How to get there:
The closest town of some size is Sawla. From Sawla, take the (paved) road that climbs steeply
out of town (west). Follow this road to the village Bulki. Leave the road (left) here and continue
south near the main crest. Do not descend, the road that can be driven by a 4WD ends fairly close
to location N06.22831, E036.77611, elevation near 2470 meter.
Route description:
A road that in principle could be used by a 4WD IF a few spots had been improved, continues almost
all the way to within one kilometer of the summit. However, some big rocks blocks this access
just shortly beyond the 4WD trailhead as defined above. The best approach is to hire transport
by motor bike from here. The round trip distance is around 40 kilometer, so walking would indeed
take a very long day. A track has been posted on Peakbagger.
First, the route runs on top of a pretty spectacular
ridge to serve a small village. After this
village, the route climbs more steeply, this is the most difficult part for a motor bike.
Higher up, the route continues along the crest. Farm land and huts scattered almost
everywhere. We parked the motor bike shortly before location N06.10348, E036.73592, elevation above
3300 meter.
The final stroll to the summit is less than one kilometer. There is still a trail. The summit
area has a fence, easy to cross and some smaller rock cairns. Comments:
We started at dawn from Jinka and drove to Sawla,
then drove to the 4WD trailhead.
How far we could drive here was really quite
unknown in advance. The maps are extremely inconsistent. Sometimes "a white road" is only a trail,
at other times it is a reasonable road that one may drive. Here, there was even aa "yellow road" that
turned out to be impassable by a landcruiser.
It took only 3-4 minutes to agree with a local motor bike
to continue the trip. We noted
that this would be pretty long, so better carry some reserve gasoline. That was quickly
arranged and the drive started. My driver, Kansa, turned out to be a very careful and
good motor bike driver. We made steady progress along a very scenic route.
The ridge leading to the local village was spectacular.
The final ride across a rolling farm
landscape with many huts scattered everywhere.
This is really a pretty unique mountain
with more than 2000 meter of prominence and the entire area looks more like a farming
area than a mountain.
We parked the motor bike at a local dwelling,
then set out on foot. A very pleasant
hike to complete an equally nice ride. The summit was a bit divided by a small
fence. I walked a bit around on both sides. Then some peaceful time
to just sit down and
watch the scenery.
Eventually, it was time to start the
return journey.
The return trip was equally nice. The
return along the final ridge was indeed very
good. There are few roads like this. We came back to the car according to plan.
Return to a second night in Sawla.
