After the preceding days of furnace-heat, our hike day was thankfully forecast to be more moderate. Nevertheless the seven of us made a relatively early start in sunshine from Boyes Drive above Lakeside. The ascent route is deceptive – it seems as though it is just a short ascent, but one ascends relatively steeply for 400m. Fortunately, there were several of us who enjoyed the variety of flowers along the way, giving us a chance to ease our laboured breathing!
Last time on that route our tea spot amongst large rocks protected us from the cold wind; this time from the warm sun! Because the wind was howling last time we had chosen not to ascend the exposed path to summit Muizenberg Peak. This day it was an easy addition to the route. Unfortunately, by the time we summited, the mist that had come up, although keeping us cool, stole our distant views, so we didn’t stay at the beacon long.
Descending by a different route to the plateau we joined up with the path towards St James Peak. By now the group were voicing their readiness for lunch (at 11:20!) so just below the peak summit we found a large, shady shelter, forming passageways below huge rocks, to have a comfortable lunch. From there we descended towards Stonehenge, turning down into Bailey’s Kloof towards our waiting cars.
Today’s route was made up of five distinct sections, stitched together to a whole. Pleasingly, each section provided different views and different types of flora. Added to the interesting conversations amongst the members the five hours passed meaningfully.
Photos – Greta Graham and Nicky Jordan
