Walking in sunshine

Yesterday's walk was all about sunshine after rain! Having been rained out on the last two hikes, I felt as unfit as before I joined this group two years ago, and it was a relief to be out on a relatively gentle stroll across the hills between Da Gama Park and the Red Hill road. Overnight showers had left raindrops clinging to every available surface and the fynbos was draped in diamonds as the early morning sunshine caught each drop.
Two years ago, this area was burnt bare by fire and only blackened skeletons of proteas and restio stumps remained. Today it was barely possible to discern the old jeep track as we made our way through head-high restios providing a rather wet guard of honour and unfortunately a dense thicket of rapidly growing Port Jackson, which needs to be removed before it completely smothers all the indigenous vegetation. Once we passed that, we were again in a fynbos paradise stretching across the plateau, with some very early appearances of a few spring specials to be seen along the way.
The good rains in recent times have soaked into the mountains and growth has been vigorous, with barely a patch of bare ground remaining. The warm sunshine and light breeze encouraged the sunbirds to twitter joyously from their treetop perches and among the bright orange chasmanthes, and a familiar chat treated us to a song and a flash of fine feathers before disappearing over a rocky outcrop. A rock kestrel swooped in and perched for a photo shoot before leaving in search of a meal, glaring down as if to say: Get on with it, I have things to do!
False Bay was like a pond, but a slight mist prevented us from seeing clearly across the bay, and if there were any whales, they were keeping a low profile, but it was perfect day for being outdoors if only for the fresh air.
I did feel a bit of strain on this easy walk, and put it down to not having hiked for 10 days. Obviously this cannot be allowed and I will have to slot in some extras to make up for rainy days! Anyone want to come?

A sight to delight the artist's eye

There can be few places in the world more desirable to be than on the beach at the end of Benning Drive, Kommetjie, as the sun sinks seaward on a fine winter's day. The view across the bay towards the Back Table of Table Mountain never disappoints, no matter what the weather, but today the quality of the light was a delight to an artist's eye. Crisp and clear with a hint of spring not being too far off; huge swells on all the reefs rising to peaks of emerald green fringed with snow white froth as they curl and break, white horses leaving flying manes chased back by the southeaster bringing an icy chill to the breeze.

A heap of wave-rolled pebbles has appeared where none were before, ringed by a tangle of kelp thrown up by yesterday's angry sea, and a shelf now separates the beach from the dunes. The beach no longer resembles the one I knew - erosion by currents has swept away the sand, revealing slabs of ancient rocks that were once the seabed, and each winter more and more sand disappears to the beaches on the northern side of the bay, and one day this will be a rocky shore. Such a privilege to see Nature in action.

A heap of pebbles has appeared

The storm two days ago

Reflections

Table Mountain contour path - a favourite

Freezing fingers of fog furled around Kloof Nek as we gathered to start the steep ascent to the contour path on Table Mountain. It is so true that the weather can change in an instant in this part of the world, and one has to be prepared for extremes at all times. We lost no time in seeking the sunshine that we knew was just above us, and it definitely gave our legs the incentive to escape the icy wind sweeping over from Camps Bay, despite this end of the contour path being famous for slippery pebbles and knee-high steps to negotiate. We paused many times on the way up, not only for breath, but also to admire the myriad flowers starting to make an appearance on the slopes as winter marches relentlessly towards spring. It is sometimes breathtaking to observe the variety and beauty of our fynbos, and a foray off the beaten track would reveal so much more, but time doesn't allow for this on a hike.
As we broke through the cloud cover, bright sunshine bathed the crags above us, where the cable car is currently undergoing its annual checkup - all visitors to our marvellous mountain have to take the long way up, and there were no lack of them as they passed us in shorts and T-shirts heading for Platteklip Gorge. Rather them than me! Lion's Head peeked cheekily out above the clouds and Signal Hill came and went as the thermals shifted - the fog didn't put off the parachute jumpers who were drifting down to the lawns of Sea Point; couldn't have been much of a view!
The contour path (once you actually get up there) is a wonderful walk, even though you need to watch your footing and can't gaze at the amazing views while you walk, due to the sheer drop, but there are plenty of places to sit on a comfortable ledge and enjoy your coffee and snacks. The rains have brought out the best in Table Mountain's streams and they are flowing from most of the rockfaces, so there was ample opportunity to wet a cloth and cool ourselves down - the sun was pretty fierce for midwinter and we had long shed all outer layers!
A few of us took a small detour to scramble up to Woodstock Cave - having got this close, it seemed necessary to make the final effort - but the loose, rocky and very steep path up doesn't make it a friendly climb and I have to say the view was no better than from the contour path. But at least I have done it.
We made it down to the end of Tafelberg Road after about 3 1/2 hours and I have to say I felt really tired - a great hike with plenty of cardio. Back at the cars, the fog was still furling.

 

Circumnavigating Trappies Kop

Despite having grown up on the slopes of Trappies Kop in Clovelly (so named because of the steps (trappies) that had to be negotiated at the northern end of the beach before a road was made to access the sands of the Fish Hoek valley long, long ago), I have never explored this little mountain  except for the area behind our house. I went up with our hiking group about a year ago to the beacon and it was a marvellous hike with sweeping views in all directions. Yesterday we set off to circumnavigate the 'globe' by taking the track along the firebreak from the wetlands around to Kalk Bay. 

