We live halfway up Mount Chiradzulu. Every once and a while, we climb the other half to reach the top. Our reason is the age-old old reason of "because it's there," realizing a primal need to stand on top of something.
So up we head up on Sunday in what has turned out to be a monthly pilgrimage to the top of our immediate world.
Today we were weary (no one knew from what) so we set a very slow pace. The trails lacing the mountainside are a combination of wild game trails (from hyenas and antelope, but we haven't seen either) and tracks worn by charcoal merchants and firewood-gatherers. The mountain is a protected park, so both charcoal making and firewood gathering are prohibited. But no one seems to enforce that...
The trails meander across the face of the mountain, sometimes ending at a good-sized tree stump, or getting you to a well-established trail. Every summit attempt is a lesson in track finding, directionality, and patience. None of the trails are hiking trails. There's no such thing as a switchback on Mount Chiradzulu. One section of trail goes straight up a steep slope of loose dirt and fallen leaves for over 100 feet.
We keep trying to find a route to the top with a trail the whole way, and today we were almost successful. We only bushwhacked (literally: we cut a stick and whacked at the bushes) once for about 50 feet when we lost all semblance of a way forward. But most attempts end with us pushing through dense foliage, sometimes with the help of a machete, for long periods of time. While walking straight up the mountain.
We are relieved from the torture of our slog straight into the sky by periodic appearances of the local mated pair of eagles. They nest nearby our house, and hunt on and around the mountain. With such a steep slope, you can be surprised by a pair of eagles soaring up a thermal just 20 feet from your face, as you go from looking down on them to watching them from the normal inferior vantage point in a matter of seconds as they blast by.
The family of eagles was quiet today, but a mated pair of falcons made up for the lack of aquiline display. Malawi is an excellent country for bird watching. At the summit, we heard the two falcons calling to each other and could pick out one of the two perched on a tree just one rocky outcropping over. It was incredible to watch their effortless aerial acrobatics from a front-row seat. Cool.
After a three-hour ascent (mostly on relatively well-established trails!), we hung out on the summit for a bit, watched the avian show, then headed down. We were pretty tired, and not looking forward to the long walk back. But we followed well-established trails and let gravity help us out. Incredibly, 20 minutes later we passed the source and hit the flat track that is the final stretch before home. What? Three hours up and 20 min down? How?
I guess because we ran, slid and jumped down without much pause. The summit isn't that far, just hard to access.
But the whole experience was excellent, and we are zeroing in on the easiest way to the top. By the time we leave, we may be professional-level guides for Mount Chiradzulu.
Maybe I should work on my mapmaking skills. For institutional memory and all...
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