A windy day on the mountain

It is now officially Spring, and with it has come the Cape Doctor to clear away the smog that has been blanketing Cape Town for a while. With it comes the new season's pollen and other allergens, and sneezing, watering eyes and a pocket full of tissues are our new companions on hikes. Yesterday we started out from the Rhodes Memorial car park in a chilly breeze with cloud cover over Peak and found it a relief to be cool as this very popular trail has a steep climb up to the jeep track and is one of our most daunting. Our intrepid leader took pity on us and led us up an easier route, saving the worst for last as a downhill scramble.
Much of the time we were in Afro-montane forest - the last remnants of once abundant forest - and there were not many flowers to see, but when we did, they were very beautiful and a delight to the eye. The ericas that are common to these slopes made a gorgeous splash of pink and the yellow pincushions grew in copses of old trees that have escaped the veld fires of the Peninsula (another reason why the forest is still in existence).
The contour path is an easy walk once you get there, and was quite crowded at times as so many people love this trail which was first established in the late 1800s. Our destination was 1st Waterfall, a very pretty cascade down a deep ravine and one of the few streams that was evident yesterday. We could do with a lot more rain, but it looks as though a dry summer is on the way. Silver trees grow prolifically on these slopes and it was good to see so many saplings in the undergrowth. The waterfall looks promising as a habitat for the Disa uniflora, and maybe we will go looking for them in January/February.
Gaps in the trees gave us breathtaking views of the Peninsula from Langebaan in the north all the way to Cape Point in the far south, and the wind blew away the smog to let us enjoy the magnificence of our surroundings to full extent. We are so privileged to have this wilderness right in the middle of a city.
On the way down, experienced the full force of the strong southeaster as it howled over the ridge at Plum Pudding Hill, blowing dust into our eyes, hats off our heads and much laughter as we were buffeted this way and that. Proof that weather conditions can change instantly on the Table Mountain chain. We went down a gravelly path that has been severely eroded by mountain biking and if there had been any dampness, we would probably have slid down on our rear ends with very little foot purchase, but we reached the bottom without incident and were rewarded with cold beers on the terrace at Rhodes Memorial to celebrate another memorable hike in this beautiful land of ours.