Cape Town has amazing hiking trails for every age and ability. This morning we went for a short hike through Newlands Forest on the slopes of Table Mountain.
This is a very beautiful part of the mountain reserve as is gets the biggest rainfall in the Western Cape. Today it was dry and although windy in other parts of Cape Town, it was absolutely still on the mountain side.
We started in the carpark and made are way off the regular jeep track onto the small stoney paths heading straight up the mountain.
There is just so much to observe on the path, from the chopped down huge tree stumps with interesting fungi to the ferns.
The upward journey continues for just over 2 kilometres when we reach a wooden boardwalk and rest area amongst the tall trees. It’s also the start of the Newlands Ravine path that heads up the side of Table Mountain headed for the top.
After a short water break we hang a left on the boardwalk and start the top portion of our circular walk. We finally spot some flowers. The forest floor is generally green, but I love seeing some colour. It’s Disa flower season on top of Table Mountain so the paths have been busy for the last few weekends, but today, midweek, it was quiet, especially off the main paths.
The views up here are stunning! As we looked up the crop of rocks we noticed a couple Dassies that are like little mountain rock rabbits. They are all over table mountain and can bite! They sat watching us and scampered away when they noticed the dogs that were with us.
Once we got to the dry rocky riverbed we began our descent down the wider path back towards the taller trees of the forest.
I couldn’t believe how much bark has been stripped off the gum trees and is lying in the paths. But the walk down is much less technical than the walk up and easier on the legs.
The final section we walk along a deep divine with a gently flowing river down at the bottom. It’s very steep and I would not want to fall down there. But it’s not long before we reach the Wild Fire Reserves base camp just above the car park. This is the signal that you are down.
As we are heading for our cars all I can think about is a hot latte just to realise that I’d left my wallet at home! So disappointing... 5.5kms and no coffee.
Anyway, home it is for a cuppa tea and checking in on my homeschooling kids. One of the benefits of having teens in High School is being able to leave them to get their work down without mom hovering around all the time.
Strava gave a me a map of our hike today so here’s it is! It doesn’t show much details other than the path, but I love having it on my feed for future walks. Newlands can be a complicated maze and I haven’t yet mastered the many paths of this part of the mountain.
But for now, tea!
