You know what, I really thought I would be disappointed with Table Mountain. To be honest, I thought it might be a bit, well, tame. I knew it would be high but expected to be herded along well made tracks past ice-cream kiosks and souvenir shops.

Not so… Not so at all!

I set off from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens heading for Skeleton Gorge. I went that way only because I wanted to visit the gardens (I am so ‘Rock ‘n Roll’!) and had no idea that in so doing, I was setting myself up for one of the hardest ascents of the mountain. As the beautifully manicured lawns yielded to a narrow, steep path, I realised that this was no ‘walk-in-the-park’. Very soon I was climbing over rocks in a fast-running stream, crossing numerous copper-coloured waterfalls under dense tree-cover. This was ‘Smut’s Track’ and I was climbing rustic ladders, negotiating huge boulders and clambering over slippery tree roots. I stopped to catch my breath and thought perhaps I should read the leaflet I’d been given at the entrance to the gardens It started by saying…

‘You need a map of Table Mountain for the next two trails… Smuts Track up Skeleton Gorge (5.5hr)… Very high exertion… very slippery during winter and dangerous after heavy rain…blah, blah It warns not to travel alone, to turn back if it becomes cloudy and to tell someone you’re on the mountain.

D’oh! It’d been raining for the past week and while those of you back in the UK bask in lovely sunny weather, perhaps, it’s winter here in SA. On top of that, I had no map, I was alone and nobody knew I was up there. Ah well, how dangerous could it be? I mean, really?

I eventually reached a fork in the path at the top of Skeleton Gorge and made an arbitrary decision to turn right towards Maclears Beacon. I didn’t know it at the time but that meant more climbing to the highest point on the entire mountain at 1,085m. By now I was in the clouds, literally, and couldn’t really see very much but, my goodness, what an exhilarating experience. Occasionally the cloud would clear to reveal the most unbelievable view over False Bay, over Table Bay, Lion’s Head, over the city, the peninsular and the Hottentot Holland Mountains on the horizon.

I was absolutely exhausted. The climb had taken just over two hours. That’s two hours almost vertically. What luck then that I came across a ‘hub’ where the various routes were marked. It suggested that I was about an hour away from the cable-car and at the time, that seems like a welcome relief. I followed the path around the northeast side of the mountain where, to my right, the cliff-edge overhangs a precipitous 1000m drop to the valley floor. The path even carves a route within a metre of the edge and I’ll be honest, I did wonder for a moment if this could possibly be the way-marked path. It was (the second photo above is the path and although you can’t see it, the drop to the right goes all the way to the bottom!). Eventually I came to the point where the path drops away dramatically down through a narrow gorge between the towering rocks. To the left, according to another signpost, the path would lead to the cable-car. I felt re-fuelled by the exhilarating walk along the cliff-edge and decided then that taking the cable-car would be cheating. I started descending through Platteklip Gorge but my progress was slow. I had to keep stopping as by now I was absolutely shattered. I emerged under the cloud layer and the city spread out below like a model. Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned became clearly visible.

By 1700hrs, I had arrived at the bottom of the cable-car station. Looking back up, the cable-cars seemed to disappear into the clouds like some kind of modern ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. I’d done it. It would have been unthinkable to come to Cape Town and not climb on Table Mountain. So I’m told, there are easier routes and of course, none are easier than taking the cable-car but I can’t imagine a more exhilarating walk that, whilst being challenging, is so accessible, so iconic, so rewarding.

I should mention too that on Saturday, I was invited to crew again on Lobelia in the Portugal Day pursuit race around the bay. The weather was forecast to be wet and windy but we couldn’t have asked for better weather. We couldn’t have asked for a better result either – we won! Yep, first over the line with 43 boats in our wake.

What a weekend!!

Rob Clark

W2N Global Ltd.

+44 (0)7967 661157

www.w2n.co.uk