We were on our way down, with Mike in front. Suddenly he stopped. He gesticulated for me to be quiet and put his arms out to protect me from going further. There are on the path was the biggest snake I have ever seen in the wild. A massive puff adder, out from under his rock, sunning himself in the warm winter sun. I took my cell phone out of the bag and readied it to take a picture. Mike said, ‘he’s seen us.’ He had. He was looking up at us. We froze. He turned around and slithered back under his rock. No photo was taken. But I did find one online!
Photo from www.hibiscuscoastseconds.co.za
That was one of the flavours of my Chapman’s Peak hike with Mike.
Chapman’s Peak has been the ‘hill’ I have looked at from my house for the last 27 years. We throw open our bedroom curtains and see Chapman’s Peak. We have seen in under cloud; we have seen it on fire. But usually it stands tall in spectacular sunshine.
Today we climbed it for the first time since we moved to this area. I had no idea it was going to be so hard. I knew it was a lot of steps, but the formal wooden steps that take you from Chapman’s Peak drive to the path were all but destroyed by the fire, so to get to the path itself is a bit of a scramble. That’s the beginning of a lot of scrambling. We lost the path and found it again and lost it again as well. Other hikers have put small piles of rocks along the way to give a clue as to where to go. We added a couple of our own.
Finally, after 1 hour and 50 minutes we arrived at the top…
The view was absolutely majestic. This is looking out towards Hout Bay…
And this is looking down to the Fish Hoek Valley…there’s my house…
We were so glad the snake was on the way down. It was quite unnerving. That one we saw, but what about all the others that are lurking in their lairs?!
Overall, to climb Chappies from the Noordhoek side, you need to be foot sure and have strong knees (of which I have neither!). We each had a good strong stick, which proved invaluable. Good walking shoes, plenty of water and snacks for on the way and at the top. We only decided this morning to do this, so our ‘picnic’ left much to be desired. Mike was not impressed. Riana wouldn’t have been either. Next time, Mike says, he will be responsible for the food. Hey, this wasn’t a ‘first date’ hike. If it were, I would have gone to town and done the whole picnic thing with a three course carefully planned and packaged meal. This was a ‘been married for almost 30 years’ last minute idea hike. But Mike will not let me off the hook. Fruit and peanut butter ( I took 2 teaspoons) and a lot of water. He chirped and quipped at me about my choice of picnic.
He also ate it.
😀
All of Psalm 121 is worth memorising. I recited it half way up.
I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip. He who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and your going, both now and forever more!
A great psalm while you are climbing a mountain.
These are the days.
A special one it is too. Today my niece Jessica turns 21! Happy birthday, Jess! The best is yet to come!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