Run into Gorillas on Mount Karisimbi

Karisimbi is a part of Albertine Rift, the western branch of the East African Rift. Karisimbi is flanked by Mikeno to the north, Bisoke to the east and Nyiragongo to the west, on the other side of the Rift Valley.

We ambitiously planned to summit on day one, which would have been doable save a third person added to our group. We decided to stop at basecamp on day one, which we reached just after noon. After an afternoon of wildlife watching from the basecamp, we awoke on day 2 for a early morning summit. The 360 views overlooking DRC, Uganda and the full range in Rwanda was well worth spending the hour on the summit before returning to camp to pack and descend. I ended up handing off my pack in exchange for a nice trail run decent, which may, or may not have been a smart move for my knees.