If you are a hiking enthusiast, you are going to have a bucket list of various hills and mountains that you would like to hike. For some mountain, hiking can last a few hours while for other mountains, hiking would last a couple of days or even weeks especially when you are hiking mountains whose summit is more than 4000m. In such cases, you will spend some time in the mountain since it is not possible to summit in one day and even in some other cases, you might realize that you require more time to acclimatize due to attitude changes.
In such cases, your accommodation once you have arrived at the base of the mountain you are hiking will be on a mountain hut. To some people, the mountain huts are also referred to as mountain shelter, mountain hostel, mountain refuge, alpine hut, and even mountain lodge. Basically, the mountain huts comprise of a building that is located high in the mountains and mainly accessible only by foot and purposes at offering food and shelter to the hikers.
The mountain huts offer a variety of services varying from basic sleeping berths to hot showers and even freshly prepared hot meals. Depending on the mountain that you are hiking, the mountain huts are referred in different names. For example, in Mount Kenya, you are going to find that there is Shiptons Mountain Hut and Old Moses Mountain Hut, Mackinder’s hut among others. By spending time in the mountain huts, you get to acclimatize and thus avoid mountain sickness while at the same time increasing your chances to summit. Moreover, the experience of having to interact with different people in the mountain huts before you summit is always a great experience. I’m sure a UK hiking blog will write about this amazing place at some point in the future.
However, it should be note that during the peak season, mountain huts can be very busy and if you do not book your accommodation in advance, you are likely to find the mountain huts fully book. That said, in some mountains, it is possible for you to bring with you a camping tent and in such a case, you will only pay a small fee for you to pitch your tent at the grounds of the mountain hut.
For those who sleep inside the mountain huts, you might be interested to know that you are going to spend the night in the dorms of 10 or more people even though in some cases, you might find that there are some dorms that even accommodate 50 people. In such cases, the specific bed that you are going to sleep in will be determined by how earlier you arrive at the mountain hut since if you arrive late and find that all the beds have been selected by other hikers, you are likely to end up sleeping next to the door.
In some mountains, there is the option of small mountain huts for couples or partners. Take note that you need to confirm the amenities available in these small mountain huts since apart from having the advantage of the privacy, these small mountain huts do not have the option of hot showers or even electricity.
Ray Kiarie who has travelled widely and currently a manager at Safari Fellows when remarking on mountain huts explained that “to ensure that you a good experience in the mountain huts, take cash with you since the huts mainly accept cash, you might want to bring a sleeping bag with you, ensure your personal gear is well organized, and remember to have ample rest since if you do not rest enough, you might end up having a hard time to summit the next day
