The middle of the rainy season over here, it rained and was cloudy until we hit a 5km magic tunnel which delivered us into blue skies, just as we turned off the main road and began the slow climb up towards the base point. Along the way the clouds put on a dramatic show for us and we marvelled at the views off the edge of the windy road until we became immersed in the clouds and the day took on a faery atmosphere.
A 4km walk slowly uphill along a ridge line led us to the famous chains that you can climb up to the peak. The mountain takes on a 70 degree incline at this point and it becomes true mountain climbing, made more difficult by the wetness of the rocks I was trying to find footholds on, preferring the raw challenge of the climb to simply scrambing up the chains. There are three sets of chains, each about 100 metres high, the last being the most technicaly difficult. After a brisk walk the climb was exhilarating and very tiring, though I would have loved to do it over and over again!
At the top, we clambered down more chains and over to the true peak where I leant over the edge and gazed in wonder and at the sheer drop curving beneath me. The whole way up visibility was limited to a 100 metres or so and here there was just the rock falling away into the nothingness of the clouds.
On the decent, by unspoken, unanimous consent we took the stairs, no one really wanting to risk what could be a life-threatening fall, naturally much more hazardous going down. As we crawled into the car, the rain finally set in and we felt blessed.
It was a really amazing day that is impossible to put into words, but stay tuned for when I post some more photos taken by Nikki.
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