To avoid the strong southeasters that frequent the exposed ridges of this route, a date in the winter months sounds like a good plan. One would think. Yet, on this otherwise lovely day early in July, when 17 hardy souls assembled at the starting point in Simon’s Town, there was Number 18 already: a chilly brute of a southeaster. OK, sub-brute, but definitely overenthusiastic.
The leader pointed out that one had to be an MCSA member to join this hike, but the SE just laughed in his face, claiming to have joined Mountain Club hikes since 1891. As the great philosopher Charlie Brown once said, “It’s hard on a face when it gets laughed in.”
Fortunately, the rest of the group showed fortitude and good spirit throughout the day. Not to mention several layers of clothing. The challenging conditions were handled ably and safely, with mutual assistance where required and without any audible mutterings.
The route starts out with a 600 m ascent to the top of Swartkop. The highlight of this section was four light-footed klipspringers on the slopes of Swartkop. From there, we followed the undulating ridge of the Swartkop Mountains before dropping down steeply towards the Main Road above Smitswinkel Bay. The vistas were 5-star, with an added Monet-like quality when appreciated through watery eyes.
We managed to find one completely wind-free, sunny corner, with splendid views nogal, which was immediately declared the lunch spot.
After just under six hours, we were at the cars in the parking bay above Smitswinkel Bay.
If you joined us, you could have picked up snippets of conversation on the following topics:
- Runny eyes, runny noses. Tissues, paper towels, hankies, bandannas … don’t ask.
- Which inevitably led to pockets. Functional pockets for women’s clothing, specifically, and the ultimate insult of fake pockets.
- Hillocks.
- The word dagga. Believed to be a South African adaptation of an indigenous Khoikhoi word for cannabis, adopted by early settlers and retained in local languages.
- Reasonable consumption of Bovril. The person who reported finishing a 250 g bottle of the black stuff every month, on her own, did concede that it was probably above par.
Picture credits: Ian Webb, Tanja Bosch, Penny Brown, Kathy Hackett, Karen Whyte, Robin Sherry, Christo Steyn.
