An Aborted Hike Up Devil's Peak
Last South African summer, which means our winter, my father-in-law Henri and I, encouraged by our successful hike up Table Mountain's aerial India Venster trail to the upper Cableway station, eventually figured out we had to recidivate. For our next target, we picked the Devil's Peak Mowbray Ridge trail, aiming at conquering the mountain via its northeastern and very sheer flank rather than using the usual city donkey route to the southern saddle.
Above Rhodes Memorial, climbing towards Devil's Peak
We set out very early as always but soon discovered that on a week-end, the bottom gate to the road leading up the mountain side to our Rhodes Memorial trailhead was closed and we'd have to walk an extra 2 or 3 kilometers partially uphill. We were already pushing our luck a bit in terms of distance, grade and overall difficulty, the round trip trail being at least twice as long as our one-way India Venster itinerary.
But we persevered. I had instructed Henri to let me know if things got too rough, too sheer, too soon, and he had heartily agreed. I was being led up by someone who knew the route, and therefore, in good Alpine guiding tradition, I was the
Muguet in Pelham Bay Park
Spring is turning into a lush summer. Mosquitoes have appeared, rains are torrential, flowers everywhere. The Pelham Bay Park subway ride through the Bronx remains a bit of an ordeal but always yields beauty and utter sense of isolation. We put out a fire, saw a parrot, and then we even found, of all unexpected surprises, du muguet, lily-of-the-valley, certainly not native but such a beautiful perfume. This is, after all, the month of May.
Incongruous New Rochelle towers above Two Trees Island
Rust - Pelham Bay Park
Lily-of-the-valley - May 1st in France is 'la fête du muguet'
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Les boîtes noires qui parlent, un homme qui voit sa vie s’effondrer devant le monde entier, la France est aujourd’hui à l’honneur, ou plutôt, en déshonneur…