Mount Baker

Mount Baker, The upper Bujuku Valley is surrounded by a triangle made up of Mount Baker, Mount Stanley, and Mount Speke. Klaus Thymann’s trip in 2020 confirmed that Mount Baker and Mount Speke did not have any ice. Thymann used similar pictures to show that two of Africa’s five glaciated peaks have been lost.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MOUNT BAKER

At 4,844 meters (15,892 feet), it is the sixth biggest mountain in Africa. It takes up the whole upper Bujuku Valley, making a triangle with Mount Stanley and Mount Speke. The nearest mountain is Mount Stanley, which is 2.26 kilometers (1.40 miles) to the west. The mountains are in an area called “The Mountains of the Moon.”

A ridge runs along the top of Mount Baker and many other peaks in the Ruwenzori Range. The tallest point is Edward Peak. Rudolf Grauer, an Austrian mountain climber, was the first person to reach the top of Mount Baker’s ridge line in January 1906. He was with two British missionaries, H. E. Maddox and H. W. Tegart.

The English group led by Alexander F. R. Wollaston, A. B. Wosnam, and M. Carruthers came across the same rocky area twice that year, in February and April. In the end, a mission led by the Duke of Abruzzi reached the top of Mount Baker in June. This group also reached the tops of the Rwenzori’s other five tallest mountains.

The Bakonjo, who live in western Uganda, called the mountain “Kiyanja,” which is still their name for it. The mountain was seen by Franz Stuhlmann on his trip into the Ruwenzori in June 1891. He named it either “Semper” or “Ngemwimbi.” The peak was named for Samuel Baker, a British explorer from the 1800s who was the first person from Europe to find and visit Lake Albert, which is just northeast of the Ruwenzori Mountains. Baker said he saw “huge mountainous masses distant in the distance, to the south of Lake Albert.”

HOW DO YOU HACK ON MOUNT BAKER?

We fly into Entebbe and start our walk from the Kilembe trailhead, which is also the base camp. Adventurers have to pay US$35 per day to get into the Uganda Wildlife Authority. We take care of everything when you book your trip with us.

We will spend the night at Sine Camp, which is 2,596 meters above sea level and is reached by hiking 1,146 meters. We walk up to Mutinda camp, which is at 3,588 meters, on the second day of our trip. From there, the view is amazing.

On the next day, we’ll walk to Bugata Camp, which is 4,062 meters above sea level, through a valley full of animals, streams, and waterfalls. At this point, the walk gets harder because there are steep hills and bogs to cross.

However, this is one of the most beautiful parts of the trip. On the fourth day, we climb to Hunwick’s Camp, which is at an elevation of 3,974 meters. To get there, we go over the Bamwanjara pass, which has amazing views of the tall, snow-capped peaks. The huge behemoth Mount Baker will be seen.

Early risers leave the camp to climb to the top of Mount Baker (4,844m). It takes about five hours to get from Hunwick’s Camp to the top of the mountain, and about three hours to get back down. You’ll spend one more night at Hunwick’s Camp. In order to get down, you will have to go back through Bugata Camp.

HOW WAS MOUNT BAKER MADE?

The mountains were made about three million years ago by faulting in the late Pliocene era. They were caused by a block of crystalline rocks that rose above the ground and contained gneiss, amphibolite, granite, and quartzite. The Rwenzori Mountains are the largest mountains in the world that are not volcanoes or orogenic rocks.

How long does it take to get to the top of Uganda’s Mount Baker?

It takes about five hours to get from Hunwick’s Camp to the top of the mountain, and about three hours to get back down.

Other Rwemzori mountain peaks
As early as 1906, all six of the Rwenzori’s highest peaks were covered in snow and ice. All of them except Stanley (5,109 m), Speke (4,890 m), and Baker (4,843 m) had snow and ice in 2001, but they are quickly melting.

Mount Speke

This mountain, Mount Speke, is in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park. It is the second highest peak in the park. The upper Bujuku Valley is surrounded by a triangle made up of Mount Baker and Mount Stanley. Mount Stanley is 2.21 miles away, 3.55 kilometers to the south-southwest. The area where these mountains are found is called “The Mountains of the Moon.”

Every mountain in this group has more than one rocky peak. Vittorio Emanuele (4,890 meters (16,040 feet)), Ensonga (4,865 meters (15,961 feet)), Johnston (4,834 meters (15,860 feet)), and Trident 4,572 meters (15,000 feet) are some of Mount Speke’s peaks. Even though the names came from an Italian royal family, they had to be accepted by the British Protectorate of Uganda, which was in charge of the area at the time.

This hill was named after John Speke when European explorers first came to the area to look for the source of the Great Nile. In 1862, Speke drew the source of the White Nile, even though he had never climbed this peak. All of the mountains in this area are named after explorers who came to Africa early on and were tied to each other. Because it rains so much, Mount Speke is cut through by many streams and rivers, and the plants that grow there look thick.

