The
6.00am rendezvous at the Arboretum Parking Area, attended by well over 50 trail
runners, was a mixture of admiration and confusion. The admiration was for
Tim’s Group, as it is not very often that we are in the company of such fine
athletic specimens. The confusion was that all of Greg, Alex and Jackie have
officially defected from “us” to “them”……rumour has it that, not only do they
earn rather lucrative appearance money, they also received rather hefty signing
on lump sums. Peter and Tim are currently negotiating the transfer fees.
After
the usual introductions by Peter, which some folk find amusing, rather than
taking in the serious side of the instructions and reminders……please guys,
accidents happen, you must be prepared……we set off in 4 groups, as follows:
- 1. Tim’s elite group
- 2. TMT group 1, led, at Peter’s request, by Dave, armed with comprehensive written instructions
- 3. TMT recovery group, led by Peter
- 4. TMT walking group, led by Fay.
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| Sam trying to hitch a ride down with a mountain biker |
Tim’s
group set off at a blistering pace (enough about “them”) and TMT group 1 at a
gentle trot, closely followed by the recovery group and the walking group. We
hadn’t gone 100 metres, when Dave took a wrong turning. A few more wrong
turnings ensured, before we eventually reached Level 5 on what can only be
described as a perfect summer’s morning……the views over the Cape Flats and
False Bay, all the way to Gordons Bay and the Hottentots Holland mountains,
were quite magnificent.
We followed the trail into the Silvermine Reserve and
through the mountain bike car park. Dave took a tumble, so Neil wisely stepped
in to the lead role, a fine move under the circumstances, as, from then on to
the finish, not a foot was put wrong……a navigational hundred percenter. We
raced up on to Steenberg Ridge, the Silvermine dam in the distance below, we scrambled
over a few rocks below Elephants Eye, then motored along the single track to
the tar road and on to the top of Blackburn Ravine, then to the lookout deck, where
we gathered to take in the breathtaking views of Hout Bay.
A quick photo shoot
and we were soon retracing our steps back to the lookout point below Elephants
Eye and then all the way downhill back to the car park, where all 4 groups
mingled in perfect harmony.
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| Stunning Sunrise view |
The
only incident of note was Mike losing his hydration pack……well, he didn’t
actually lose it, he left it on the boot of his car, then walked over to the
group for chat. Someone lifted/stole it and gave it to a security guard, who
thought it was “junk”, so he dumped it in a black refuse bag and was about to
confine it to the refuse bin/take it home (you do the maths), when Dave
(luckily) retrieved it and returned it to a rather relieved Mike. The last
sighting was of Mike and the security guard in deep meaningful conversation,
probably discussing the pros and cons of leaving a hydration pack unattended on
the boot of a car……lesson learned?
About
20 of us made our way to Julian and Gaeleen’s mansion (thanks guys) for a
lovely breakfast and to admire Greg’s body (this insert at the request/insistance
of the ladies present……sorry Allison!!!) and Julian’s jewelry.
On
a lighter note, when leaving the car park, we noticed a sign reading “Baboons
Drive Slowly”……and we were under the impression that baboons drove quite
quickly.
Many thanks to Dave for this report and to Jackie,Chantal and Michael for the photographs
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