10th Climb..only for Jessica

All Jessica wanted to do for her birthday was climb Mt. Kisane again.

So we did.

We didn't leave until 12:00 Noon.

Not a good idea.

We arrived in Tamnugelt (where friends, food and the party were waiting for us) at 8:30 PM.

Which means we were hiking the dark for 1.5 hours.

I was the only one who "knew" the path well enough to lead in the dark.

I forgot my flashlight.

The moonshine was nice.

April couldn't go because she was sick... so we left her at the bridge. I turned back to see her looking after us like a forlorn little pup, left behind.

The awesome crew. Jessica is in the center. The two of us have been quite the climbing team.

The riverbed was full. A rarity.

Very serious group. We decided that no-one could use the personal pronoun when talking about themselves... (i.e. "Raja is tired" not "I'm tired"). If you did, then you had to put a rock in your pocket. I dumped 35 rocks out of my pocket.


The challenge ahead:


... there was another rule. No complaining. No one did.

Jess and I take pride in discovering new routes up the mountain every time.


Our hope: to find rock-climbing routes along the way.

It is sometimes disconcerting to first-timers. On our last trek a girlfriend refused to summit and made me return with her. Jess and I decided to warn people and make them sign "No complaining contracts.


Aaron fell in a pool of water while attempting to climb a steep face. His feet were umm.. not that pretty of a site when he de-shoed himself at the summit.

Conquered. Again. (Pictured: Aaron)


The rare flowers tough enough to wedge themselves up through rocks scented the evening air.


It smelled of lilacs.

Sunset from a peak.