Having done a Devil's Peak hike before, I was really pushing to do it again. It has significant difficulty, some places where running is possible, and the danger factor. I eventually found someone to join the hike with me, partially due to her not realising how difficult it was. Regardless, the hike was on. This past Saturday we started out in the morning, around 10:00, and looking at the mountain from the start at Rhodes Memorial, things looked pretty ominous.
Having also heard that there would be winds in excess of 50kmph, we tried to prepare as best we could: windbreakers, food and water (loads of water), gloves, and a sense for adventure. The first part of the trail is a tiring uphill of 30 and 45 degree inclination. Thanks to my deceptively fit hiking buddy we flew up these, and were at the Kings Block house within no time. We kept on moving up, and soon were at the climbs. This is also where the wind started to pick up.
We were extraordinarily careful when in open and windy areas, particularly when near any edges. In some places, we even went to all fours to make sure we didn't get blown around. The higher we got, the less we could see. The picture below is pretty much all we could see for the rest of the way up.
Fighting against winds and having only a general sense of where we were (when there was a path split, we just went higher), we managed to get to the summit. The winds had only got worse at this stage, and we were officially in the danger zone. It took us 1h50m to get to the top, not too bad considering we took the long way up along the side as opposed to straight over. To say it was unpleasant to have a break there is an understatement, so we headed down. (Video below: please note audio is loud, make sure you turn your volume down)
Danger on Devils Peak from Trailrunner on Vimeo.
Due to no visibility, we ended up coming out near the contour path by Table Mountain. This is a long way from where we intended to be. The path itself, however, was amazing. This is a definite run path for anyone interested. The descent took a very chilled (moderate to fast walking pace) 2 hours to complete. I would highly recommend doing Devil's Peak for anyone who loves a good and trying hike. There are easier routes to get to the top, like coming from the front face of Table Mountain. As always though, be prepared.
For those interested, some stats:
Hike time total: 3h50m
Estimated elevation gain: 850m
Average HR: 150 (avg on ascent 170, peak 191)
Energy: 2200 kcal
