With the weather having been pretty amazing lately, I decided to show one of my friends the glory of Silvermine. She is pretty new in town, and to hiking, so I thought to show her the wonders of Cape Town at the Hout Bay lookout in Silvermine West. For anyone who hasn't been there, the views are breathtaking. You get an eagle's eye view of the harbour, and it is super picturesque.
As we soon found out though, just because it is an amazing 28 degrees plus summer day in Cape Town city, it means nothing to the other side of the mountain. As we were driving up Ou Kaapse Weg, we drove into a cloud. It's pretty fantastic driving and hiking through such thick mist, it adds a completely different feel to the hike. Hiking becomes more introspective and thoughtful, but still utterly enjoyable. It does not, however, help with sightseeing.
As we walked passed the dam, I tried to explain how amazing the dam was - how large the body of water, how just on the other side of the dam there are rolling mountains, how beautiful it is, etc. It's kind of hard to picture that, when all you can see is this:
In the somewhat vain hope that the clouds would clear up enough for us to see the amazing view at the lookout, we moved forward. The weather had a different plan though, and aside from being completely overcast, the wind ended up being strong the lookout side.
When we reached the view point, we walked down a bit and out of the wind for some snacks and relaxing. Despite being able to see nothing, the hike and trek was still enjoyable and well worth it. Nature is pretty awesome come whatever conditions, and each one brings with it its own appeal.
