic views in the distance of crater lakes and volcanic cliffs stole the show for me. Little sections of scrambling made the trail especially fun.

I was surprised to see some vegetation, small grasses and lichen, all the way to the top. On one of the final sections of the climb, I even saw a butterfly in the gravel, unable to fly in the wind. How it got there I have no idea.

I reached the summit just after 2pm, about 6 hours after starting. I never got too out of breath; I’m probably one of the only people who can say I used Kilimanjaro as an acclimatization climb for Meru. I much preferred the summit of Meru to Kilimanjaro. An alcove of rocks created enough protection from the wind to make it possible to hang out up there. I put on more warm clothes (pants and balaclava) and ate snacks.

On the way down, I slowed down to enjoy the views and smell the roses. I reunited with Rocky who was relieved to see me coming down. It turns out he’d rolled his ankle early in the day. I couldn’t believe he waited to say anything until then.

The descent offered some world class running opportunities on the gentle rolling gravel slopes along the volcano rim. We enjoyed the terrain and took a few stops to get footage. Around 4pm, we had only descended to Rhino Point, still far above Saddle Hut. Our goal was to get through the wildlife area and back to the car by 6. (Sundown is around 6:30pm). We started running down.

We took a quick stop at Saddle Hut to eat the last of our lunch and fill water again, and then around 4:30pm, we ran down to Miriakamba where we reunited with our ranger Bryson around 5:30pm. Bryson led the way down the rest of the mountain, running with his rifle in hand.

As we ran, I asked Bryson if he’d ever been charged by an animal. He said yes, many times. He’d been charged by buffalo and elephants. Twice he had to shoot the buffalo. He told me that elephants sometimes bluff charge, but hashtag buffalos never bluff. My ears perked up. Until then, I really thought the gun was a gimmick, especially after watching him goofily run down the hill with it. When we emerged onto the open grassland at the bottom, Bryson stomped loudly in the direction of one buffalo facing us, and it scampered away. We finally got to the car at 6:50pm, just as the last light of the day faded away. Bryson was very happy we made it out before dark.

My personal goal for the day was to attempt the FKT (fastest known time) on Meru. According to Bryson, there was an Indian man who climbed up in 6hr45min and down in 4 hours and then a Kenyan two years ago who climbed up in 6 hours and down in 2. As far as I can tell, I’m the fastest recorded time on the climb from the gate to the top, I can’t seem to find the record of the Kenyan. In either case, I felt good all day and am happy with how things went. I thoroughly enjoyed the hike and can give Mt Meru a rating of 5 sodas and 10 bags of popcorn.

On the drive out of Arusha National Park, the exhaust pipe in Rocky’s old off-road Suzuki broke. The car filled with fumes, and our eyes welled with tears. I held my head out the window for the rest of the drive to Arusha.