Climbing Table Mountain

So after a good night's sleep, we arose early to climb Table Mountain, the tall, flat-topped mountain that forms the central part of the bowl that surrounds Cape Town, and that we wake up to each morning. We opted for the Kastlepoort trail, at the suggestion of our guide, Margaret, based on our assessment that we were not yet decrepit old folk. The photos posted below are from our 7 kilometer hike during which we ascended 900 meters! (and, yes we had to find a conversion chart too-that would be a 5 mile hike, ascending 2,952 feet up-needless to say, there were times we questioned our assessment-and our sanity!) 


The trail began at the base of one of the Twelve Apostles, the sandstone buttresses that form the backside of Table Mountain. (We began our ascent on one of the jeep tracks that lead out of Camp's Bay, the small beachside town that you see at the base of the mountain in many of the photos) We ascended between two buttresses, and, over the course of our 4 1/2 hour hike, traversed 3 Apostles, descended into 3 beautiful valleys, and finally reached the top. The hike was incredibly challenging-in Nat's words, there was more than one occasion when he wanted to lie down on the trail and cry like a baby. But, we did it-and were we ever glad we did! The views were spectacular, we were treated to an incredible display of Cape Town fynbos (the name for the flora that grow on the mountain) and the sounds of birds singing and water falling. Since the trail was so challenging, we were spared the crowds that either take the shorter, less difficult route or ride up in the cable car. We are no dummies, though, so we did opt for the cable car to take us back down. Enjoy the photos-they speak for themselves. And if you look closely in some of them, you can find little specks-they are the few other hardy souls who dared tackle the Kastlespoort today. Our guide, Margaret? She handled it as if she were out on her morning stroll-but, then again, she was. She climbs the mountain every day.

View of the Cape Town from the top!

We made it!