Full Moon on Lions Head

Last Thursday was the monthly hike up Lions Head for the full moon. Sammy, Matt, and I met up just after work equipped with 2 bottles of wine, cheese, crackers, and water for our sunset picnic. We hiked up along with many other people; there was actually a line formed behind the chains; little did we know that was just the beginning. We summitted around 7pm and claimed some rock on the sunset side of the top overlooking the Atlantic. After the sun dipped below the horizon, we continued chatting until a woman approached us to pass along word that the moon was rising. We moved to the other side (city side) and watched… the moon rise. I took a few pictures that do it no justice and made friends with a guy with a DSLR and tripod – hopefully he’ll be sharing his spoils with me via email… For now, here as overexposed attempt...

The hike down was absurd; imagine hundreds of people (one estimate was that there were 1000 people that went up that night) hiking down, single file, in the dark. Add in some cliffs, big steps, and some slippery roots to keep it interesting. With the moon so bright, you barely needed flashlights (especially with all the people and flashlights ahead and behind). We broke away from the group, with a large following I’ll add, and took the chains down saving probably 30 minutes. Quite an amazing experience. At work the following morning, a few people were talking about seeing all the lights coming down as if a string of Christmas lights had been wrapped around Lions Head.

As for the weekend, Saturday we went wine tasting in Stellenbosch (some things just don’t get old) and I now have a new favorite vineyard (okay, it at least ties with Waterford and the chocolate). Sunday morning I woke up early with a plan to go hiking but after looking at the map, I gave in to the little voices telling me to skip a day of the solo hikes.
Instead, I brought The Fountainhead to the Rhodes Memorial and read with a beautiful view of Cape Town and the wineland mountains. The rest of my day was split between groceries, a quick visit to the Groote Schuur Hospital (world's first heart transplant occurred here in1967), the climbing gym, and grilling ostrich for dinner with Grant. Another good weekend, but I’m definitely looking forward to my trip home and not feeling the safety issue as much.

But there’s always an upside. Just as I was packing up to leave work this evening, Garth called me to tell me he brought in an old surf board that I could use for the rest of my time in South Africa. It’s a little shorter (and with a sharp point) than anything I’ve ever ridden; if I can get my feet on that, it’ll be a success story!