Exploring a new hiking path

Published Feb 5, 2010

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Not that long ago I got something of a bee in my bonnet to walk part of the Hoerikwaggo trail from Noordhoek beach up to Chapman's Peak.

(The trail, the original Khoisan name for "the mountain in the sea", will eventually lead from Cape Point all the way to Cape Town). I had walked to the peak from the other side previously and rather liked the idea of starting and finishing in Noordhoek.

Inquiries, however, proved fruitless and even the tourist information desk at the local farm stall resulted in the non-committal "I don't think that you can get there from here". I was sure one could - although the Hoerikwaggo trail is yet to be completed, that part at least, I was fairly sure, was open.

Then I heard on Cape Talk Radio that the Peninsula Ramblers were going to be walking that path the next Sunday and rather than risk getting lost in the mountains twice in one month I thought I would take up their broadcast invitation to join them.

Having met up with my intrepid companions in the car park, the path to Chapman's wasn't difficult to find at all. The start was a pleasantly inclined boardwalk up through the coastal vegetation, offering a comfortable warm-up and some small amount of shade on a hot day. Once we reached the tar road of Chapman's Peak Drive, the wooden steps upwards were unmistakable and one can only assume that the staff from the information centre never actually drive that way.

The blue sky, expansive beach and the ever-present beacon of Slangkop light in the distance were all familiar but no less pretty for that. Here the path steepens and follows the ridge line above the drive, such that one keeps getting views of Hout Bay and Noordhoek beach but at each turn from a higher elevation. Best of all, being directly above the road one is never forced to spoil the illusion with glimpses of the wholly un-scenic mess that is now Chapman's Peak Drive and can simply revel in the magnificence of the mountain without all the roadworks and catch fences.

The hike was billed as six to seven hours and I foolishly thought on reaching the peak in under an hour and a half that we were all obviously remarkably fit and the day was going to be done and dusted in short order. Little did I know. After a brief stop to admire the fantastic views out over Hout Bay, we headed down the path and having passed the saddle where I was expecting that we might turn off, the group continued on upwards to Noordhoek peak, one of the higher points in the Silvermine reserve. It was disconcerting to note that I could now see my house on Sandvlei but was unlikely to be able to spot the car, sitting forgotten and lonesome in the beach car park at the base of Chapman's Peak.

The peak itself looked like little more than a bump on the horizon from our newly obtained altitude - and an awfully long way away. Apparently the option of returning via the saddle path is no longer viable, the route having been fenced off in the name of privatisation on the Noordhoek side, leaving little alternative but to either return down the way you've come or take the circuitous and strenuous path on which we now found ourselves.

Still, I consoled myself, we had passed stands of bright watsonias and numerous clusters of bright red crassulas as we walked and the views allowed for an almost complete mapping of the peninsula, from Long Beach in the west to the False Bay coastline. Plus I had to be getting fitter and losing weight gained over the festive season.

Eventually, we criss-crossed minor tracks, which without the knowledge of our leader I certainly wouldn't have located, exiting the reserve hours later at the base of Ou Kaapse Weg, leaving little more than a 3km hunter's jog back to the car. Not that the car was really the target: by now all focus was on the cold beer and the hospitable atmosphere of the Red Herring.

That was the reason for looking for a route on this side in the first place. All good hiking routes should end with a nice hostelry eclectic enough not to worry about a bunch of sweat stained and somewhat dishevelled hikers invading the bar.

Sincere thanks to Ewen Smith from Peninsula Ramblers who organised the hike and to all his fellows who made me feel welcome. The Ramblers invite visitors, for a small fee, to join them on most of their walks.

- The routes, dates and estimated times and difficulties of the hikes can be found on the "program" link on their website at www.ramblers.org.za.

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