Night Hike

The previous post illustrates my deep love for hiking. This post will only affirm this passion. On Thursday night, I thought I was going to have a quiet, uneventful night, however, just after I finished perusing through graduate school topics, Sanford called to say that they had vegetarian lasagna and that I needed to come test it. So, I left not thinking too much about anything other than getting a tasty piece of lasagna. The moon was out as we left and the stars even in the suburbs were quite visible. As we were munching on our lasagna, Ryan and Nina began talking of their moonlight hike to Lion's Head. I had already climbed Lion's Head twice by this point, but when they offered a trip by moonlight, I couldn't resist. I rushed home with my escort (Ryan) and changed into warmer hiking clothes and proper footware. I have climbed Lion's Head in chucks, but I wouldn't recommend it.
We arrived at Lion's Head around 10pm. The stars were brightly shining and the view of the city was magnificent. Our car was the only car in the parking lot, which was slightly disheartening. I was afraid that my group would be frightened by the possibility of mugging, so they wouldn't want to venture into the great unknown. Fortunately, we reached a consensus and left for our adventure. The view only became better as we climbed. The warm ocean breezes made Lion's Head warmer than my flat. As we reached some of the look out points, the city looked like it was a large mass of flickering candles. The only sign we could read from the top of the mountain was for Absa, one of the biggest banks in South Africa. we climbed to the top and upon reaching the top, found no other adventurers. The view was magnificent. I felt like I was on top of the world. The stars were all around, the moon was so bright that a flashlight was completely unnecessary, gargantuan table mountain overlooked us, and the ocean warmed us with its balmy winds. I don't know of any place in the world where there is such a feeling. I am so overwhelmed each time I stand on the top of Lion's Head. It is hard to believe that I could be here, and that this all must be some kind of dream.
Our trip down was safe, although Sanford did turn on a flashlight, which scared me immensely. I think I was about to dive under a rock or spray someone with pepper spray. Fortunately, he turned it off quickly before drawing too much attention to ourselves. We returned to Obz around 12:30 am. I felt tired, but also an exhilarating sense of being alive. I am only granted the opportunity to live once, so I must take full advantage to experience all that is wonderful, even if it means losing a few hours of sleep and getting a few bruises.