It is in the northern part of Mount Stanley, Speke, and Mount Baker, close to Mount Emin. A mountain in Italy was named after an explorer named Romulo Gessi. There is a small valley between the mountain and Emin in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park. The mountain has two peaks, Lolanda (15,470 ft.) and Bottego (15,470 ft.).

With an elevation of 15018 feet (4578 meters), Gessi is one of six Rwenzori peaks that make up the Northern Triangle. The other three are Mount Stanley, Baker, and Speke. Also, Gessi is Uganda’s fifth-tallest peak. It lies along a short canyon that goes south from Mount Emin.

The mountains are also rocky and run north to south, with the highest point looking south. On both the DR Congo and Ugandan sides of Mount Gessi, the way is marked by cabins and sloped paths. From Mutsori in the Congo, there is a short trail that leads to the top of Gessi. Most of the local people are always there to help with transportation and directions. Along the Rwenzori, a number of shanties have been kept up.

The trail to Mount Gessi starts in Mugusu Valley and goes through dense woods to Roccato Pass. The path goes through slabs and thick vegetation. The path then leads to the crest that lies between the two hills. People also think that the peak used to be covered with melting ice. Duke’s coming up route also melted, and it’s now a bunch of very mossy, steep rocks that only experienced climbers should try.

The Mount Stanley

It is in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park and has an elevation of 5,109 meters (16,763 feet). It is the highest point in both Uganda and Congo.

Mount Stanley is in the Rwenzori Mountains. That makes it the tallest point in both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, at 5,109 meters (16,763 feet). It is also the third tallest mountain in Africa, after Mount Kenya (5,199 meters) and Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters).

Like a few other mountains nearby, this one is tall enough to hold ice. This mountain is named for Sir Henry Morton Stanley, an author and traveler. Rwenzori Mountains National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Mount Stanley is a part of it.

There are a lot of smaller hills on Mount Stanley. Three men—the Duke of Abruzzi, J. Petigax, and C. Ollier—were the first people to climb this mountain on June 18, 1906. Mount Stanley is also made up of a high chain of 11 peaks that rise from glaciers. One of these is the Stanley Plateau, which is over a kilometer long and is the longest piece of ice in the Rwenzori Mountains.

You can hike from the Elena hut to the first rocks to get to the highest mountain, Margherita. After that, the road goes by the snow- and ice-covered Stanley Plateau on its way to Alexandra Peak, the second-highest peak in the Massif.

The common way to get to the top of Margherita Peak goes through a steep valley on the east face of the peak and then up the beautiful Margherita glacier to the saddle between the Margherita and Alexandra mountains. Now, go north until you reach a short, steep rock wall that leads to the top.

For the steep parts of the ice and the summit rocks, you will need a rope to help you climb. Not only that, but the peak is also a natural border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At 4990 meters, the eastern narrow peak of Alexandra Peak is also a beautiful climb for any mountain hiker.

Another group of mountains to the south is topped by Savoia Peak, which is 4977 meters high. Hikers in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park will never forget climbing any of the aforementioned mountains through the famous tropical glaciers.

Up on Mount Luigi di Savoia

Mount Luigi di Savoia is a mountain in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park. At 4637 feet, “Sella,” its peak, is the fourth highest in Uganda and the sixth highest in Africa. Mount Luigi is the only mountain in the Rwenzori range that the Duke of Abruzzi did not try to climb, even though he named it.

It was the Duke of Abruzzi who climbed Mt. St. Elias for the first time in 1897. He also climbed K2 in the Karakoram and came very close to reaching Bride Peak on Chogalisa. On the Abruzzi Rwenzori trips, people hiked to all of the Rwenzori peaks.

Some of the peaks on Mount Luigi Di Savoia are Stairs Peak (4545 m), Sella Peak (4627 m), and Weismann Peak (4627 m). The mountain is shaped like a long hill. From the Fresh Field Pass area, where the northern face of Sella Peak can be climbed to the top, is the easier way to get there. It is the smallest of the six central mountains, and the first one to see its glacial ice melt.

HOW TO GET TO Baker Mountain

Nyakalengija is 22 kilometers from Kasese on the Fort Portal–Kampala Route. It is where the Rwenzori Mountains’ trails begin. You can pay your park fees at the park offices in Nyakalengija.

If you want to see more of the area without going up any slopes, the Central Circle Trail and the Kilembe Way are great options. The Central Circuit Trail will take you about eight days to finish.

To see the Rwenzori Mountains, you need a tour guide. By law, all mountain trips must be accompanied by an expert mountain crew that includes a local guide, porters, and a chef.

Look at our list of

some mountains in Uganda
Plant life on Mount Rwenzori
How to Get Ready for the Rwenzori Mountains