12 of us set out from Theresa just after 07h00 in fine and already warm weather. We took the off road route at a leisurely pace to the base of Wood Buttress. We ascended the main route to just below the chimneys and had our beverage break soon after starting the Not Not Woody route.
The scrambles were gracefully managed by all and we had shade for the full ascent except at the summit. A few of us diverted slightly to check the Spring to Woody traverse and fleetingly saw a pair of Ground Woodpeckers and Black Eagles. Being mainly a group with many years’ experience, we were lucky to have among us an initiate who very ably rode the elephant.
When we teed into the Apostles path, three members, by prior arrangement, turned south to descend via Woody Ravine. The remaining nine were keen to continue on the planned route knowing the afternoon descent on KP would be unpleasantly hot. We had some fun en route to the lunch spot, breaking at 13h00.
After lunch we topped the summit approaching from the south east and spent a few minutes there before descending on the opposite side, to the aqueduct (never understood why it’s spelt with an ‘e’). There were a few forlorn red disas well past their prime. Whilst one group member quickly visited the waterfall to refill their bottle, the main group pushed down the gorge to dunk in the pools or otherwise refresh.
At the museum four members with time constraints formed an express group down whilst the remaining five took it slower, stopping at the MC hut for a shady break. This principal fragment fortunately had some intermittent respite from the heat whilst descending KP courtesy of some friendly clouds. We reached the cars at 16h30 about 20 minutes after the express group.
