Onwards and upwards with our Thirteen Peak Adventure. Constantiaberg brings out the truth in this statement like no other: “When you are hiking the 13 Peaks, it is the journey between the peaks that takes the most energy.” What stands out of from this hike, was not just the kicker at the end of it, we were starting to expect it at this stage in our journey, but rather the first bee sting of many. After years and years of raising kids and nary a bee sting insight… 13 Peaks introduced us to the burning sting. To make it worse every time there was a bee sting, we thought, “WOW, that never happens… a once in a lifetime event.” And yet, again and again we were stung…

From Silvermine to Constantiaberg
We wanted to start this hike from Silvermine Dam, which is why we did the Silvermine River Walk the week before, the only thing is… you can only enter the nature reserve (to drive up to the dam) from seven in the morning in the summertime. You have to check the opening hours. You can hike in, at any time… but it will make your segment longer, something we were really trying to avoid. The later start was received with much enthusiasm from the gang… and for the first time in weeks we started our hike in sunshine.


The sunshine was quickly replaced by mist…

And another typical Cape Town day, with every season experienced in a day.


Definitely one of those up and up…

And then up so much more routes…

But the Flowers Along the Way Made it Worthwhile





And Breakfast on a Mountain Top
And if I have learned nothing else on this Challenge, it is to put one step in front of the other and eventually you will get there… you have to!!!

Oh the heady excitement of pork sausages (something salty), bran muffins stuffed with dried fruit (something sweet) and hot chocolate… at this stage we pretty much had our menu down to a T. Friday night prep for a Saturday hike had become a bit of an art.

And what a weird landscape the top of this mountain turned out to be…

Out of the mist loomed this lunar landscape…
From Constantiaberg to Constantia Nek
Possibly the most surprising thing of all… from the top of the mountain there is a concrete road…

Oh the heady joy…

And an easy skip down the mountain…


Down and down…

Until we got to the turnoff…

And back onto the trails…

And the Final Kicker…
We were all very optimistic at this stage…

We were nearly there… and then we discovered the kicker… yup we had to get over this.

But getting up mountains is no longer a problem…

Well maintained paths… it was really lovely…

This was a hike we all enjoyed, until we had to get down to Constantia Nek… this section took us for ever. Don’t ask why… there were zipliness to watch and loads to look at and distract us…

But we were slower than tortoises…

Beauty all around us…

Even a forest of Silver Trees…

But eventually we got there…

All thanks to our Best Balega Socks…

Champions of the Day






Previous Posts in this Series:
Se7en and The Thirteen Peak Challenge…
- 13 Peaks and Segment 1: Signal Hill to Lion’s Head…
- 13 Peaks and Segment 2: Muizenberg Peak…
- 13 Peaks and Segment 3: From the Vida Truck to Kloof Corner…
- 13 Peaks and Segment 4: Kloof Corner to Suikerbossie…
- 13 Peaks and Segment 5: Kasteelspoort to Suikerbossie…
- 13 Peaks and Segment 6: Little Lion’s Head.
- 13 Peaks and Segment 7: Chapman’s Peak Drive.
- 13 Peaks and Segment 8: Suther Peak.
- 13 Peaks and Segment 9: Chapman’s Peak and Noordhoek Peak Together.
- 13 Peaks and Segment 10: The Silvermine River Walk. Not part of the route per se, but a good place for family and friends to join you if you are taking it slow.
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