Helluva hot hike up a hill

Today we walked from the second car park on the Signal Hill road down to Maskew's Path on the Sea Point side, following a steady downhill, and very rocky, track along the Lion's Rump until we reached the line of gum trees bordering the upper roads of Fresnaye and Green Point. Our destination was the noon gun looking out over Table Bay which has traditionally been fired over the centuries to warn of approaching ships at the Cape. Today it is a minor tourist attraction, and we walked with another group who had not done this hike before. Having said that, I must point out that apart from the leaders of our group, I was the only one who turned up for this hike and without the other group, it would have been just the three of us. It didn't take long to figure out why nobody else had pitched, although I have done this route before and was apparently undaunted.
Somehow our Signal Hill walks are always accompanied by a heat wave, and today was no exception. The line of gum trees gave a dappled shade as we descended, but a fearsome climb lay ahead, almost straight up the steepest part of the Lion's Rump as we neared the masts of the noon gun battery. The slippery surface of loose clay offered no convenient indentations, roots or steps to assist us on the way up and it was a case of best foot forward and he who hesitates is lost. By now the sun was beating down mercilessly (sorry for the cliché, but it was) and the less agile among us must have been wondering what they were doing on this helluva hot hike. I took one of the older ladies by the hand and dragged her up the hill with me and can only say that it really got the heart racing - first time I've had peak cardio, according to my Fitbit, in many months, and 25 minutes - so it was a really worthwhile exercise rather than an inconvenience.
An inconvenience was the ramshackle and totally obsolete bit of fencing at the top of the scramble which necessitated a further arduous climb, although along a well-marked trail, to an open gate that led us further round the hill, and suddenly we were there! In the parking lot at the battery were about 10 mini tour buses and cars. Yes, there is a road. I think there were more than a few among us who immediately decided they would come by car if ever they needed to see the noon gun fired again!
The three of us then left the other group to listen to the tale of the noon gun before it was fired, as we had to get back home early and so we didn't have our normal half-hour rest and refreshment break before tackling the relentless climb up the jeep track on the City Bowl side of Signal Hill. It was here that the heat really beat down as the cooling breeze from the Atlantic had disappeared, and it was while I was on one of my frequent rests to breathe and reduce my heart rate that I realised why nobody else from the hiking group had turned up. They knew what to expect.
But I will do it again, only never between November and April!

Was 6.2km as I turned the GPS off.