Leg 3 – Suikerbossie to Chapmans Peak

You are never guaranteed that the weather will play along in Cape Town, and this definitely makes each leg very unique as you will never have the same experiences twice no matter how many times you do the same route.

So our little group of 5 runners and Bella set out on Saturday morning to do leg 3 of the 13 Peaks.  The wind was bearable and no clouds in sight.

After parking at Suikerbossie Restuarant our first peak was Klein Leeu Kop (about 500 m from where we started), I found this to be a very easy climb and as always Bella was up ahead loving the route and smells. There were one or two places I had to assist Bella, she has very quickly learned with the 13 peaks to accept my help, with her under 1 arm, we easily make it up some of those rocky pieces.

So up and down Klein Leeu Kop without any hiccups, now it’s off to Suther Peak.  This is where you never listen to the male runners.  Apparently, there is a shortcut they say, we will save 2 km they say.  So off we go, got to a fence (found the hole), and back to the road, now everyone’s watches shows we are still on route, left at the crossroad, very nice downhill for about 2 km, under the electric paddock fence (I would like to add that the paddock was empty), only to be stopped by security on a quad bike who escorted us all the way back to where we came through the fence.  Now, because of the “Shortcut” we had to go all the way down to Sandy Bay (luckily the beach was empty), only to start to climb Suther Peak (or as I would like to call it, the never-ending peak), up, up and more up we go.  With this peak, I had to assist Bella several times.  Having the correct harness from Trailhound made such a huge difference, I was able to either carry Bella under the arm or assist her on the down with the handle.

3/4’s of the way up we all enjoyed a picnic and the view for a few minutes just to catch our breath.  Bella, of course, had some K-9 adventures protein balls, and the paw-ta bowl that folds flat is perfect for hikes like these.

So after our picnic, we head up again.  At the top we realized that the wind picked up quite a bit while we were climbing, making the down trip quite difficult.

After Suther Peak, we had about 10 km to go, all on the road; next was through Hout Bay and up Chapmans Peak.  The view from Chapmans will always take my breath away.

3/4’s from the top was where today’s journey ended (and the start of our next leg).  It was a tough route of about 18 km.

Being an Agility dog definitely helps Bella with jumping and navigating the routes, we are still doing our stretching exercises given to us by PetsinBalance, and together with her “back on track” jersey, she is ready to hit the trails next week.

This weekend we are taking a nice break, going for a hike with the family (keep an eye on our facebook page for feedback), and then next week we will tackle stage 4, Chapmans peak to Silvermine.

Money raised so far R 600 (https://www.givengain.com/ap/vicki-fox-raising-funds-for-huis-horison-29420/)

Sponsors:

K-9 Adventures (trail snacks and pawta bowl)

Trailhoundsa (Harness)

Benlu Collars (Designer Collar)

Backontrack (recovery jacket)

Untamed Animal Health (hip and joint herbs, performance herbs)

Pets in Balance (physio after each leg)