A doctor from Johannesburg booked a hike with us recently, made the booking about two weeks in advance. We started corresponding about the hike via Whatsapp. David had last done the hike when he was six years old and it had made such an impression that he wanted to do it once again. His friend Nicole would be joining us too. The hike was scheduled for a Tuesday and from the Friday before I was watching the weather closely and feeding the updates. WindGuru. A pile of rain was predicted for the Tuesday morning but was due to clear rather sharply at 2pm. From the Friday to Tuesday morning the weather prediction did not change at all. David’s flight was due to land at 1pm, then he would go directly to the mountain from Cape Town International Airport!
Well, the weather prediction was correct, it rained incessantly all morning and, in my humble opinion, it was unlikely to clear at 2pm. But I headed in the direction of Table Mountain to meet up as arranged, all my foul weather gear with me. And, true as Bob, the weather began clearing right on cue. However, the cable station was still closed due to the strong Westerly winds so we resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be hiking up and then down as well. So we set off on India Venster, on time, as planned. On that route it is not unusual to be the only hikers, in my experience that would be the case about half the time. David and Nicole are cyclists and runners so there was no problem with fitness. In spite of stopping for photos and snacks, visiting the actual window and generally having a good time, we got to the summit in about two hours. We headed straight to the crack at the top of Platteklip Gorge, glad to be out of the wind. At Platteklip we expected to bump into other hikers, Platteklip being such a popular route. But incredibly there was not one hiker to be be seen which is very unusual. We started hiking down, the huge imposing cliffs on either side of us were almost echoing the silence and solitude. Within fifty paces it was totally wind free and silent… such a contrast from the norm, being so alone in this piece of nature that would otherwise sound and feel like you were jostling for the till point at your local shopping centre!
So we hiked down in about 50 minutes, taking more pictures and video on the way down. It was a most awesome experience, and one for the record books. You can see a two minute video of the hike here.
The moral of the story? If you want the mountain to yourself, watch WindGuru closely, look for a sharp change in the weather and then get out there! What a memorable hike!