Table Mountain, 3000 ft up
A local at Plalakti Gorge trailhead
Another local!
View from the top
SO happy to have made it!
Federico
9000 miles from home!
Saturday Sept 24
Death hike up Table Mountain
One thing we both wanted to do while in cape town was to hike up table mountain which stands at 3,300 ft. It didn’t sound so high (after all, I hiked the grand canyon!) so we decided to skip the cable car (for a sissy) and hike up through Palakti Gorge. Fed is a strong hiker and did a lot of trekking when he lived in argentina. I do ok but haven’t been hiking too much with this job. But like I said, it didn’t sound too hard, especially since they said it should take about 2+ hours for the hike. I told Fedi upfront that I’m a slow hiker and as I tell Gary all the time, just go ahead and wait for me at the top. Within 5 minutes Fedi was out of sight. It was a warm and sunny day and the trail was 100% exposed. I didn’t have a hat and only had a bottle of water with me. I had some snacks but realized that they were in the daypack that Fedi had insisted on carrying along with my big heavy camera. I was struggling already in the first half hour because the whole trail was made of huge stepping stones at least 1-2 feet high. Halfway there I felt I was in trouble because I was feeling weak and spent. I was drinking most of my water. Fedi was nowhere in sight and I had no choice but continue up. I was sweating so much I knew I was loosing a lot of my body salt and need to eat something for energy. The whole time I was remembering the story of a friend who overestimated her ability and hiked up the grand canyon with only water. She collasped near the top and had to be helicoptered out, she was in a coma for 2 days. I didn’t feel like I could get to the top. For the first time in my life I felt desperate enough to ask someone for some food. So I started to keep an eye on the people coming down. Finally I saw a group of guys coming down with daypacks which means they might have food. I asked them if they had any spare granola bars or snacks. I told them that my husband has all of our snacks and that he was already on the top. They were nice enough to give me a granola bar which I forced myself to eat even though I wasn’t feeling any hunger. Had to ration the water that was left. The sun was brutal and any spots of shade I could find from a bush I would huddle under it for a few minutes and thinking Fedi must be waiting for me and wondering where I was. I didn’t care, I needed to let my body cool down as much as possible otherwise I could collapse with heat stroke. The temp was only in the low 80’s and really pleasant if you are sitting and relaxing in the shade. But I tend to get overheated when I exert myself. The way to the top seemed to take forever and I thought I would never get there since I seem to stop every 5-10 minutes. It was torturous! Can’t describe the feeling of joy and relief when I saw the narrow gorge that led to the top. OMG! It felt glorious to walk on flat land! I found Fedi who was having a good time hanging at one of the points. It’s called table mountain because the top is literally a relatively flat plateau of maybe half mile long. The top was a playground of rock scrambling into different off trail directions with views in all directions. Gary would have loved it.
Before we headed down Fedi noticed a woman carrying a thermos and he got excited. He told me that she was drinking mate, which is a bitter tea that argentinians drink, he was addicted to that stuff and hasn’t had it in awhile. I jokingly said that maybe he should chase after them for a drink of the mate and that was all the encouragement he needed. Next thing I knew he’s walking fast in their direction and started talking to them. THe group of father mother and 2 sons were very friendly and they were indeed from buenos aires. We chatted in spanish for about 20 minutes. In between the woman was putting fresh tea leaves and pouring hot water in a mate cup for Fedi. I've tried that stuff and its too bitter for me.
One thing we both wanted to do while in cape town was to hike up table mountain which stands at 3,300 ft. It didn’t sound so high (after all, I hiked the grand canyon!) so we decided to skip the cable car (for a sissy) and hike up through Palakti Gorge. Fed is a strong hiker and did a lot of trekking when he lived in argentina. I do ok but haven’t been hiking too much with this job. But like I said, it didn’t sound too hard, especially since they said it should take about 2+ hours for the hike. I told Fedi upfront that I’m a slow hiker and as I tell Gary all the time, just go ahead and wait for me at the top. Within 5 minutes Fedi was out of sight. It was a warm and sunny day and the trail was 100% exposed. I didn’t have a hat and only had a bottle of water with me. I had some snacks but realized that they were in the daypack that Fedi had insisted on carrying along with my big heavy camera. I was struggling already in the first half hour because the whole trail was made of huge stepping stones at least 1-2 feet high. Halfway there I felt I was in trouble because I was feeling weak and spent. I was drinking most of my water. Fedi was nowhere in sight and I had no choice but continue up. I was sweating so much I knew I was loosing a lot of my body salt and need to eat something for energy. The whole time I was remembering the story of a friend who overestimated her ability and hiked up the grand canyon with only water. She collasped near the top and had to be helicoptered out, she was in a coma for 2 days. I didn’t feel like I could get to the top. For the first time in my life I felt desperate enough to ask someone for some food. So I started to keep an eye on the people coming down. Finally I saw a group of guys coming down with daypacks which means they might have food. I asked them if they had any spare granola bars or snacks. I told them that my husband has all of our snacks and that he was already on the top. They were nice enough to give me a granola bar which I forced myself to eat even though I wasn’t feeling any hunger. Had to ration the water that was left. The sun was brutal and any spots of shade I could find from a bush I would huddle under it for a few minutes and thinking Fedi must be waiting for me and wondering where I was. I didn’t care, I needed to let my body cool down as much as possible otherwise I could collapse with heat stroke. The temp was only in the low 80’s and really pleasant if you are sitting and relaxing in the shade. But I tend to get overheated when I exert myself. The way to the top seemed to take forever and I thought I would never get there since I seem to stop every 5-10 minutes. It was torturous! Can’t describe the feeling of joy and relief when I saw the narrow gorge that led to the top. OMG! It felt glorious to walk on flat land! I found Fedi who was having a good time hanging at one of the points. It’s called table mountain because the top is literally a relatively flat plateau of maybe half mile long. The top was a playground of rock scrambling into different off trail directions with views in all directions. Gary would have loved it.
Before we headed down Fedi noticed a woman carrying a thermos and he got excited. He told me that she was drinking mate, which is a bitter tea that argentinians drink, he was addicted to that stuff and hasn’t had it in awhile. I jokingly said that maybe he should chase after them for a drink of the mate and that was all the encouragement he needed. Next thing I knew he’s walking fast in their direction and started talking to them. THe group of father mother and 2 sons were very friendly and they were indeed from buenos aires. We chatted in spanish for about 20 minutes. In between the woman was putting fresh tea leaves and pouring hot water in a mate cup for Fedi. I've tried that stuff and its too bitter for me.
I usually feel confident about going down and assured Fedi that I could go down the hill with no problem. Well, famous last words. The steps were so high and steep that the going was just as slow and tough. It took forever to get down but at least we were in the shade. This sounds bad but the views on top was so fantastic it was worthwhile. We also felt very proud of doing it, even our local colleagues were impressed we hiked up the mountain. Normal people go up the cable car. Both of us were so sore and it didn't get better for 5 days! Going down the stairs was painful! Still, I was glad I did it. THis mountain is a final candidate to be one of the new wonders of the world so you can imagine how beautiful it is.
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