Finally hiking Hout Bay Corner

I don’t like doing hikes that I haven’t done before, I prefer to tread paths that I know. Last year I broke with tradition and was reminded of why this is, after following a path that came to a dead-end and retracing our steps several times decided the prudent action would be to go down the way we’d come up. I look up at the Twelfth Apostle mountain every day from the garden and for the last 10 years have wanted to climb up the back to the top and come down the front. And there is a path, I just didn’t know where it was until now.

The Twelfth Apostle above Llandudno Beach

My dad saw an advert in our local community newspaper to join The Peninsula Ramblers on a guided walk up Myburgh’s Kloof, known as one of the few spots to see the Red Disa flower, continuing to the top known as Judas Peak and then down Hout Bay corner. This was exactly the hike I had wanted to do before and so I was very keen to go along and finally learn the route.

Only starting at 9:00am we were lucky that is was a slightly overcast day and so it wasn’t too hot as we traversed the contour path from Suikerbossie Restaurant to the Myburgh Waterfall Ravine where we stopped for a tea break in the forest and a quick check of the map.

Half way up the ravine we came across a patch of Red Disas. They are magnificent flowers and they only bloom for a couple of weeks usually in late January – early February.

Several photos later we continued up the ravine which narrows with sheer rock faces on either side.

Some of the trees however have amazing root systems and still manage to cling to the rock face and reach amazing heights.

Once at the top we were at the base of the clouds which were obscuring the view we had all come to see and we debated whether it was worth continuing with the last of the climb to the top of Judas Peak but decided we had come all this way and so up into the cloud we went.

Cowering out of the wind at the top we took a break and had some lunch.

As if teasing us, every now and again the cloud would thin out and we could just make out Lion’s Head and Robben Island in the distance…

And then it cleared completed and I managed to take this panorama of 8 photographs looking back along the top of Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles before the cloud enveloped us once again

And now to get down, where I had turned left and gotten sidetracked a year before we followed the path right and although steep with some steel rungs at one section to help you down a large rock it was very manageable and I couldn’t believe how close I had been to finding the path. So close and yet so far. As we made our way down, and got below the cloud base we got this great view of Llandudno and the beach.

About half way down we reached the contour and then followed the path around the mountain and presumably where the name Hout Bay Corner comes from with this view of Hout Bay, Chapman’s Peak and Kommetjie way off in the distance.

The hike took over 6 hours, with several stops and a medium pace, but it was definitely worth it and now I know the route and look forward to leading some of my friends on this awesome hike.

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