Saturday, May 20, 2006

Update

I'm not posting to often :/

I haven’t been doing very much lately, I found out yesterday that I cant register for UNISA Computer science midyear so i have the rest of the year off, so i may do some traveling and work or just get a job here.

Two weekneds ago on the Saterday, I lead a hike up Indiafenster and down left face B two weeks ago, it was really nice hike, it was very wet and inclement so only three other people pitched. The hike up was very nice, we got most of the tourists in the cable car to wave on their way by. We had lunch at Meclears and set of to the top of Left Face B, as we got their the clouds closed in and it began to rain, we decided the group was experienced enough to go down in the rain so we set off. We missed a lot of the view and didn’t have any manger incidents, we saw a pair of Himalayan Tar on one of the ledges, so they defiantly haven’t all been shot. The pick is of the rest of the hikers on the way down left Face B.


The sunday after that wasn’t to wet so Julia, Roark and myself went to Paarl Rock to do some multi pitch climbing. The trip there was fun, we got pretty lost in Paarl and after consulting a number of locals in pretty bad Africans we found the road up to the rock. Due to the recently passed front the dirt roads were pretty exciting leaving Spud, my car, totally encrusted with mud. We got to the crag and hiked to the base of a 2 pitch climb which was to be Roark’s firs multi pitch. We decided to climb with only one rope which in hind site wasn’t to good with three people, we had some interesting anchoring at the pitch but we got through it. The photo is of all of us on setup at the anchors. The second climb was a saga! We were short of time so we decided to climb only the first two pitches, the climb is vertical for +-15m and then has a +-5m horizontal traverse t to the right. Julia set off to lead the first pitch,. sho got to the traverse and was two tired to complete the climb so, she came down and I had to finish it, I got to the chains with some very creative climbing and the worst rope drag I’ve ever experienced! I was literally having to pull slack with all my strength and then clime a bit and then putt some more, I got to the anchor cleaned it, cleaning the rest of the climb was very exciting, in the end I could only clean three quarters of the horizontal section lowering me was interesting because of the rope drag I had to jump and throw my wait around just to get down. Once I got down I had to re climb most of the climb and clean the rest of the draws. Once the climb was clean I then had a very exciting swing, because I was at the end of the traverse and was just to tired to climb the rest, so I came off and just had to live with the swing. All in all a very nice day, and we all decide we’re def going back some time.

I have really been enjoying winter, loving the rain. I was feeling a bit down on Thursday so I decided I need to get out, so I cycled up to Kirstenboch and spent some time with my mom who left for London yesterday. I then went on a hike up Skeleton Gorge and to the top, it was exactly what I needed some good alone time in the rain. The section of Skeleton through the river was a raging torrent, I went through barefoot and even managed to get my pants pretty soaked but I loved it. The top was cold and windy as I expected and there was no one to be seen. I met tow other crazy hikers in the river section of skellies on the way down, I think they were very surprised when they met a solitary soaked barefoot hiker coming down from then top. We had a chat I took a photo for them and I went down and enjoyed a warm cup of soup at my Mom’s office.

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