Apart from a few rocky scrambles, this is a very easy walk along a narrow sandy trail, falling steeply away towards the road side, and obstructed by thick vegetation on the mountain side. Being winter, most of the walk was undertaken in deep shade until we reached the sunlit slopes above Kalk Bay, but being yet another stunning sunny winter's day, we appreciated the shade and light southeasterly breeze. With an unobstructed view of the bay from Fish Hoek to Simon's Town and across to Hangklip, it was the perfect opportunity for whale watching. These wonderful creatures have been a part of our community for as long as I remember, and the first whales arrived a few days ago. The southeaster made the sea choppy, with an uninviting shade of grey, but we were lucky enough to see one gigantic splash before the whale settled into a period of wallowing!

There was quite a bit of activity further out in False Bay, with the SA Navy deploying a ship or two (fish for lunch?) and a steady stream of Kalk Bay fishing boats chugging back to harbour in a picturesque scene worthy of a postcard. 

When we eventually arrived at the point where the track meets the road at Boyes Drive, it was decided to hike back to the cars via the saddle between Trappies Kop and Clovelly Mountain. This involved a good 15 minute slog through a somewhat overgrown path and then luckily a beautifully laid stone path taking us easily over the top and down into Clovelly for the remaining half hour or so.

Not many flowers out yet in this shady area, but a good patch of pretty podalyria above Kalk Bay and the odd moraea provided some colour. The total distance back to the cars was close to 7km and we took almost 4 hours to complete this moderate trail, although we did dawdle at times. Well worth it and will do it again at a different season.

Chapman's Peak on a gorgeous day

Wow! What a walk. I had forgotten how steep and long the trail from Chapman's Peak Drive up to Chapman's Peak is. We couldn't have had a better day for such an arduous trek - midwinter, blue skies, no wind - paradise found. This is a two-stick trail, both up and down, as the rocky terrain and slippery stones after substantial rains and deep shade in the ravine made us extra cautious. The downhill is always worse and two steadying sticks are invaluable no matter what your age - much kinder on the knees and no falling into the bushes on either side of the path!

It took a steady climb of two hours to reach the saddle, and the views made every step worth the effort. Breathtaking in every sense of the word. Three of the group carried on the extra 20 minutes to reach the summit of Chapman's Peak while the rest of us lounged in the sunshine among the fynbos and waved encouragement. Perhaps another time.

Once again we were treated to the sight of gushing streams all along the way - I hear the streams on the Newlands side are currently impassable. Good news indeed.

There was so much to see in the way of flowers that I had plenty of opportunity to stop frequently to take photos, and this may well have contributed to the ease with which I did the trail - fitness levels are high, but stamina is still a problem - four hours is pushing it. Tomorrow I think I may feel a twinge or two to remind me of today's fabulous time in the mountains. Highly recommended for anyone who is reasonably fit.

Protea nitida (waboom)

Fish Hoek valley

Moederkappie (orchid family) - an exciting sighting and saw quite a few

Babiana - love these

A repository for memories

Certain members of this family are obsessed with repacking, reorganising, rearranging, clearing out and decluttering. I can't say it's a bad thing, but I get dragged along to make the final decisions - usually when I am about to take a Sunday afternoon snooze. We opened the drawers and doors for the umpteenth time today, to once again decide what to do with 40 years of accumulation of stuff. What do you do with the VHS tapes ( F1 Last Race 1995, Senna Tribute, Austin Powers, Ducktales, Superbikes 1997) - about 40 of those, none seen for a few decades. Two shoeboxes of music tapes, all pirated at the time - I listened to some and they are still perfect to play in the LP/CD/Radio/Tape player/recorder I bought at Christmas, so perhaps a few will survive the throw-out. Tiny tapes from the Sony Camcorder, which cost R7 000 many years ago and was almost instantly replaced by cell phones.
New devices are being launched continually, and what we have this year may not be used next year. It seems that we are in an uncontrollable spiralling of throwaway consumerism with treasured memories stored on obsolete technology consigned to landfill. There must be mountains of old tapes all over the world, closely followed by computer towers, screens, laptops, video game consoles, cell phones and SIM cards!
Perhaps we can melt them all into big lumps and send them off into space on a mission to see how far they go? I don't think there are any particularly sensible options currently being offered.
I've kept the board games. Somehow the physical interaction seems so much more attractive than a screen version and if the lights go out (worldwide - not an impossibility), entertainment would still exist at a 60s and 70s level.
It may be that the best storage for memories is in our hearts and minds. Once we are gone, there is nobody who will need our memories - they will have their own.

Silvermine in sunshine

There can be few so privileged as to have the time and opportunity to wander in the mountains of the Peninsula on a windless, sunshiny winter's day - and that is what we were today. The Silvermine Nature Reserve provides many walking trails to suit all levels of fitness and enthusiasm, and today we were both fit and enthusiastic as we set off in the chilly shade of the Steenberg Peak with the promise of sunshine on the other side of the valley.
The Silvermine river is in spate after the good rains of this week, and I haven't seen it flowing so strongly in the two years I have been walking. We were unable to cross at the waterfall and had to retrace our steps to the jeep track, fortunately giving us the only bit of uphill to get the heart rate up on an otherwise very gentle downhill trail. It was just wonderful to be accompanied by the sound of tumbling waterfalls and rushing streams all the way, something that has been a long time coming.
The bright tips of the leucadendrons brought sunshine to even the shadiest slopes, with the white metalasia providing a dotty backdrop to the silvery grey foliage. The occasional protea lepidocarpodendron popped its bearded head out from the dense vegetation, and a pristine pale pink protea repens gave a splendid show despite the requisite sugarbird being nowhere in sight.
We stopped for coffee at the ruins of the old powder store used back in the day when silver was being sought in these hills - all that remains are a few walls, three huge and long dead pine trees (victims of numerous wildfires) and a dangerous network of tunnels and sinkholes on the other side of the river. But the name persists.