Peaks of Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya was a stratovolcano and probably looked similar to Mt. Fuji

Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano that was active in the Plio-Pleistocene. The original crater was probably over 6,000 m (19,700 ft) high; higher than Kilimanjaro. Since it became extinct there have been two major periods of glaciation, which are shown by two main rings of moraines below the glaciers. The lowest moraine is found at around 3,300 m (10,800 ft). Today the glaciers reach no lower than 4,650 m (15,260 ft). After studying the moraines, Gregory put forward the theory that at one time the whole summit of the mountain was covered with an ice cap, and it was this that eroded the peaks to how they are today.

The lower slopes of the mountain have never been glaciated. They are now mainly cultivated and forested. They are distinguished by steep-sided V-shaped valleys with many tributaries. Higher up the mountain, in the area that is now moorland, the valleys become U-shaped and shallower with flatter bottoms. These were created by glaciation.

When Mount Kenya was active there was some satellite activity. The north-eastern side of the mountain has many old volcanic plugs and craters. The largest of these, Ithanguni, even had its own ice cap when the main peaks were covered in ice. This can be seen by the smoothed summit of the peak. Circular hills with steep sides are also frequent in this area, which are probably the remains of small plugged vents. However, as the remaining mountain is roughly symmetrical, most of the activity must have occurred at the central plug.

The rocks that form Mount Kenya are mainly basalts, rhomb porphyrites, phonolites, kenytes and trachytes. Kenyte was first reported by Gregory in 1900 following his study of the geology of Mount Kenya.

The geology of the Mount Kenya area was first proposed to the Western Community by Joseph Thomson in 1883. He saw the mountain from the nearby Laikipia Plateau and wrote that it was an extinct volcano with the plug exposed. However, as he had only seen the mountain from a distance his description was not widely believed in Europe, particularly after 1887 when Teleki and von Höhnel ascended the mountain and described what they considered to be the crater. In 1893 Gregory's expedition reached the Lewis Glacier at 5,000 m (16,400 ft). He confirmed that the volcano was extinct and that there were glaciers present. The first thorough survey by Europeans was not undertaken until 1966.

Name	Reason for naming	Named by	Date named
Batian	Named after Mbatian, the chief medicine man (Laibon) of Maasai when Europeans first discovered Maasailand.	Mackinder	1899
Nelion	Named after Nelieng, the brother of Mbatian	Mackinder	1899
Pt Lenana	Named after Lenana, the second son of Mbatian and next chief medicine man. Lenana was the medicine man at the time of first ascent of Batian.	Mackinder	1899
Coryndon Peak	Named after Sir Robert Coryndon, the Governor of Kenya Colony between 1922 and 1925.
Pt Piggott	Named after J. R. W. Piggott, the administrator of British East Africa in 1893. He assisted Gregory's expedition to Mount Kenya.	Gregory	by 1900
Pt Thomson	Named after Joseph Thomson, who, in 1863, confirmed Krapf's claim of the existence of Mount Kenya.	Mackinder	by 1900
Pt Dutton	E. A. T Dutton explored the mountain.
Pt John	Named by a Scottish missionary after the disciple.	Arthur
Pt Melhuish	Named after J. D. Melhuish, who was responsible for most of the first maps and photographs of the mountain.	Arthur
Krapf Rognon	Named after Dr Krapf, who was the first European to see the mountain in 1849.	Mackinder
Pt Peter	Named by a Scottish missionary after the disciple.	Arthur
Pt Slade	Named after Humphrey Slade who explored the moorland zone of Mount Kenya. He possibly also made the first ascent of Sendeyo.
Terere	Named after Terere, a Maasai laibon.	Mackinder	1899
Sendeyo	Named after Sendeyo, the eldest son of Mbatian and brother of Lenana.	Mackinder	1899
Midget Peak
The Hat
Delamere Peak	Named after Rt. Hon. Lord Delamere, who was one of the early explorers of East Africa. He arrived in Kenya Colony in 1897.	Melhuish and Dutton
Macmillan Peak	Named after Sir Northrup Macmillan, an early pioneer.	Melhuish and Dutton
Grigg Peak	Named after Lieut-Col. Sit Edward Grigg, who was the Governor of Kenya Colony from 1925.	Arthur
Höhnel Peak (The Castle)	Named after Lieut. Ludwig von Höhnel, who was the cartographer on Teleki's expedition to the mountain. When he drew the mountain from the Ndoro, to the south, he clearly marked this peak, so Gregory named it after him.	Gregory	by 1894
Arthur's Seat	Named after Rev. J. W. Arthur, who made several attempts to reach the summit.	Melhuish
Sommerfelt Peak	Named after G. A. Sommerfelt, who climbed Batian with Shipton and Harris on 8 January 1929.	Dutton
Three Sisters	Named for their appearance. "Three slim columns of rock separated from each other by the merest cracks."	Melhuish and Dutton
The Tooth	Named for its appearance.	Melhuish and Dutton
The Castle (Höhnel Peak)
Gate of Mists	Named for its physical appearance, and because "Kenya" is a corruption of the Maasai word for "mist".	Mackinder	1899
Shipton Peak	Named after E. E. Shipton, who made the first ascent of Nelion and second ascent of Batian in 1929.	Dutton
Grand and Petit Gendarmes	Named for their physical appearance.	Shipton and Tilman	1930
Tilman Peak	Named after Tilman, who made many climbs with Shipton in 1930.
Pt John Minor
Thomson's Flake
Western Terminal
Eastern Terminal
Kibatia
Rutundu
Giants Billiards Table (also known as Kilingo)	Visually the mountain is very flat topped.	Name mentioned on Mackinder's 1900 map	by 1900
Kilingo (also known as Giants Billiards Table)
Mugi Hill			by 1926
The Barrow
Ithanguni
East Mountain (later renamed Ithanguni)		Mackinder	1899
Highland Castle
Biruoini
The Twins	Photographed (and potentially named) by Melhuish.

The central peaks of Mount Kenya are volcanic plugs that have resisted glacial erosion.

Posted in: List of Mountains in Africa