A pleasant walk on the Pipe Track

A cool and cloudy day greeted us as we headed for Kloofnek Corner yesterday, bound for the Pipe Track. Without tourists streaming to Cape Town's biggest attraction, traffic was light and the parking lot empty. Our preferred hike was on the other side of the road - the path around the base of Lion's Head, but for some inexplicable reason, a person behind a desk told us we were not even allowed to get out of our cars on Signal Hill (there is a serious lack of logic at the moment) and so we turned to the trail that takes you below the craggy cliffs of Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles. This is never a disappointment, as the views are wonderful, the path not too bad in most places and no particularly steep climbs.  Without a breeze, hiking conditions were comfortable in deep shade, and the mist swirling around the mountain top hinted at a change in the weather expected later.
Despite recent heavy rains, the path is standing up well and doesn't seem to have deteriorated over the last few years, although a large pine tree had fallen across a ravine and was now a pile of neatly sawn rings, rather like a sliced up sausage. If only we could have taken a few back with us, we could all have some nice outdoor tables, but they must have been tremendously heavy. Large puddles necessitated evasive action, but the wonderful rains we are having this winter are certainly nothing to complain about, and every gushing stream is greeted with exclamations of delight.
Apart from the sugarbirds feasting on the sugarbushes and robins chattering in the undergrowth, there were only pied crows and a pair of white-necked ravens. We searched in vain for the Verreaux's eagle nest said to be on the cliff face to the right of Fountain Ravine, as the light was poor and a movement would be the only way to spot them. Hopefully they will remain in the area and breed successfully.
More signs of imminent spring were everywhere, with plenty to please the eye. A nearly 6km walk, with no strenuous exercise, although the track provides access to various ravines leading up to Table Mountain and is a popular alternative to Platteklip Gorge. I can't see me doing it, though.

 

Looking for eagles' nest on cliff near my hand