Last weekend some friends and I decided we wanted to walk the crystal pools trail and swim in the mountain pools, but unfortunately the trail is fully booked for the next month. So we went for the second best option. We decided to walk up the Helderberg Mountain in the Helderberg Nature Reserve, quite an inexpensive way to get out. Being the lazy people that we are we only got to the park and started walking at around 8:30 AM, lucky for us it was the perfect day for a walk, nice and sunny, few clouds and no wind. Here is the mountain we decided to summit:
After selecting our walk, off we went. On the walk you start off in the busiest part of the Nature Reserve and work your way up through the Fynbos to the base of the mountain.
The small brush eventually leads into higher trees which proves some nice shade. It can be quite easy to take the wrong turn since everything looks the same, luckily it is easy to find your way back since you just follow the hill.
Along the way we found some interesting plants, one of them being a parasitic viney plant. It was growing on quite a lot of the plants and in some cases completely engulfed the trees eventually killing them.
Here is the view from one of our stops:
Progress! It is quite a long trek to get to the foot of the mountain, luckily most of the way till this point was gravel roads.
This must be the best place in to world to live, and quite likely quite expensive. Imagine waking up everyday having this amazing view.
If you have the time and know where to look you can find some awesome plants, most of what grows here is bland and just green. Every now and then it is nice to get a bit of color here and there.
The view improved quiet a bit the higher up the mountain we went. This is the view from the highest point we reached, unfortunately we didn't make it to the top, but we are definitely going back to conquer it.
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