Lucifer

Go back to South Africa.
Go back to Mooloo Face.

Lucifer

Low on Lucifer.

Some grocery shopping in Franschhoek and soon we were packing up at the trailhead in the stifling afternoon heat. A 90 minute walk through a game farm (did I mention it was hot?) and finally a pleasant hike up a vegetated and thus shady stream brought us to a nice bivy site inside the Duiwelskloof. This would be our jumping off point the following morning for a long route called Lucifer (18 pitch, F-rated or about 5.9/9+ affair) located some 45 minutes further up the Kloof. That evening we enjoyed Ross’s cooking for the first time as well as a hip flask that was passed around.

.

Lucifer

Midway up Lucifer.

Up pre-dawn the next morning for quick breakfast and a 45 minute hike up to the base of the route. The 500 meter wall looked quite steep (multiple roof systems up high) but we were armed with a good written description of the route as well as the knowledge that we were aiming for an obvious dihedral system some 300 meters up. I was a little apprehensive as Ross had mentioned a possible runout on a steep pitch 2. As it turned out, once we figured out the line of the route, pitch 2 was neither steep nor runout; the excitement would come later in the day climbing the afore mentioned dihedral system. We did some linking on the first 5 pitches but later switched to pitching things out per route description (mostly to try and stay on the route). The crux of the route came somewhere at the third of the way mark where a tricky face traverse (multiple options made us re-consider a few times), with protection some distance away and left of one’s feet, was required. A handful more pitches put us in position for a second traverse of the day – this one seemed easier but was in a more spectacular position. As it turned out, the traverse put us at a hanging belay on the arête of the obvious dihedral system. The two subsequent, beautifully exposed, face climbing pitches (linked into one due to lack of anchor opportunity) with somewhat sparse and finicky protection were probably the highlight of the day. A few more vegetated pitches put us on a high ledge under improbable looking overhangs. The key here was to traverse the ledge system to a trivial gully which put us near the summit.

.

Lucifer

Long hike down.

Ross greeted us on top and, after killing off the lunch we had carried all day, we started the long (~4 hour) descent back to camp. Imagine something akin to descending off Resolution Arete but with a longer and more complex “plateau” traverse (really a series of ups and downs of the rolling wall-top summits) to reach the head of a gully. Once in the gully, we barely made it down the only technical portion of the descent just as the sun went down. Back in camp sometime later that evening.

Photos

Franschhoek

Strolling through the touristy Franschhoek before we head over to the trailhead (Dec. 2017).

Franschhoek

A church in Franschhoek (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Packing up for our 2+ hour approach hike into the Duiwelskloof. This is a private game farm and so Ross had to secure a permit for us to access and park. It was tickling 30C (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley hiking in the afternoon heat. Devil’s Tooth can be seen in the center foreground of the cluster of formations (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Interesting plant life (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Hiking through the game farm. Those are probably kudus (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Ross and Shirley nearing the entrance to the Kloof and very much looking forward to the shade (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

More interesting flora (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Hot, hot, hot!

Lucifer

Finally in the Duiwelskloof. Look at those walls (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Ross and Shirley enjoying our stream side camp (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

A refreshing soak in the clean cool water. For two weeks, we drank untreated stream water in the high country without any side effects (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley recovering from the hot approach hike (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Chilling in our nice camp in the Duiwelskloof. Photo by Ross (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Starting up Lucifer belayed by Shirley. We’d combine the first handful of pitches but would pitch things out per description higher up to stay on the route (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

More of first pitch (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Linking the first two pitches (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Wider angle view. Photo by Ross (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley following the first two pitches of Lucifer (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

View of Devil’s Tooth from low on Lucifer. Our camp is in the left of two vegetated forks below (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley arriving at our first belay (pitch 2; Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Starting pitch 3 (which we linked with 4) of Lucifer (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Interesting vegetation atop the starting buttress (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley topping out on the low buttress that comprises the first 4ish pitches of Lucifer (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

A pitch above the initial buttress on Lucifer (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Higher on the same pitch (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley somewhere low on Lucifer (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Walls on the other side of Duiwelskloof (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Bit of vegetation – not well travelled (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

This was the crux of Lucifer (our opinion); what the description recommends as alternative to FA’s pitch 6. Last pro (visible) is below and way left of you by the time you’re done with the crux moves. Note the two micro cam belay anchor (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Pitch 7 is a short chimney and we combined it with pitch 8 visible here. Devil’s Tooth dominates your view throughout the day (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

A traverse on pitch 8 of Lucifer (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Leading pitch 9ish. This is the middle third of the route (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley on pitch 9 or 10 (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Almost level with the top of Devil’s Tooth (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Topping out on the same pitch (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Arriving at a belay ledge before the money traverse pitch (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Starting the pitch 12 traverse on Lucifer – this takes you to the outer arete of the huge dihedral you saw from below (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

And almost done with the traverse. A great pitch!

Lucifer

Shirley about to start the same pitch 12 traverse (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Quite spectacular (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Arriving at a particularly uncomfortable hanging belay at the end of the traverse (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley topping out on pitch 14 (combined with 13 due to lack of a good belay anchor; Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley about to start a very vegetated ramp on pitch 15 of Lucifer (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Nearing the top (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Looking for the exit gully on pitch 18 or so (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley arriving at the mouth of the exit gully (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

The last pitch of Lucifer (18 per topo and about 500 meters above the start). Photo by Ross who once again met us on top – a Herculean effort (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley taking us to the unroping spot. The descent gully is in the background…still so very far away. Photo by Ross (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Happy to be done! Photo by Ross (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley on the long hike atop the wall to access the head of the descent gully (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

It was quite pretty though (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Ross and Shirley hiking along the top of the wall (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

More pretty Western Cape flora (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Traversing the endless plateaus and minor summits up top (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley and Ross near the top of the gully (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Ross at the head of the descent gully. Still hours to go till we get back to camp (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Dropping back down into the Duiwelskloof (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Light bushwhacking in the descent gully…snakes were never far from our minds (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

A bit of an oasis – the gully was very verdant (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley pretty worked but not quite done with the long day (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Damp and drizzly conditions in camp the following morning…let’s have another cup of coffee (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Hiking out from the Duiwelskloof in a light drizzle (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley and Ross in the Duiwelskloof – a very pleasant place (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Freshly shed skin of a Cape cobra we encountered on the game farm during the hike down. It’s been confirmed by both Ross and Snakes Of South Africa FB page – click the photo (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Celebratory beers in Franschhoek (Dec. 2017).

Lucifer

Shirley cheating on Benny with a cute pub pup (Dec. 2017).

Go to Du Toits Kloof Mountains.
Go back to South Africa.