Thirteen of us set out from Theresa boom at 07h10 in warm still conditions, hoping the predicted cooler weather and drizzle would arrive as scheduled. We took the off-road route at a leisurely pace to the base of Woody Buttress. The initial pitches were climbed carefully and slowly whilst the group gained confidence before enjoying the scramble intense route to the start of Not Not Woody. The loose scree under the slopy rock was quite crumbly and going down singly paid off as many rocks were dislodged. We had our beverage break right thereafter. The fun pitches after re-joining the chimney route path scrambles were gracefully managed by all. Whilst relatively wind free, a high cloud cover had moved in from the north which had a cooling effect and gave a beautiful skyscape. Nearing the summit we had distant views of a male klipspringer in classic stance atop Spring Buttress. Then we were further surprised and entertained by the initiate who performed balletic displays on the elephant. On reaching the Apostles Path, three members chose to descend via Woody Ravine reaching their cars at 12h20. Ten of us had some fun in the tunnels and cracks en route to the lunch spot, breaking at 13h00. After lunch we enjoyed a brief rain just sufficient to warrant extra care whilst topping out on Junction Peak. We descended on the northeast side (via the crack) to the aqueduct path. Gratefully, the time and energy costly decision to take Echo Valley for our return was not repeated this year. After a brief refreshment stop at the MC hut, some apples were collected and consumed on the KP descent. We were very lucky that overcast and cooler conditions made for a reasonably comfortable descent. The faster hikers raced ahead with the principal and final fragment reaching the cars at 16h02.
