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The route via Platteklip Gorge to
the edge of Echo Valley, through Valley of the Red Gods & finally, down
Kasteelspoort. |
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Table Mountain fynbos in the
vicinity of Valley of the Red Gods. |
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We headed back across
Woodhead's dam wall, to pick up the path that led past the Mountain
Club of South Africa hut, down towards the head of Kasteelspoort.
The sun glistened off the waters of the Atlantic. Just below
Kasteelsberg, to the left, as you look down the gorge, a slab of
rock extends over the edge, providing excellent views of the path
leading down the gorge. I have included some photos on an earlier
hike in 2007 that I took of Ralph (wearing longs) near the edge,
looking somewhat apprehensive. Halfway down Kasteelspoort path,
Lions Head and the coastline extending to Blouberg and beyond, comes into view towards the north-west .
It is a splendid sight indeed! It's at moments like this, as one
gazes across the vastness of the ocean, that times stands still. We
made our way down until we reached the pipe track, which leads back
to Tafelberg Road at Kloof Nek, within sight of Lions Head. En route
we met some folk we had seen up Platteklip, who had come down the
Diagonal Route via Porcupine Tree from Valley of the Red Gods, some
500 metres before the Kasteelspoort turn-off. |
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Approaching Kasteelspoort with
Kasteelsberg to the left - note the overhang at the head of the valley. |
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An iconic image of Ralph on
Kasteelsberg ledge, in 2007. |
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Disa Gorge below Woodhead Reservoir;
Descending Kasteelspoort (in 2005). |
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Contrasting views. Looking down &
back up Kasteelspoort. |
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I have walked a number of
routes on various sections of Table Mountain, however there is an
opportunity of undertaking a walk incorporating the spine of
the Cape Peninsula from Table Mountain to Cape Point, straddling the
Atlantic and Indian Oceans, known as the Hoerikwaggo Trail. It is a
hiking trail ranging from two to five days, operated by South
African National Parks and may be covered in sections or in its
entirety. The word Hoerikwaggo is derived from the Khoi-San word
meaning ‘mountain in the sea’. |
The Hoerikwaggo Route
distances are as follows (see
map):
• Table Mountain - Orange Kloof= 18.4 km
• Orange Kloof - Silvermine = 17.5 km
• Silvermine - Kommetjie = 18 km
• Kommetjie - Simonstown = 17 km
• Simonstown – Cape Point = 17km |
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The moment Camps Bay, Clifton &
Lions Head come into view on the descent of Kasteelspoort. |
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Camps Bay, paradise of the idle
rich! |
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A short
history of Table Mountain (by wikipedia):
Prehistoric inhabitation of
the district is well attested (see for example the article on Fish
Hoek). About 2000 years ago the Khoikhoi migrated towards the Cape
Peninsula from the north, displacing the San and bringing with them
their herds of cattle and sheep. It was the Khoikhoi who were the
dominant local tribe when the Europeans first sailed into Table Bay.
António de Saldanha was the
first European to land in Table Bay. He climbed the mighty mountain
in 1503 and named it Taboa do Cabo (Table of the Cape, in his native
Portuguese). The great cross that the Portuguese navigator carved
into the rock of Lion's Head is still traceable.
In 1796, during the British occupation of the Cape, Major-General
Sir James Craig ordered three blockhouses to be built on Table
Mountain: the King's blockhouse, Duke of York blockhouse (later
renamed Queen's blockhouse) and the Prince of Wales blockhouse. Two
of these are in ruins today, but the King's blockhouse is still in
good condition. and easily accessible from the Rhodes Memorial.
Between 1896 and 1907, five
dams, the Woodhead, Hely-Hutchinson, De Villiers, Alexandria and
Victoria reservoirs, were opened on the Back Table to supply Cape
Town's water needs. A ropeway ascending from Camps Bay via
Kasteelspoort ravine was used to ferry materials and manpower (the
anchor points at the old top station can still be seen). There is a
well-preserved steam locomotive from this period housed in the
Waterworks Museum at the top of the mountain near the Hely-Hutchinson
dam. It had been used to haul materials for the dam across the flat
top of the mountain. Cape Town's water requirements have since far
outpaced the capacity of the dams and they are no longer an
important part of the water supply.
The mountain became part of
the new Cape Peninsula National Park in the 1990s. The park was
renamed to the Table Mountain National Park in 1998. Fires are
common on the mountain. The most recent major fire came in January
2006, destroying large amounts of vegetation and resulting in the
death of a tourist. A charge of arson and culpable homicide was laid
against a British man who was suspected of starting the blaze.
In November 2011, Table Mountain was provisionally named one of the
new seven wonders of nature by New7Wonders of the World. |
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Ralph points out the upper cableway
on Table Mountain plateau. |
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Looking back along the Pipe Track. |
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Turn-off on the Diagonal Route &
Porcupine Ravine. |
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Pin cushion flowers along the Pipe
Track - in the distance, the cableway; |
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Lions Head along the Pipe Track (in
2005). |
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The wind had picked up on the
city-side of the mountain. We had covered the 15.4 km circuit in
roughly nine hours, though at no stage had the intention been to
rush the walk, but to use the opportunity to appreciate the
splendour of what must rank as one of the most stunning parts of the
world. In no rush to get home either, Ralph and I decided to quench
our thirst, so we stopped off for a drink off Kloof Kek Road.
Jeb Corliss, born March
25, 1976, is a professional BASE jumper, skydiver, and wingsuit
flyer. He indulges in what is known as Wingsuit Proximity Flying or
proxy flying, the sport of flying the human body through the air
using a special jumpsuit, called a wingsuit, which adds surface area
to the human body to enable a significant increase in lift. He is
renowned for having flown through the
Tianmen Hole in China, having jumped from a helicopter at 6,000
feet. A few days after my return to the United Kingdom, on 11th
January to be precise, he
completed a jump off Table Mountain but miscalculated the
strength of the wind. As a result he crashed and ended up with two
broken legs for his trouble, a lucky escape indeed. A
video, shot from a distant angle, shows what happened. |
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Views along the Pipe Track of Lions
Head near Kloof Nek...nearing the end of our 9 hour walk. |
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