Saturday
Dear Elsie
Today was the day we climbed Table Mountain. We didn’t begin the day planning to do this. We planned walking to the reservoirs but as we got nearer, we got bolder. Little did we know the trauma our legs would suffer after making this decision! We parked at Constantia Nek and at 8.08am set off up the Constantia Nek Jeep Track. I took a photo every kilometer. 1km 8-39am
2km – 9.06am
It was the long but easy road up…we had NO idea of what was to come. This road, albeit long and steep looks like a walk in the park in hindsight!
3km – 9.28am
4km – 9.45am
5km – 9-59am – Alexandra Dam
We stopped at the end of this for breakfast – we had walked 5km before breakfast.
After breakfast, we were a little sluggish while our breakfast settled. The next kilometer bought us to a massive landmark. It was at this point, it may have been wise to turn around and say, ‘that was a great 12km hike,’ but no. Instead, I called David and told him we were walking to the Cable Car station and could he pick us up from there. We’d be there between 1 & 2. He was fine with that. We didn’t have a clue how hard the next 4km would be.
6km – 10.32am – very historic Woodhead Dam.
Built between 1893 and 1897.
Massive stones that make up the bridge.
Last one laid…
The gorge the other side of the dam…
We got to this map at 10.45am we were at 6 on the map and I put red lines on the route we went. (Next time, we’ll take the green route – I put those lines there too)
7km mark 10.57am
The going got very rough. It was so steep. The path was narrow and there were a lot of rocks to climb up. In some spots it was wet and pretty treacherous. There were quite a few people coming down but not too many going up.
8km – 11.41am – it took us 44minutes to climb a kilometer. I did have to take regular breaks because my heart rate was pushing 170. Valley of the Red gods. Hout Bay is in the distance in the middle.
The next kilometer was going to take us 54 minutes because it involved crossing Platteklip gorge. We did get a modicum of enthusiasm as we summited one of the grueling peaks because suddenly we saw this…so close and yet so far.
The joys of Platteklip Gorge…
Ladder 1…
Ladder 2…
We didn’t take too many photos because quite often the path was tricky and needed my full attention.
9km – 12.35pm – 
Upwards and onwards..
Feeling confident!
And finally, 10km bought us to a more reasonable path…
It wasn’t long after that we hit the crowds and got to enjoy the amazing view.
We caught the cable car down…5 hours after leaving Constantia Nek.
And met David on Table Mountain Rd.
He took us back to Constantia Nek.
Home exhausted, but satisfied with our achievement. Next time, we’ll take the easier route. Tomorrow we need to do a changeover of the Seaview Apartment. I don’t even know if we’re going to be able to walk, let alone work, but it was worth it.
Psalm 65:5-6
You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, who formed the mountains by your power…
What mountains we saw today.
It’s not about now – we are only passing through.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Gran xx 🙂