
Monday 21 April 2014 East Fort along Blackburn's Kloof Path
its time.... its a public holiday and a day off for me and its time to head to the mountains again. the day is perfect with a slight chilly breeze to keep the solo walker/hiker from completely over heating. and well the day just couldn't be better.
no matter how bad life's little sordid twisted mind can get, there is a mother nature of a way to get around it. and for me its just around my bend and a little way up to chapman's peak drive and up into her rocky chiselled face. bliss....!! to live in this magnificent city and be surrounded by the majestic mountains and cold quivering oceans - is to be on holiday permanently - 'weather' I am at work or working at my walking on the sides of mountains all around me
and here are again...
its been a while since I was confident enough to tackle the tricky pebble pounding of any mountain track. Aware that my still strengthening dislocated-in-December shoulder cannot handle any crazy wibbly wobbly falls... but now I am ready... so up I go
flippin awesome. how could I not breathe in involuntarily, the grandeur around me and the beckoning top of the mountain ahead. am aching to go to the top today - but my little voice knows, I am not fully prepared today, nor should I really be on the first day out again. while I can't run around a block - I know I could have got to the top today if I had had the time and a bag full of preparation goodies. sadly, I know today is not that day...
I have seen and felt this scenery now a hundred times and yet never does the innocence of seeing it the first time, wear off. a famously profound mountain known and loved by locals, tourists and family to her endless beckoning tracks
the whole adventure of these days is to be on my own - not yacking endlessly with other hikers (no offence intended). the only sounds I want to hear are those of mother nature's children around me and the noise in my head slowly quietening down in awe to the gift I am allowed savour any day I wish. the endless warnings of 'not to hike on your own' are never far from my thoughts. but once again I set off, trusting my instincts, trodding carefully so as not to sprain any limbs, listening to the walking whisper in my head that always says when enough is enough
I climb for about an hour, meeting several people and their laughing dogs along the way. after about 15 mins of walking up n onwards on my own, it feels as if the corner to turn back is near. and then I see two people ahead of me some ten minutes or so... great!!! I can keep walking on till I see them
I meet Don and Edith..... Don is 85yrs old and has been walking solo for the last 35 year or so. confirmation that my madness is still a little bit of sanity - its ok to keep doing the quiet walking I love so much without the accomplices necessary for the longer hikes. we chat a bit and exchange walking stories - I cannot resist as usual - in taking their portrait, for them and for me. my love of these still and inspiring tales of greatness amongst us - humble and incredible - is what drives my spirit to smile once again
and its only the first day
I do my thing, so I can do my thing and capture you doing yours I email Don a photo of him and Edith right there on the mountain and he replied to my momentary photo madness later that evening.
thank you Don and Edith!
its time.... its a public holiday and a day off for me and its time to head to the mountains again. the day is perfect with a slight chilly breeze to keep the solo walker/hiker from completely over heating. and well the day just couldn't be better.
no matter how bad life's little sordid twisted mind can get, there is a mother nature of a way to get around it. and for me its just around my bend and a little way up to chapman's peak drive and up into her rocky chiselled face. bliss....!! to live in this magnificent city and be surrounded by the majestic mountains and cold quivering oceans - is to be on holiday permanently - 'weather' I am at work or working at my walking on the sides of mountains all around me
and here are again...
its been a while since I was confident enough to tackle the tricky pebble pounding of any mountain track. Aware that my still strengthening dislocated-in-December shoulder cannot handle any crazy wibbly wobbly falls... but now I am ready... so up I go
flippin awesome. how could I not breathe in involuntarily, the grandeur around me and the beckoning top of the mountain ahead. am aching to go to the top today - but my little voice knows, I am not fully prepared today, nor should I really be on the first day out again. while I can't run around a block - I know I could have got to the top today if I had had the time and a bag full of preparation goodies. sadly, I know today is not that day...
I have seen and felt this scenery now a hundred times and yet never does the innocence of seeing it the first time, wear off. a famously profound mountain known and loved by locals, tourists and family to her endless beckoning tracks
the whole adventure of these days is to be on my own - not yacking endlessly with other hikers (no offence intended). the only sounds I want to hear are those of mother nature's children around me and the noise in my head slowly quietening down in awe to the gift I am allowed savour any day I wish. the endless warnings of 'not to hike on your own' are never far from my thoughts. but once again I set off, trusting my instincts, trodding carefully so as not to sprain any limbs, listening to the walking whisper in my head that always says when enough is enough
I climb for about an hour, meeting several people and their laughing dogs along the way. after about 15 mins of walking up n onwards on my own, it feels as if the corner to turn back is near. and then I see two people ahead of me some ten minutes or so... great!!! I can keep walking on till I see them
I meet Don and Edith..... Don is 85yrs old and has been walking solo for the last 35 year or so. confirmation that my madness is still a little bit of sanity - its ok to keep doing the quiet walking I love so much without the accomplices necessary for the longer hikes. we chat a bit and exchange walking stories - I cannot resist as usual - in taking their portrait, for them and for me. my love of these still and inspiring tales of greatness amongst us - humble and incredible - is what drives my spirit to smile once again
and its only the first day
I do my thing, so I can do my thing and capture you doing yours I email Don a photo of him and Edith right there on the mountain and he replied to my momentary photo madness later that evening.
thank you Don and Edith!