Final ascent

The ridge zigzags for the final ascent to Big Daddy and at the corner of one of these zigzags the sand rises at an angle that at first seems impossibly steep, like you'd easily slide back down. We rest for a minute and let someone else pass first. It is possible. We begin to climb and indeed you are almost crawling hand and foot trying to cling on as the sand gives way beneath your feet. I wonder if we'll make it and we both struggle. But finally it passes and the ridge returns to normal.

These sands shift every night and no two climbs will be identical. Over longer periods the zigzags will shift with the wind and up here the wind is blowing. The stream of people has dropped and while lower down we were passing others who had stopped or were taking a break, carefully stepping around the ridge that is only wide enough for one and a half, here we are more on our own. You no longer see any small children.

Ahead, the peak of Big Daddy doesn't look closer but we see less and less between us and our destination. Turning back now is hardly a choice. It would be more work heading back down this ridge now than it was coming up..