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Approximate route looking up from Boyes Drive (don't take the dotted line too literally!) You need to find the way, but there should still be some cairns.
A pleasant Grade 3 scramble from 70m at Boyes Drive to 422m at the top of St James Peak. It follows a clean line all the way up the buttress with satisfying ramps and cracks dodging through various rock bands. The first crack can be wet (and slippery) so avoid in winter - or climb with care. Although cross country with no path, the wind-seared ridge makes for easy going.
Start at the entrance to Pecks Valley in Boyes Drive (through the stone arch), up to the contour path, along the contour path to the buttress, up to the base of the buttress, and around the base to the first crack. Return from the top of St James via the normal path to Stonehenge, then down Bailey's Kloof to the contour path and back to Pecks.
The first crack just above the contour path. A few people are just visible in the crack. This is exposed Grade 3. I roped the party because the rock was wet (and most were in their late 60s or mid 70s!). So don't laugh if you are in your 20s...
Scenic views of False Bay. St James below.
One of many ramps
A satisfying way of getting through a step
Looking impossible...
... but another ramp opens the way through
Ramps of all sizes... but they all help
An airy view of Muizenberg
Another ramp
Broken ground but easy going
An idyllic sheltered lunch spot near the top
Exit ramp near the lunch spot
Peggy, Nerina, Anne, Marcel, Cathy, Tony
Nerina, Cathy, Tony, Marcel, Anne, Peggy
'Opening' story: The route had probably been climbed before but there were no cairns, so we always took that as a sign that we could claim it as 'ours'. The first ascent for CMCA was when Margie, Peggy and Tony ventured out on a chilly winters day in 2010 and decided to do some exploring out of the wind. We kept pressing onwards and upwards and rather to our surprise, topped out on St James Peak. The photos were of a return trip in April 2011.
But the route was somehow 'archived' in my photo records and never posted. Seemed a pity, so doing it now in March 2026 - 15 years later! Ah well, better late than never... The trigger (there is always one) was a walk along the contour path above Boyes Drive last Saturday. Looking up at the buttress (and taking the overview photo) I recalled the ascent. The photos were all I needed to bring vivid memories back.
Thanks to all who explored with me. Margie was sadly a victim of Covid, but all the rest are still around, so this is posted as a celebration of life to them - most are now in their 80s, or older.
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