Lolkisale, Losimingori, and Monduli Mtns tour.

Four day bikepacking tour to different mtns.  Route was unplanned.  Mike and I got our schedules in sync to do another bike pack trip.  I had finger surgery and it finally healed but it bothered me some.

We rode familiar trails, tracks and roads to Lolkisale.  Lisa escorted us for a bit.

starting to climb up to Lolkisale mtn.  it sits out by itself with lots of rock outcroppings.  About here we shooed and cameleon off the road so it wouldn't bite the dust.

Then up the communication tower road to the top of Lolkisale mountain.  First part was doable to get on a ridge. not overly steep

Starting to get good views.

Then it got steep or rocky, sandy,  or all three.  They had actually put concrete down but it was broken up.

Higher up it was smooth but steep.

Starting to reach the montagne forest.

My company has a communications tower at the top.  One of like 10.  So we were expected and well looked after.  This is the gate to ours

Mike enjoying the late afternoon with the towers in the distance.  We moved down from the very top to an open grassy place surrounded by trees.

Lots of firewood and plenty of cold.  so we had a fire and sat around in the wind.

In the morning the fog was thick.

My hammock in the trees.

While breaking camp a small herd of buffalo crashed through the forest below us.  We didnt get a glimpse but certainly heard them.

Descending was easier but still I had to walk a few rough sections

We rode a trail we knew west and then took a track to take us north towards Losimongori mtn.

We hit the highway around Makyuni.  Stopped for lots of food and water.  ten kms from Makyuni we decided to move off the road and look for tracks going up the mtn. We were in overgrazed scrub.  we came upon a good track and immediately the habitat became good bush, high dry grass, mature trees, and thick .

Met some young herders and they said camp anywhere.  So we camped here.  Had to chase some eland and zebra off our camp site.

Great camp site.

Calling home

Next day me continue gradually to the base of Losimingori mtns and come upon this camp.  Turns out this was Steins place and is now a WMA wildlife area.  This old man stayed on all these years looking after the place.  everything was run down but we were told there was a ranger post up top.

I must say now the trail got very interesting.  Lots of sign of Elephant all over as we were following a drainage with water.  Thick bush.

Checked out the water flow.

Came into an opening and we glimpsed a land cruiser parked on the other side and sounds of someone chopping wood.  luckily the road forked going out of the drainage.  so we took this steep track and came into cool open grasslands as we contoured around the mtn.

Another fork,  one road going up to the top where we were told was a hunters camp.

We were so luckily to be able to ride this track.

After a tiring up and down section in the heat we came to the highway and one of the villages hugging the highway.  Ordered food, sodas, water, chai, and eventually a couple of beers and had a good rest.

I added 2 litres of water on my back seat post rack as we wont get water until mid next day.

Took some tracks the the Nanja dam.  Lots of people washing clothes on the lower side of the dam, we rode a bit and then took a bath and swim in the water.  refreshing.

now we were on a good gravel road, which was new to us.  it started to head up to monduli juu plateau. As we started to hit a village we turned around to camp in a Accacia drepanelobium forest.  heading there i went through a ditch and snapped the seatpost rack and it sat on the tyre.  i balanced it on the handle bars and caught up to mike and we camped.  nothing spectacular about the camp.