I don't know why I always do stupid poses when I hike. But that's a great view from the top of the mountain.
I actually decided to do it at the last minute. Yall know how I am? I got the email, I wanted to do it, but I forgot about it until someone else reminded me about it. By the time I remembered, I didn’t think their would be any spots left. However, my friend Andrea decided not to go and gave me her spot.
It was a windy but sunny day out; the temperature was perfect for hiking. I didn’t want to be late, so I hurried over to the meeting spot, but of course, when I am finally on time, no one else is. So, we waited a good extra 15 minutes for people to arrive. I was a little worried about lunch. I had forgotten about breakfast (a very dumb mistake on my part) and had stolen my flatmate’s peanut butter to make 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but with all that hiking, I wasn't sure that it would be enough. My friend Cassie and her Asian-Canadian flatmate, ?Mugoobe?, also came to hike up Table Mountain. Cassie forgot to pack her lunch, so I offered one of my pb&js, even though I was already worried about it not being enough for myself.
Anyway, we hopped on the bus and headed to Capetown. There is an airlift that takes people to the top of the mountain. THE LINE FOR THE AIRLIFT WAS SO LONG! There were so many tourists there. The airlift looked scary to me though. You know how I am with heights and machinery (I refuse to ride roller coasters); I’d rather hike up! We were going to hike up Table Mountain via the “Platteklip Gorge” route, which was actually down the road from the lift, so we had a long walk before we even really began hiking up the mountain. The beginning of the hike was BRUTAL. I mean, straight up climbing up over huge step after step after step. This was seriously the worst part of the entire hike. Cassie and I were the first ones to have to take a break, but we weren't the only ones. I was like, “Dang.. I don’t want to be at the end of the line, holding up the group!,” but I had to. It was really hard. We didn’t hold up the group at all either; they just kept on going. It was nice. I got to set my own pace. Casey and I started getting on each others’ nerves [hey, it happens!], so we separated and started really concentrating on making it up the mountain.
That mountain was so intense. It was like being on a “stair master” for 2 or 3 hours straight. I caught up with the group and even passed a few folks though. As we got towards the top, the hike got easier. There were a few friendly people too. One couple was coming down and they were like, “You’re about 10 minutes away.” Once they said that, I practically ran up the rest of that mountain! I was so happy to be done.
At the top.. it is COMPLETELY FLAT! I couldn’t believe it because it was so hard to get up and steep. But the top is completely flat. The mountain is really like a table! And there was a beautiful view of all of Capetown and all of Cape Point (which I’ve been to before, but I’m still waiting on Jayden to give me the pictures before I talk about it.). It was beautiful. The best part was THERE WAS A RESTAURANT AT THE TOP! There was all kinds of food; I had the cheese pizza! I hadn’t brought any money, so instead of me giving Cassie my sandwich, Cassie ended up paying for my food! Funny how that worked out!
After eating and chatting with some African tourists, it was time to head back to the bus. I ran down the mountain by myself. I just hate walking down mountains; it takes too long, and my knees start hurting. Running down is better. Walking down is how you get hurt. When you run down, your feet barely touch a rock for longer than a split second, so you have no chance of spraining your ankle or slipping.
I ran down by myself, and, when I got to the bottom, I felt so accomplished. I felt like I had conquered Capetown!
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