A break in the clouds

Things looked bleak this morning, as 'if it's Tuesday it must be raining' dawned. The late winter has meant quite a few hike cancellations due to inclement weather, and the various forecasts are hotly debated on the off-chance that the most favourable will be correct. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. At present the southern Peninsula is getting less rain than the northern suburbs, so I set off for the Glencairn forts via Scarborough to do a recce of the clouds and wind direction for an educated guess. Sheets of rain were falling out to sea, with accompanying magnificent rainbows, and as I crossed Red Hill and approached our start point at the top of Da Gama Park, a cloudburst gave my car a thorough wash down. It was going to be difficult to part those clouds. But Moses parted the Red Sea, so this should be a doddle.
Brian and I stared steadfastly into the wind, with dark clouds to either side, and felt convinced that the patch of blue sky in the direction we would be headed was going to last. A decision was made to take a series of short walks, which might turn into a long walk, depending on what lay over the next ridge.
What a sensible decision! If we had been too cautious of the possibility of a scattered shower, we would have missed a most delightful - and dry - walk across fields of fynbos, with bright sunshine tempered by an icy wind. Rain fell to the east and to the west, but blue skies opened up before us. We all had about 4 layers of clothing, so we were under no illusions about the chill that late winter brings in from the South Atlantic, when it feels as though icebergs are floating off Cape Point and the tip of your nose glows like a beacon, yet the crispness of the air brings an exhilaration to our steps that is lacking in the heat of summer.
The walk to the forts (dating back to the 1700s and really just crenellated stone walls built on top of two fine boulders) is a fairly gentle undulation across the plateau, with the Lewis Gay dam a little way off across the valley, and offers sweeping views across False Bay that it would be hard to tire of. A large thicket of invasive aliens has thankfully been cleared away, although some attention to removal of plastic bags and other litter from the site would be a good thing. As Spring approaches, more flowers will bring their magic to the mountain and will make for another worthwhile visit.