Take a Hike

The weather was on our side on Saturday. It reached about 25C (~77F), a good day to go hiking. Her boss volunteered to be the tour guide to take us (and three others) up Table Mountain. On this hike, we spent from 10AM-5PM climbing approximately 3,000 feet up the mountain.
Piece of cake...

The start was a nice, steady walk along the dirt road leading to the trail up. The trail was bumpy but the scenery was worth the struggle. There were streams, waterfalls, flowers, and a few critters.

Girl taking a rest by one of the many streams


David posing in front of a waterfall


Can you spot the critter?

As we inched up the mountain, breathing got more difficult and walking was a challenge. Eventually, the group was divided into two. Ahead was Guy, the Prof. and David. Bring up the rear was Girl, Constance and her husband Paul.

Constance and Paul trailing behind. This here is evidence that we can out walk a native African (Paul).


Following the “easy” part of the trail, we crawled up a paved road that Girl swears was vertical. At this point, she and Paul contemplated giving up and waiting to join back up with the group on the walk down. That would be a five hour wait….so they toughed it out. But they did take their time.

Constance cheering Girl and Paul on. The little blue blob in the back is Girl.

I wonder why they call it “Skeleton Gorge”?


Three-quarters of the hike up the mountain, we stopped to take in the view of the city and the ocean. We're so high up! *ears popping*

but we still have a ways to go

We finally made it to the top and the trail flattened out. Good thing because our muscles were feeling the burn.

The amature team trailing behind...

We stopped for lunch on a white quartz sand dune. PBJ and bananas provided enough energy for the trip back, but our water was running low.

Sand dune on top of the mountain.

Enjoying a much-deserved banana.

Prof. telling stories about constipation and the South American tap-water cure.

Lunch was over and we started making our way back to the car. But first, a quick detour to a few reservoirs and some more of the mountain.

Water! The red is caused by tanins leeching out from plants= safe to drink (at own risk).

View from the top. Below is a waterfront town on the Atlantic Ocean.

Girl having her moment of "zen"

The walk back was quicker than the trip up, but was definitely more painful. We also ran out of water and had to make do with some questionable water we were able to attain along the trail.

Note the clarity of the water at the beginning of the trip (left) and the "mountain water" we obtained on the trail (right). We are attributing the red tint to "antioxidants."

Sorry there are no photos to document our trip down. Our feet and fingers were too tired to take them. Prof. announced that there will be another group hike in two weeks, if the weather permits. We're looking forward to it.

update: It has been 24 hours since our ingestion of the "mountain water." I am happy to report that we are alive and functioning normally. And any writing error is to be attributed to the short term side effects of the "antioxidants."