The Meru zealot who ascended Mt Kenya barefooted

By Joseph Karimi

Kenya: While mountain climbing is viewed by some as sport or simply leisure, a Meru preacher set out to climb Mount Kenya for a different mission. Ephraim M Ikiara attracted the world attention when he dared and conquered Mount Kenya, scaling to the top of Nelion Peak barefooted to accomplish a directive by his God to pray while up there for the unity of all mankind.

Ikiara, a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church hailed from Netharene along the Meru-Nkubu-Chuka highway.

He told me in an interview in September 1979 after his third expedition up the lofty mountain that his three missions, the first one undertaken in 1974, were purely spiritual. “I had been instructed by the Lord to go up there and pray,” he said.

The 52-year-old preacher from the Abothoguci in Meru set out for his third prayer mission on August 13, 1979.

 Ikiara made news by scaling the 17,022 feet high Nelion Peak with no shoes or any conventional climbing gear. Having cheated death several times during his mission, Ikiara surprised highly trained mountain rescuers who rushed to secure him by eluding them and taking very dangerous shortcuts to avoid ‘arrest.’

“You know it is very difficult to climb the mountain from the Eastern side because there are no developed routes to the top of the mountain. When I set out from my home, I just crossed through the thick forest following animal tracks used by buffaloes and elephants. When I came across elephants, I would veer off into the thick bushes to bypass them and continue again on the track,” he said. Ikiara said he did not use any conventional climbing gear. “I put on my rubber shoes while crossing the glaciers and would remove them upon reaching the peak areas. This helped them from tearing so fast since it was the only pair I had.”

Ikiara made his first ascent of the mountain in 1974. “When I reached point Lenana, I was anxious to go higher and cross to other peaks like Batian, but was held up by the crevasses.”

He carried a piece of rope as his only weapon. “I knew I would at times be forced to climb up a tree while shielding from a wild animal thus would tie my belongings to a tree trunk with the rope. It is dangerous to climb when your hands are holding on to anything, thus, the rope was very ideal here,” he said.

During his first climb, Ikiara retired at Top Hut for the night to start his journey down the mountain. “My old pair of rubber shoes was soaked with snow. I sat on a rock to warm myself from the sun’s heat as my shoes dried up. Just then, National Parks Rangers (today the Kenya Wildlife Service soldiers) bumped into me and arrested me for trespassing their domain. I pleaded with their boss that I had only came up here to pray which only fell into deaf ears,” he said.

Ikiara was arrested and charged at Nanyuki Court, which ordered that he be repatriated back to Meru, with a warning that he should not trespass the mountain again.

When he made his second attempt, Ikiara avoided the rangers as much as he could. “I only managed to reach the Top Hut. I had accomplished my mission as directed by Lord, and returned home.”

On August 13, 1979, Ikiara set out for his third prayer mission up the mountain. He reached the Top Hut and proceeded to tackle Nelion Peak, which stands at 17,022 feet. 

Luckily, Ikiara had discovered his own routes during his last two attempts up the peaks and his only problem was crossing the crevasses on the Lewis’s Glacier. “There was a yawning chasm between the two highest peaks and Point Lenana. It was a scary chasm and I knew that if I tried and missed a step, I would just crush to the bottom and perish.”

Whistleblowers

The widest chasm held him back for three days. “I had successfully crossed the Lewis Glacier to confront the vertical Nelion and Batian peaks. Here, I stayed for another two days surveying how to conquer the precipices which stood stiff and looked unfriendly. Batian and Nelion stood solid and uninviting and I concluded I had taken the wrong route,” he said.

The old man spent his nights in a cave and on the third day, he found his  way to Top Hut.  Two European climbers he stayed with at Top Hut for the night upon reaching the base camp reported that an old man who was not properly dressed for the severe weather conditions was heading up.

Word reached the Mountain Rescue Team and by then, Ikiara had reached his destination, the Nelion Peak. He was spotted by a rangers pilot who radioed the warden in charge of the rescue team, David Munene, that he had seen the man lying on his back reading the Bible.

Munene consequently got in touch with Sergeant Duncan Karinga, an expert climber trained in Austria who headed an eight-man-rescue crew dispatched to the peak to rescue Ikiara who was already making his way down the mountain.   

Karinga saw Ikiara who was about 25 feet away on the Lewis Glacier between Nelion and Lenana peaks coming down.

“I saw them. They were climbing up and I was on my way down. One asked me: Ndugu, jambo. Tuje tukuonyeshe njia?” (hello brother, can we show you the way?)Ikiara  instead ran away to avoid yet another arrest. “I was halfway down Nelion peak and the only alternative was to go round the peak,” he said.

Sgt. Karinga reported to base that the man had used yet another dangerous route. “He is tackling the rocks using his feet and hands and is heading down the One O’clock Gully, the same route where an experienced climber Dr Fisher met his death in 1977 when his rope snapped.”

 Sgt. Karinga and his team used a route to converge with Ikiara but he disappeared. He found refuge in a cave where he stayed for two days and nights at a height of 15,900 feet where temperatures go to minus 18 degrees Centigrade. On Wednesday night in August 22, Sgt. Karinga and his team went to eat at the rangers’ station. 

It was during their absence that Ikiara  emerged from his cave and went up to Top Hut where he took the food, clothes and two blankets he had kept there. He then went back to his cave.

From his hiding place, Ikiara overheard some of the rescue team members “describing me, that I was dressed in rough and shaggy clothes. I immediately changed into another pair of shorts and a shirt”. By then, three lorry-loads of men from the Outward Bound Mountain School reinforced the rescuer team at Rescue Base I, at 13,000 feet.

“The following day, I gained courage to come out from my cave and  mix easily with 39 members of the Outward Bound team who had joined the rescuers. I heard one of them asking: “Isn’t this the man we have been looking for?” Luckily, some dismissed him saying the man up the mountain was dressed in shaggy clothes. I was smart. I managed to walk away and down the route towards my home,” he said.