Our biggest concern was the safety aspect, so we armed ourselves with Alex's 2 beautiful dobermans - Zues and Zinedean and ventured in a southerly direction.
Hiking Trail: Kapteins Peak
Name of Reserve / Area: Table Mountain National Park, Karbonkelberg
Nearest Town: Houtbay and Llundudno
Province: Western Cape
Country: South Africa
Best time to go: May - Sept (No shade available for hot days)
Fresh Water: No fresh water on this route, bring your own.
Difficulty: Easy incline, can also be a nice easy mountain bike route to the top.
Pets: Can take your old dog on a slow stroll all the way to the top.
How safe is it: It is not recommended that you go alone. Keep a mace spray on you for extra protection. Do not display your gadgets too publically.
Directions to get there:
- Once you in Houtbay, drive towards the Houtbay Harbour.
- When you have reached the Houtbay Harbour, take the first road right up towards the mountain.
- At T-junction turn right into Karbonkelberg Road.
- 2nd road right again into Bayview Road. Follow Bayview Road all the way to the top. This road is very windey, but follow your nose in a upward direction and you should not go too far wrong.
Hikers Ratings:
Juanita - Easy walk and stunning views
Alex - (awaiting comment)
The hike starts at the top end of Bayview road. There are no set markers as it is a easy jeep style track to follow all the way to the top.
This hike became the first of many more for us. The beauty and the unknown drew us into this new sport, and to this day we can not seem to get enough of what it has to offer us.
As soon as the Jeep Track ended, we veered off towards the ocean on a single track to enjoy the stunning views.
Another great place to visit before or after your hike, is the harbour area in Houtbay. Spending a short time walking around the harbour, we enjoyed many interesting sights of the locals (including the dogs and the seals!).
Please click on the images for a larger view.
3 comments:
We went on this very hike yesterday and the path is MONSTROUSLY eroded after the rain of the last 5 weeks so it is NOT recommended until the path is sorted out. It was eroded all the way to the saddle. Very difficult!
Dear Coco,
thanks so much for your feedback. you are a star! I have documented the erosion... which is the main path to the Radar Station on Karbonkelberg. I will post the images and the whole story sometime today too. The erosion is so bad, its super dangerous!
We wanted to go all the way up to Karbonkelberg by the Radar station and noted the v bad erosion, so we turned back and opted again for Kapteins Peak instead.
We did the scenic walk around Kapteins Peak, which is the hill before you hit the erosion on your right. This little peak is a must do also - if you have not yet explored it.
See you on the hills ! :)
PS: (another recent and very badly eroded section on Table Mountain is the Contour Path from Rhodes to Kirstenbosch)
I have now also loaded some pictures of the erosion which is now taking place on this route
http://hiking-guide.blogspot.com/2009/08/karbonkelberg-erosion-warning.html
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