When you read any guidebook or ask any CapeTownian what to do or see in Cape Town, one response that will *always* be there is “Table Mountain.”

As one of the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World, Table Mountain has recently become an incredibly popular tourist destination, and of course, Cape Town has understandable reaped the benefits.

But, is the mountain really that epic? What is there to see? Why is it called, “Table Mountain?”

Well, I decided to book a hike with “Hike Table Mountain” to hopefully answer these questions and experience the mountain for myself!

Booking

Booking a Table Mountain hike was another one of those interesting experiences for a solo traveler. Most of the hiking companies very clearly state that you must have a group of 2+ in order to book a hike… which is a statement that is starting to make me roll my eyes. However, I’ve also learned that if you email and ask if there are any groups, your inquisitiveness is likely to be rewarded; this was the case with Hike Table Mountain. I read through their website and fired off an email to their “Contact Us” address, and within a few hours I had heard back from Riann, who asked me some questions about my fitness level, tolerance for heights, and “sense of adventure.” I quickly replied and heard back again from Riann incredibly quickly – there was a group open on the day I wanted to hike (I had picked based on the weather forecast), doing one of the trails that had looked interesting to me! I confirmed that I was in, and that was that!

The Hike

Similar to when Matt and I were in the Uluru area, sharp. While I was understandable not thrilled, I now 100% comprehend these early start times for hikes, so the morning of the hike my alarm went off at 5:30, and I was out the door by 6 in the Never@Home shuttle that I had prebooked the morning before. We pulled up to the lower cable station at about 6:20 and I met another girl from my group. We waited together for about 5 more minutes and Riann pulled up, with the other 4 hikers in his van. Riann gathered us together, introduced us all, made sure we had water, jackets and snacks and then got us started on the hike!

There’s no nice way to put this… the first part of the India Venster trail sucks. It’s stairs and stairs and stairs and they feel like they’re never going to end. And of course they’re natural stairs so they’re uneven and just unbalanced enough and some are SO high for a 5’5″ girl your knee is in your face… but Riann was an exceptional judge of when our group needed a little break — and the magic of it was that he never said “we’ll take a quick break now.” He would just find something naturally occurring on our path to stop and talk to us about, which I really appreciated. We had a pretty broad range of hiking experience in the group, ranging from one girl on honeymoon whose husband booked the hike without telling her it was a B-grade difficulty, to another girl who has hiked the Appalachian trail, and the rest of us in-between. Juggling those skill levels I’m sure isn’t the easiest task, but I really appreciated Riann’s sense for the needs of the group.

Anyhow, the stairs. Stairs also can sometimes give me a bit of vertigo, so I was dutifully trudging along for this part of the hike, which I would say felt like forever but realistically was probably about 30 minutes. When we reached the end of the stair portion, Riann stopped us to tell us that he was really impressed with all of us and that in many ways, we had just finished the “hardest” part of the trail.

Why?

Because it’s the “most boring” and also the most “tiring” for your legs.

At the time I wasn’t sure if I really believed him, but having now finished the trail, I’m pleased to say that he was definitely correct, at least for me.

After the stairs, Riann taught us some more hiking “tricks” about how to traverse effectively… and then we got to do our first scramble!

Scrambling is kind of like bouldering, except instead of heading sideways, you’re heading up, using your hands and feet, but no traditional rock-climbing ropes. Each scramble section we got to, Riann would demonstrate the easiest way to complete the scramble, and then he would spot each of us as we completed it, talking us through if we got stuck or nervous. I personally had been a bit concerned because the trail description had 15% sheer facing scrambles in the description, but I’m so freaking pleased to say that I kicked the mountain’s butt.

Halfway through the scramble/climb/traverse portion, we stopped for a photo/water/snack break and to just appreciate the beauty of the mountain and our surroundings. At this point we hadn’t seen even one other group on the trail, so we had a completely private experience with Table Mountain. Our previously chatty group just kind of sat down and looked around, appreciating where we were and what we’d accomplished so far and what we were seeing. As we were absorbing everything, Riann did mention to us that we were hiking on a “perfect” Table Mountain day, the kind that happens about twice a year. Table Mountain is known for howling, gale force winds, temperamental rain and clouds, and freezing temperatures. Although it was a touch chilly early in the morning, we had completely clear skies for our entire hike and the weather was calm and perfect. Essentially, we were Table Mountain Blessed.

We finished up our break and continued the climb, with plenty more scrambles before the final ascent to the summit. Along the way, we also got to walk through a relatively dry stream bed, and Riann shared some stories with us from when he’d had to respond to rescue calls from… let’s say hard-headed visitors who have gotten stuck in various sticky situations on Table Mountain.

As we cleared the top of the mountain, it was incredibly surreal, because we popped out from seemingly nowhere into a flurry of other tourists running around, presumably who had taken the cable car up to the top. Now surrounded by ladies in heels and crying children, we were slammed back into reality. Riann had one more surprise for us though, and he led us across the “Table” while answering the question I mentioned earlier, “Why is it called Table Mountain?” The answer is that obviously initially it was due to its resemblance to a Table with its flat surface, but then the further question is — why the flat surface? The answer there is a bit more interesting, and it’s because unlike most mountains, there aren’t any cracks or fissures on the summit of Table Mountain, so when it rains, ravines aren’t able to be formed as the water runs down. Instead, Table Mountain has remained flat, and small water pools have formed on the top instead, while the rest of the water has just found its way to the sides and created downward flowing streams.

We finally reached the last viewing point Riann wanted to show us… the views must go on for miles on clear days like yesterday. He actually recommended that we lay down to get a different perspective… and he’d been right everywhere else so far on the hike, so we all obliged. 

….

And then we laid there for 10 minutes.

After a while it was time to go since Riann was leading us back down, but after 5 hours on the mountain, we were all sated, if a bit sad, to be heading back down via cable car.

My Opinion

Do it. Hike Table Mountain. Do it with Riann from Hike Table Mountain. I can’t even begin to explain to you the feeling of staring at the mountain for a few days from Cape Town, and then the sense of achievement from conquering that type of a challenge. I’ve never fully hiked a “mountain” before, but yesterday I ascended over 2,000 feet, with insane stairs, scrambling, and a *tiny* bit of unauthorized jumping over puddles.

I’d do it again in a heartbeat.