Climbing table mountain

We took a seven-hour trek up the mountain Sunday. It was the second-most dangerous available and required vertical rock climbs without equipment. Though I began the journey craving serious heights, at certain points I was truly terrified and each rock face I conquered made it less and less possible to turn back. It was only up. At one point we crossed paths with a mountaineer from whom we asked for directions, and he said things were a bit challenging from there but, "seeing as you've made it past that last rock scramble, you must be pretty good. That's where most people die." Anyway, I'm still alive but completely, utterly humbled by the mountain. I think that next time I read a sign that says, "WARNING: Dangerous route with steep rock climbing and difficult navigation. Use at own risk." I may still ignore it, but certainly not as flippantly as last weekend.