Hiking Devil's Peak and the Knife's Edge

Our climbing route

Hiking Devil’s Peak was nothing short of an Indiana Jones’ movie. There was cliff hanging, rock scaling, snake fighting, a near death experience, and Girl’s first time peeing behind the bushes. Yes, I said near death experience, but let’s start at the beginning. The day (Oct. 19th) started early so that we could begin the climb at 8:00A.M. The plan was to hike up to the top of Devil’s Peak and back down, a hiking excursion of seven hours. Paul and Constance picked us up in their red VW Gulf, Bob. Bob has had a hard life. His left door refuses to open and he struggles getting up steep hills. He also doesn’t like water. Constance has told us of occurrences when Bob has decided to stop working at intersections during rainstorms. But on this particular sunny day, Bob took us safely to Rhodes Memorial, the starting point of the hike.

Wait? Did I say “hike?” It was more like five hours of mountain climbing without proper equipment. Many of the rocks were taller than me and required monkey gripping capabilities to get up. Our first stop was at The King’s Blockhouse, built by the British between 1795 and 1803. The King’s Blockhouse was placed on the ridge slope of the mountain because from that point it was possible to see False Bay on the Eastern side of the Cape Peninsula and from there it was possible to signal via the other blockhouses to Cape Town's Castle warning them of approaching ships entering False Bay.

Girl and Snoopy at King's Blockhouse


Prof. wanted to take out the UCT admin. building with this cannon

Girl’s professor announced “tea break” would be at our next stop, a WWII watch house located further up the mountain. At present, it appears to be used as a public urinal with no sewage system. The inner walls are decorated with graffiti and yellow urine stains. We did not take many photos at this point because we were too tired, although we do have photos to illustrate the difficulty of the climb up to this resting stop.

The climbing begins; all smiles in the beginning.



Paul struggling to make it up



Guy making his way



Paul hanging on for his life



Not the face of a happy climber. Notice the two handed grip. Paul later admited: "Honestly, I was physically shaking. I wanted to turn back."



Girl and Snoopy standing in front of WWII lookout station

From the WWII lookout station we continued up the mountain. Knife’s Edge was the next obstacle, but not before we encountered a Puff Adder alongside the trail. Because Girl is terrified of snakes, the photo is in thumbnail version. Click on it if you want to see a larger photo. These snakes are responsible for the most snakebite fatalities in South Africa.

Up and up and up we go


Puff Adder, click on photo to enlarge

Girl and Constance did not stick around to see the snake. They both made a mad dash from the area when they heard there was a snake near the trail; boulder-hopping their way around it and crossing Knife’s Edge in the process. The rest of us kept our distance, but did not panic. We just snapped a few photos and proceeded on to Knife’s Edge.

Knife’s Edge involved a lot of rock scrambling to cross. One side of the feature is a very steep rocky slope, while the other is a straight vertical drop of several hundred meters. Crossing it provided some great views and fun scrambling.

Knife's Edge



Making our way down through the outcrops



Don't look down

After Knife’s Edge we made our way up to Minor Peak, where we stopped for a rest and a snack. Of course I had to snap a few pics.



Climbing up to the top of Minor Peak



Can you spot the critter on the rocks?



Full body workout



Grrr...getting a grip



A rest well deserved at the top of Minor Peak



Peek-a-boo



Lizard basking in the sun

After the snack break atop Minor Peak we continued on our journey to scale Devil’s Peak. The ascent up the mountain was “a real slog” as they say. The trail is extremely steep, not visible in some places, and very badly eroded in others.

Looking over towards the slope of Devil's Peak

Looking for the trail

Girl had a scary fall when she stepped near the edge of the trail only to discover that the grass embankment was overhanging the edge of the slope. Luckily she only fell a few feet and was not hurt. Her fall quickly reminded us to be cautious and attentive during our climb. There were a few small rock scrambles up the slope to about the middle of the peak. From there, we continued along a contour path that wrapped along the edge of the peak. And when I say edge I mean it. There trail skirts along the cliff face and is less than a meter wide in places. Much of the climbing through this section of the hike involved careful footing, good hand holds, and an ability to control your nerves if you happen to have a fear of heights. Remembering to lean into the mountain and to not look down helped me out. Knowing that I was skirting along the edge of a cliff hundreds of meters high was not a thrill I was seeking to experience while in SA.

Girl says "No problem". Snoopy adds, "Just don't step to your left."

Paul: "To be honest, I am scared. I'd rather see a 100 snakes than do this."



Descent to death; view from the trail. Photo taken with one hand gripping to a rock.



Guy refuses to take a step closer to the edge to show his whole body for the photo...Aaahhhhh!!!

We just walked around that cliff face?



Thank God I survived!

After contouring around the cliff face, we came to one more rock climbing section that we had to scramble up before we were back on somewhat safer ground.

A final rock face to ascend



Why did I agree to do this?

The trail from here went up along a steep slope to the top of the peak. It was a relief to know that falling from this point on would not result in immediate death. After tackling the last slope we were finally at the top of Devil’s Peak.


We made it!

The views and experiences were definitely worth all the struggles and obstacles to make it up the mountain. Since we have posted so many views of Cape Town and the surrounding area in our previous hiking posts, we will spare you the pain of viewing more of the same. If you want to see the views from up top you can refer back to our previous entries.



Resting. See how cool Girl looks?



Cue the angelic choir to start singing now



A view of the cable car station on Table Mountain (refer to previous Skeleton Gorge hiking entry)



Lion's Head (left) and his body, Signal Hill (right)



Looking down at the Knife's Edge

After having lunch and a much needed rest at the top of Devil’s Peak it was time to begin our descent down the mountain. The trip down took about two hours as we walked along steep trails and numerous switchbacks. Going down was just as steep as going up and the trail was filled with loose rocks and sand. This made it difficult to stay upright and the presence of small trees and shrubs functioned well for handholds and balancing.



Girl is ready to go home

Steep, rocky trail down. My knees did not appreciate it.



Backside of Devil's Peak

When we finally made it down to a contour path the hiking was much easier. We made our way back to the King’s Blockhouse and then back down to the Rhodes Memorial where we stopped at a small café for a refreshing shake and orange float.


Can you believe we just climbed that?

The End.