Bertie's Balcony and back

Another breathtaking winter's day - not because of the cold, but rather the clearness of the air, the clarity of the colours and the crispness of the early morning shade as we made our way along the familiar route to Bertie's Balcony, Silvermine Nature Reserve. These hills, and indeed mountains, are criss-crossed with easy and moderate trails that meander from the carpark at the top of Ou Kaapse Weg all the way across to the False Bay coastline, for whatever distance you wish to travel.
The plateau is home to fynbos that is found nowhere else in the world (as are most of the species in the famed Cape Floral Kingdom) and it is always a thrill to spot something new. This means many a trip along the trails at different times of year, to ensure that you coincide with the flowering season for the species you wish to see. It would be quite a feat to identify all the flowers up there, and it is highly likely that many will go unseen by me. It requires dedication and perseverance in all weathers to comb the hills as did those early pioneers of botany (TP Stokoe's life in the Cape is a very worthwhile read) and one can barely imagine how small colonies of individual species even came to be discovered in the rough terrain of the Cape mountains. We have much to be grateful for in this regard.
According to the Mountain Club journal, Bertie's Balcony should be Betty's Balcony, named after a lady who formed part of the group that spent many years exploring and documenting the myriad caves that this area is famous for, but it will doubtless continue to be called Bertie's for posterity. The cave itself is just a shallow overhang, but the views are panoramic and spectacular, and are such that a great sense of achievement can be felt in having reached it from the carpark far away in the distance, where only the sunlight reflecting off the cars identifies it as such.
Always a worthwhile walk, with good cardio results, and of course the very best of congenial company.