Bertie's Balcony

One might be forgiven for thinking that winter in Cape Town consists of cloudless, windless, spectacular sunny days, as our hike today was again in such conditions. Rain seems to occur between hikes and for that we are truly thankful! The parking lot at Silvermine was crammed with cars and it looked as if the mountain would be overcrowded, but of course that couldn't be. Our very large group (two combined) set off at quite a pace down the jeep track towards Silvermine waterfall - forgetting that the return trip would be a long, gradual uphill slope at the end of a long, fairly strenuous climb up to Bertie's Balcony.
I've done this walk before, on a much hotter day, and it was a pleasure to have cooler temperatures as there is no shade along the 8km route. Early Spring has not arrived at this part of the Peninsula, and there was very little to see in the way of flowers, with just the many large mimetes displaying their striking red bracts before the appearance of the white flowers. Sugarbirds and redwing starlings were very active in the branches, and numerous LBJs flitted around, unidentified. A treat was to see a rock thrush perched high above the path, peering down at our straggling line as we eventually made it up to our destination, a shallow overhang with views across towards Table Mountain. Whoever Bertie was, I can understand that this might have been a favourite haunt.
The trip down was easier than up (not always the case!) and we detoured across the stream at the edge of the waterfall, enjoying the gushing of a crystal clear mountain river bringing life to its flood plain further down the Fish Hoek valley. Strangely, we only passed one runner - perhaps evidence that the area is still not considered all that desirable for small groups and singles. However, we put that from our minds and had the most wonderful walk in these stunning surroundings - free for all to enjoy, dogs too!