Use Less Stuff: January 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

mom got to take the express route down from lion's head

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Picnic time

We wrapped up the weekend at cape point vineyards with a relaxing picnic and the kids had a great stomp about the place

table mountain - jacob's ladder

Disclaimer: No kids in this story, just droning on about some climbing.

We have been in Cape Town for 6 months, and not one of us has yet to take the cable car or hike up to Table Mountain. We have been saving it for visitors, but it just hasn't happened yet. I recently decided it would be nice to hike and climb something for the first time up. After a bit of planning, and a 5am start, I finally made it up the mountain today.

the view from the parking at 530am

The weather on the mountain is very mountain-y, colder than town and ever changing, but we thought we had a pretty nice window. the top was clouded in, but there was no sign of precipitation, wind was light.

mountain guide stef ready to tackle the 2 hour approach

into the mist

hmm, still cloudy...

the india vestner trail up table mountain is a brilliant hike, it was stunning even without the views

the classic route, jacob's ladder, goes up the face to the left of the mega roof in the middle. more info here

boy, looks bigger in person!

when we got the base we had hiked above the clouds. it was perfect, calm weather, blue skies, all systems go. for the next three hours we climbed the three pitches for a total of about 90m of climbing. when stef got to the first anchor the wind and clouds/mist picked up. the condensation was heavy, and all the gear was dripping wet but the rock felt fine. i was too afraid to take my phone out fearing it would be dropped due to the condensation, thus no climbing photos were taken, oh well... the climb was well within my limits, (i thought), but with the added stress of the weather, hanging belays, and climbing with a 10+lb of gear i was wrecked at the top. my biceps and hands were cramping, little bits of panic sneaking in, but we made it alright.

ready to get out of the wind and mist

I missed the photo opp, but there was a group of about 30 tourists with selfie sticks, go-pros, fanny packs, waiting for us as we topped out. quite the contrast from hanging on the wall for three hours in the clouds.