Stunning views is what we encountered while ascending the west ridge of the Constantiaberg. We had a perfect weather window between cold fronts with wonderful cloud effects.
This was a new route for club meets and we were surprised to find a path most of the way up which made navigating the lush fynbos easier. Even though the line taken was fairly close to the North West route that we have done many times, it provided different challenges and appeal. We set off at 7:30am and just before reaching the manganese mines, a path led off south. It forks after a short distance and we followed the left fork which led to a steep slope to gain the interesting parts of the ridge.
The total altitude gain from East Fort on Chapman’s Peak drive to the western beacon is 850m and took us 3hrs. The views are rewarding, extending in all directions. We had tea after dropping down a few metres to escape a cool breeze.
Our descent route took us into Silvermine and to the top of Blackburn Ravine which we descended until the Alfies Track intersection. We decided to stay higher for longer and followed Alfies Track back to East Fort, stopping for lunch along the way. The 11 of us reached the cars soon after 2pm and after covering 10km.