Shortly after 07h30 our party left the SANPARKS parking in Kronenzicht Hout Bay armed with a fearsome array of implements needed for the hacking of invasive alien vegetation at our destination! We walked along the beginning of ‘Rocket Road’ with glorious views over Sandy Bay, and towards Little Lions Head, Lions Head proper and Table Mountain, and then veared back to above the Hout Bay Sanddunes and the beginning of the path up Suther Ridge.
We were pleased to note that the path has been very nicely upgraded by the TMNP Honorary Rangers. A long slog up to the Peak was rewarded with observations of interesting Fynbos identified by our two expert botanists, Pat and Tony Rebelo, and note was taken of the invasive alien vegetation on this leg – mainly Rooikrantz (Acacia cyclops) in the middle section. Conditions were very windy on Suther Peak so we decended into the lovely little (and sheltered!) Afromontane Forest for tea, before continuing down to the Vlakte and dry pan below.
From here we headed off path to our destination on the ‘nek’ between Suther Buttress and the old Karbonkelberg WW2 Radar Station. Three of the party used a large hand saw to cut down two large pine trees (Pinus pinaster) with great skill and effort, while the rest of us focussed on the smaller pines and Rooikrantz above them. These big pines have been ‘on my agenda’ since discovering them on a recce in 2018 tucked away over the edge of the nek and out of view! So thank you all for your enthusiastic help in getting them down and removing many of their ‘offspring’! Hope to keep an eye on this patch and do some follow up clearing on other meets which pass by near this area.
Second tea break and a rest back in the little forest before descending Suther Ridge, then over the Sanddunes to the waiting cars – tired but happy!
