Orange Kloof, Hout Bay

Today dawned cloudless and warm, but at 7a.m. the wind suddenly blew in from the sea, icy cold, and a blanket of clouds draped the mountains almost as though someone had cast a tablecloth over them - in the blink of an eye. And so it was with a little trepidation that I headed off for Constantia Nek where the clouds and wind were pouring through the gap, ready for our hike in Orange Kloof. This reserve retains the last remnants of afro-montane forest and is restricted to a maximum of 12 hikers per day to keep the human footprint at the least damaging level. This being said, previous hikers don't have much sensitivity to nature, as a number of tissues littered the path - always an unnecessary eyesore and a sad social commentary. 

After an initially level section of the old track (concreted in places, but obviously many years ago), we started a fairly steep ascent, hugging the contours until we reached the upper end of the Hout Bay valley under heavy cloud cover. This was most welcome, as I had by then perspired buckets and on taking off my (synthetic) water-resistant jacket, found my puffy down jacket totally soaked through - a little soap and I could have given it a launder. The wind dried it in about half an hour and all was well again, but I will definitely have to look for something warm in a natural fabric!

The views, when the clouds permitted, were magnificent, with Muizenberg mountains to the left and the whole Hout Bay valley to the right. Down on the valley floor we could see the roofs of two very old houses completely obscured in the forest - would be interesting to know the history of what happened under those roofs. We eventually descended to the upper section of the Disa River where the track crossed it, and would have continued up along its banks to the waterfall if it had not meant another hour added on to the hike. It is not recommended in winter. A very pleasant half hour was spent relaxing on the rocks enjoying the tumbling river, still pristine before reaching the valley where unchecked pollution is destroying it. No fires have been here since the 1930s, although there was a very close call last year, and the thick vegetation offered a splendid display of different flora, some no doubt unique to the area, and really added to the pleasure of the hike.

The return trip was a backtrack - back up the track, a real slog and quite exhausting - followed by the long descent at a cracking pace. I was like the horse that wants to be first back at the stable! A total of 8.5km and an elevation of around 300m made for some fair exercise, rewarded by a cup of tea and a salad. How very restrained!