Every now and then you just need to go out and do an "epic". One Saturday in December, that is exactly what I went out to do. I had last done the route when I first started exploring the mountains Muizenburg/Kalk bay side. The route takes you through Silvermine right to the top cell tower, and then past it. The official name is Constantia Lookout.
I brought along one of the few friends who would be able to and keen to join on this epic. We headed out nice and early and before we knew it the steps going up to Elephant's Eye were destroying our legs. We pushed through, keeping a good pace and minimum rest. The higher we got, the clearer it became how much the reward would outweigh the cost.
We continued to climb until we eventually got to the cell tower. Make no mistake, there is a lot of steep climbing, some of it very steep. This is an excellent route to do some uphill training though. We past the tower and made our way across the top. At this point we had a perfect, 360 degree view going from Hout Bay, Tokai, Constantia, Muizenburg and Noordehoek. Breathtaking to say the least - or it might have been those uphills ;)
While walking towards the Hout bay lookout, we found a drop amongst some rocks. Dropped down and found the grass to be like walking on a cloud. If you lay down, it honestly felt like a mattress. To top it off, we also found a small cave. Obviously some exploring was necessary.
We crawled on hands and knees through a pitch black cave, found some amazing small areas to rest, and then made our way to the other side. Very small cave but definitely added to the adventure. As we emerged we were greeted with a spectacular view of Hout Bay and the surrounds. After doing some winding down, we eventually headed back to the parking lot. Hands down one of my favourite hikes, and most difficult. If you have some super fit friends, the enclosed grassy-cave area is perfect for picnic.
Total time around 2h30m, distance around 10km (guess)
