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Route: Mt Meru (Tanzania)

Submitted by ollycohen on Sat, 08/24/2024 - 12:54pm
Location
Tanzania
Distance
23.75 mi
Vertical Gain
10,104 ft
Description

Momella Gate to the summit of Mt Meru and back to the gate. This is the only route up Mt Meru. The trail passes Miriakamba hut, Saddle Hut, and Rhino point before reaching the summit at 4562m/14968ft.

Meru is the second tallest mountain in Tanzania after Kilimanjaro and the fifth tallest in Africa. The climb traverses wildlife areas that require a park ranger to be with you, rainforest, heather, and alpine desert with mind blowing vistas. 
 

Trip Report: https://bigdumbadventure.substack.com/p/mt-meru-run-trip-report

GPS Track
Mt_Meru.gpx4.37 MB

FKTs

Images

Comments

Alexander Walch
Tue, 09/15/2026 - 05:22am

hey there from Liechtenstein! I've been on Meru two weeks ago with ranger Bryson as a day hike to summit and a night stay at Saddle Hut for acclimatization for Kilimanjaro where I went ice climbing. He shared with me your story of the fastest attempt he knows of, Andre!

Unlike you, I wanted to sleep up in the hut to prepare for Kilimanjaro and unlike you I carried all my supplies - also the water. However, also unlike you, I do not own a watch that can track gpx/gps files or has strava etc. Therefore, I cannot submit my achieved time. I may return next year with my Garmin inreach which can record the track as far as I believe. Until then, I leave you with my announcement that I've set the fastest known unassisted/unsupported ascent time - incl. carrying all my water from Momella Gate to summit and back down: 7h06min without any running.

I want to use this as an opportunity to inspire those who will come after Andre and me, to set a really epic time! As Andre wrote on his blog entry, the first hut and then to the second hut can be done in 90min each. I walked in 85min to Miriakamba when Andre writes about running it in 80 minutes, for example. So, I genuinely believe that with previous acclimatization, possibly after hiking Kilimanjaro, and running an ascent time of sub 4:30 hours or even sub 4 hours is possible. So, friends, let's go and chase the dream :) I'm very sure there is someone out there, reading this, who unlike me is not an Average Joe but an aspiring athlete. I'm looking forward to reading or hearing from your FKT soon!

Best, Alex