Climbing Table Mountain was top of my bucket list while visiting Cape Town South Africa. But as is to be expected on an off-grid adventure, things don’t always go to plan.
Cape Town was the final stop in our two-month overland trip from Tanzania to South Africa and what a beautiful finale it was.
My week here was full of adventures spent with the great friends I was fortunate enough to meet along the way.
Top on my travel wish list was climbing Table Mountain. Subsequently, the hike turned out to be the only option when we arrived in August to find its famous orange cable car was closed.
But with only five days to spare, the weather was not behaving so we decided to climb its 3,500+ peak regardless! Here goes…
Climbing Table Mountain in wet and windy Cape Town
To commence our ascent to “la table” my friend Emily and I hitched a ride to Tafelberg Road in the back of a pickup truck.
We took the route through the Platteklip Gorge, considered a popular yet slightly more trecherous climb. But after hiking in the Chimanimani Mountains after Cyclone Idai, we felt totally unfazed.
The past few days in Cape Town had been grey and drizzly but today was the last chance we had of climbing its iconic peak. So we wrapped up and sucked it up.
Arriving at a green sign which read “Platteklip Gorge” the sky looked slightly forgiving. We began climbing Table Mountain with high hopes it would clear by the time we reached the top. This is it, I thought. We’re doing it.
The climb felt easy to begin with. We hopped across well-paved steps lined with natural waterfalls, pink flowers and shrubs. But half way up, the clouds began to rumble and the wind came out to play.
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And then…
Pressing on with hair spiralling in the wind, we lost sight of our hands as they stretched out in front of us grappling to find the next rock.
The pavement disappeared, replaced by natural boulders glistening with wet drizzle. We looked down into the gorge and then up towards the sky and I felt overcome with the realisation of just how insignificant we were.
My heart was dancing in my chest as we leaned into the wind, slowing our pace and squinting in the thin misty air #keepcalmandkeepclimbing
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Table Mountain Top
As we neared Table Mountain’s peak, the shrubs became fewer and more earthy in colour. I felt tucked into the mountain’s crevices yet ready to be swept into the sky at any moment.
Adding to the adrenaline rush was the fact that the peak was not visible until we were just ten steps away. So we had no idea of how much further we had to go throughout most of the three-hour hike.
When the table top appeared, the joy was… joyous. If we had a deeper energy reserve, we would be bounding across the rockies. But instead we grinned at one another from ear to ear.
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Why I loved it?
People often ask me if I was disappointed to have climbed Table Mountain without the reward with its sweeping views.
But I can honestly say I loved our experience as it was unique and special to us. Our view of the mountain top is one not many get to see. Once again my belly began doing flips as we stood near the edge staring into the abyss.
We were completely encircled by a wall of thick fog meaning all we could see was the rocky ground and the wild flowers beneath our feet. It was quite other-worldly. It was quite incredible.
There were only the two of us here. Feeling blown away while being almost quite literally blown away!
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I will always remember how I felt while climbing Table Mountain and the sense of achievement having conquered it.
Have you had a go at climbing Table Mountain? What was your experience?
How do you feel about catching the cable car instead?
Thanks for following. Until next time,
