Mount Stanley at 5019m.
This mount is named after Sir Morton Stanley from 1841 – 1904, who was a British explorer who was known for finding Dr. Livingstone in 1871 on the shores of Lake Tanganyika during one of the six adventures he took to central Africa during his life. In mid 1870s, he turned lakes Victoria and Tanganyika and then continued to the west down the Congo River to the Atlantic. On the adventure expedition in 1888, he made a certain sighting of the Rwenzori Mountains and the others in this adventure saw the mountains first and the local people knew of them as well. He was also the one who reported the name of the range as the Ruwenzori to the Europeans on his return. This name is also a collection of the Bantu words that mean “hill of rains” but was not used for the range by the locals. Many recently in Africa hold a negative view of Stanley and the colonization that he brought.
Mt Stanley was also first climbed by the Duke of the Abruzzi. J. Petigax C. Ollier and J Brocherel on June 18, 1906 and is also a high chain of some 11 summits that rise from variety of glaciers that include the Stanley Plateau that is the largest mass of ice with in the Rwenzori Mountains and is also over one kilometer in length. The highest of the summits is the Margherita peak, which is hiked from the Elena hut to the first rocks and then cross the snow and ice Stanley Plateau towards Alexandra peak, the second highest summit is the Massif.
Along the eastern ridge of the peak, the normal route for the Margherita slopes a steep gully and then hike the dramatic Margherita glacier to the col which is between Margherita peak and Alexandra peak. Just from here, one can hike north to a short and steep rock wall which is also climbed to the summit. The rope will be needed for the widely crevassed glacier and the summit rocks. The peak also forms the boundary between Uganda and the DRC. The eastern ridge of the Alexandra peak at 4990m is also an excellent climb as well. Towards the south, there is another collection of peaks that are topped by Savoia peak at 4977m. The Ascent of any of these peaks across the great topical glaciers is something strange and an experience that will be enjoyed by most fans of the exotic.