Rocklands, Part 4
Rocklands
August 11 - September 3
August is beautiful in the Cederberg Mountains because of its brilliant and bio-diverse wildflower season. According to Cederberg Park Kromrivier (2019), the Cape Floral Kingdom is one of the world's six floral kingdoms. While it is one of the smallest kingdoms, it is also the most biodiverse, home to 9,000 species, with 69% found of these species nowhere else on Earth. This floral kingdom is also the only one found in one country.
Alpha Excelsior Guest Farm, one of the most popular accommodations in Rocklands, was first established because of the popular wildflower season. Later, climbers found and developed Rocklands. It was clear how busy with local tourists Clanwilliam and the Cederberg became by late August and early September. The fields near Alpha Farms are overgrown with bright orange, blue, and white flowers. The hillsides looked completely yellow from afar because of the density of the wildflowers. Hiking to various crags and climbs at this time of year is another way to find varieties of wildflowers. My favorite was the neon-hot pink flowers near the crag, 8-day rain. We visited the Botanical Gardens in Cape Town during our final weeks here but were more impressed by the flowers in the Cederberg. It did not seem like much was blooming in the gardens.
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As per usual, the last three weeks were filled with ups and downs. By the middle of August, Zane was sick with a head-cold and missed one of the colder, yet sunny, climbing days. It was an excellent opportunity for me to spend the whole day climbing with Liam and catching up more before he flew home. Of course, about five days later, I began feeling sick too.
One of my favorite days this month was celebrating Zane's birthday. It was a hot rest day spent hanging out at the chalet, hiking, swimming at the waterfall, and returning to the Fish Fry. Finally, he got a "winter" birthday! (for context, he does not love the month of August due to the crazy heat).
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During our final weeks, we also made value judgments regarding the climbs we would invest time into. We both had more challenging projects we had been trying and invested 4 to 6 days into each. It is always hard to know when to move on, especially when you're feeling close, but ultimately, you need to be realistic with your chance of success and be okay with failing if you go "all-in" on projects. Zane was getting closer and closer to his project each session, but the window began to narrow before we had to leave, and he decided to climb on other boulders.
Instead, Zane focused on a single crimpy climb during the last week of the trip. It was a pretty good style for him, but he became physically exhausted from trying it for so many days in such a short timeframe and ultimately did not finish it. During one of his sessions, it said it was supposed to stop raining by noon, but it rained most of the afternoon. The rain stopped frequently enough to make us think we could climb again, but then we would roll back in. The end of the day featured the most brilliant double rainbow.
I did the same, leaving Caroline a v10 for another time, and instead focused my energy on a long v7 called Panic Room that I first tried in early July. Similar to Minky, I fell on the last move for several days and sent it on our last climbing day of the trip. It also took seven days and several different micro-beta adjustments to come together. It is classic for a reason.
I fell into a rhythm during our final month and was climbing my best. It had been months since I had done any training, but we were also climbing more volume, allowing for diversity of movement patterns and getting into shape. Before the trip, I was in good form from training but was insufficiently prepared for super long, heel-hook intensive climbing. Most females are very good at heel hooks due to the nature of the open hip and leg position, but I was always inflexible and weak comparatively. Almost every climb I tried in Rocklands had at least one move that required a heel hook. By the last month of the trip, I finally felt stronger and more flexible in this position, contributing to greater success. This was a massive win since this has been a significant weakness in my climbing for a long time.
We continued to appreciate the sense of community and collectivism in Rocklands. As we climbed on different boulder problems, I kept running into a US climber at different boulders. We usually found different beta or methods, but her positivity and encouragement was refreshing. We also had a situation where we drove into a ditch and got the car stuck. It was a beautiful day, and Zane was going to spend the evening on his project, but we dug out our wheels for over an hour. After his session, a South African climber returned to his van, had a rope and hitch, and generously pulled us out!
Pictured: Evening views and getting car stuck
Our trip's final week and days were filled with a bit of heartache. Even though we were exhausted physically and mentally from projecting, trip pacing, rain, and feeling more injury-prone, it was hard to leave. We quickly felt at home after our arrival three months ago and enjoyed every moment of it. Our last night was spent enjoying Cape Town, exploring Camps Bay, and enjoying views of the ocean and Table Mountain. Spending three months in such a beautiful place was a lifetime experience. We will be back!
Pictured: Last night in Cape Town
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