We had watched the weather forecasts with bated breath for days, hoping we would not need to cancel the meet. Fortunately, the weather tuned in to the forecast and stopped its downpour on the morning of the meet. Nevertheless, except for two die-hards who wore shorts, many of us donned waterproof rain pants, and the leader certainly needed them, whacking with her hiking poles the low overhanging fynbos heavy with the recent rain. There was a scramble for positions nearest the rear hoping that all water would have been shed by the time they passed!
Although it is a long hike the zigzags most of the way make for an easy ascent. The 4-5 botanically inclined seemed to find enough to interest them, while the rest of the party could enjoy the views and pristine fynbos since this area was one of the very few that had not been victim to summer veld fires this year. During our descent, the sky cleared over the sea, improving its colour from dark and rather miserable grey in the morning to blue and green with bright white little waves breaking on the shore below. And the gentle sunlight on the range of mountains towards Pringle Bay made them seem even more majestic. We could see the whole of False Bay all the way to Cape Point. The group seemed to be happy that we had hiked in relatively new territory.
The hike starts above what is locally referred to as ‘Koelbaai’ (Cool Bay in Afrikaans), but should be ‘Koeëlbaai’ (Bullet Bay in Afrikaans!), and it is named for ‘Kogelberg’ (Bullet Mountain in Dutch!) which soars above. And it was striking to see the resemblance of a bullet spire clearly separated by a wisp of low cloud from the bulk of the mountain
Photos courtesy of Richard Goldschmidt.
