Table Mountain Waterfalls

The Symphony of Water

Every Cape Townian should do this winter hike. Its really short, really beautiful and really easy to access.

All you need to do is wait for a sunny winter's morning after some good rain. Then pack some muffins and a thermos, drive up to Tafelberg Road, park at Platteklip Gorge and set your sites to just before the zigzags. When you get to a junction about a third of the way up (there is a sign board there), hang a left towards devils peak and follow that path. It will take you straight to a beautiful waterfall and just after it is the perfect spot to sit and have your breakfast and watch the rest of Cape Town wake up. 

Table Mountain Classic

We did a quick hike up Table Mountain from Platteklip Gorge and down via India Venster, ending underneath the Cable Car to show Austrian cousin Sash and girlfriend Julz the sites of our beautiful mountain.

This is a classic route up with a very easy, clear path to follow. Its always busy, there is a security hut at the bottom, plenty of parking and always crystal clear streams to drink from.

In search of Pelargonium scabrum

Some people put on their skirt suit and heels to go to work. I open my cupboard, look for the oldest thing I own, and put that on instead. Then I head off into the hills... But the absolute best thing about my work (botanical research) is all the beautiful places I get to go to that I would otherwise never experience, the strange and wonderful plants we discover and the quirky people I meet along the way. I could fill a blog about these folk, but I digress.

Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park Camping Trip

We did this trip in Sept 2010 with friends Mark and Cathy

It went something like this:
3 Nts Twee Rivieren (Kgalagadi)

2 Nights Mabuasehube (on the Bots side)(actually the Landy decided to go half way there and no further due to major corrugations, so we just parked off in the bush for 2 nights and never actually made it to our camping destination on the Eastern border of the park)

Then a few nights in the Riemvasmaak Community Conservancy. We had one night in a cottage near the hot springs (which we never actually swam in because we disturbed a rather dodgey, giggly group of locals in the water with not a lot of clothing on), but it was a beautiful drive to get there and the accommodation was nice. After that we went further into the reserve and camped along the Orange River near Augrabies (but still in the community reserve) and that was so relaxing - no people around anywhere, just bush camping on the very edge of the river.

Eastern Cape Hike : Kariega Mosslands Two Rivers Trail

Lightning flashed, thunder struck, and the heavens opened.There was morning and there was evening, the first day.

The Bat Run

The Bat Run is an epic 30km nightime trail run up 3 peaks of Table Mountain, held annually on a full moon night in February. Its been on my wish to-do list for ages but with 1700m of climbing, I thought it was way out of my reach. Somehow one thing led to another and I managed to do the training and get an entry (and one for Chris too, who was busy training for ironman anyway).

The race starts at the bottom of Tafelberg Road at dusk and winds up to the very top of Devil's Peak, any route you like. There is a check point at the top where you can see the whole of Table Bay, the setting sun and the rising moon. Then it's head torches on and a scramble back down the mountain.

'Lost' it appears, is relative

“I know exactly where we are – we’re just SW of Judas Peak, Hout Bay.”

Had we been lost, I would have called Mountain Rescue and said that someone has blindfolded us, and dropped us somewhere in the mountains of the Western Cape. So while I still maintain that we were never lost, I will admit that the path down the mountain appeared to be missing. Being lost and being in trouble are two different things. So I call it more than semantic opinion… I call it adventure.

Red Disa Hike Adventure

 I've learnt my lesson on this hike and from now on we will call them “adventures”. You need a sense of adventure to hike, because they don’t always happen in a straight line and according to plan – so next time, we will arrange a mountain walking adventure, just so that we know to expect the unexpected.

Cederberg Crystal Pools Hike : When hikes are near, friends are few!

Years of nagging finally paid off and my friends agreed to do a Cederberg Hike. As more and more details became clear and the date drew near, the guest list shortened. In the end there were just 4 who were willing to trust my yet-to-be-tested navigation and survival skills!

Maps were photostatted, hiking fraternity consulted, gear begged for and borrowed until we were in a fashion, ready. Since we only had a weekend, and one of the conditions of the hike was that there would be a hut nearby if all hell broke loose with the weather, we opted for a short Crystal Pools hike with 1 overnight.

Eden to Addo 400km Mega Hike

A few of my pics from a 17 day, 400km mega adventure! We started in the Eden district near Knysna and ended in Addo National Park in the Eastern Cape, 7 mountain ranges later.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larahusted/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/larahusted2/

I also wrote an article that was published in The Star, you can read it here - minus the photos :(

Cape Town fire: Table Mountain up in smoke...

I spent much of yesterday afternoon watching Table Mountain disappear behind a curtain of thick smoke. The pictures below are taken from our flat's balcony in Tamboerskloof - the 3rd photo is 10 minutes after the first - that's how quickly the fire was spreading. The flames were fanned by gale-force winds which aided its devastation and hampered dousing efforts.