We met at 5am and hit the trail. The city sparkles below us as the dawn glows over the distant ranges. We encountered a pair of spotted eagle owls just after this photo, but it was still too dark to get a shot of them. Still, it's good to know they're there, hunting, and in all likelihood raising a clutch nearby.
We were initially worried that the summit ridge would be too windy, but it turned out fine. Here Rob makes the last final steps as the last stars fade from into the indigo dawn.
Topping out with our brewing tools: Edelrid stove, Bialetti Venus pot, and Hario grinder. The grinder, with its adjustable, ceramic blades comes highly recommended. However, for this sort of activity, I've bought a Zassenhaus. While the Hario may give the superior grind, the Zassenhaus has a lid on top which means you can grind furiously and not spill the beans. (And you should never spill the beans).
That looks like my head and shoulders, but it's actually the shadow of the mountain casted onto the offshore clouds in the distance. Rob's matching outfit and chicken legs can be seen in the foreground.
Coffee's ready just as the rest of the city awakes from their slumber. This second more gently boiled attempt had a much better extraction and a fuller mouth feel to it.
We started off with a fine grind of Woolworths All Africa Organic blend...nothing too fancy, but we are rookies. This wasn't our first brew, which we'd hid out of the wind. That result was brewed too quickly and came out a bit bitter... not burnt, but singed.
We weren't alone for too long. A few more exercise enthusiasts arrived and were met with a steaming cuppa joe. It was cool meeting new people so openly, something that might not happen on streets of the city below. Here's a familiar face to some: Dene Botha.
Nikita also rocked up and questioned our ability.
Courtney arrived as part of a birthday breakfast. Great choice of venue. They may not have taken their coffee as seriously, but they made up for it with pancakes and strawberries. Rob looks mighty stoked there.
We switched over to roughly grinding Truth's Vengeance blend in my Zassenhaus. Previously in bigger mocha pots, this has come out fighting. But with Rob's little double-maker, the extraction time was too short and it came out weak. A finer blend would improve this. We also tried slowing it down for our second attempt. It helped, but still didn't do justice to the beans.
The transition of colour and sky is also a sight to be seen. Here's breaking dawn.
And just after sunrise
And a bit later as some clouds rolled in. The changing light is reason enough to make the easy trip up there.
On the way down, we were lucky to spy a pod of dolphins just off seapoint, making breakfast out of a school of fish. Apart from this and the owls, we also saw a falcon tuck and stoop to take out some unwitting prey. It's great seeing predators like this in your city. It lets you know that there's a thriving ecosystem happening around you. Mindful of our own breakfast, we were back at the parking lot at 8:00. Not a bad morning before work begins.
