The highest point on Table Mountain

Despite its flat summit, Table Mountain does have a high point. Not exactly a peak or lofty spire, but a humble outcrop elevated 20-odd meters above the surrounding landscape. Marking the spot is a 3-meter-high stone cairn known as Maclear’s Beacon.

With most of Table Mountain’s summit plateau located at around 1065 meters (3500 ft) above sea level, the terrain at Maclear’s Beacon ticks up to 1088 m (not including the cairn), making it the official summit of Table Mountain as well as the highest point on the Cape Peninsula. Its location near the eastern edge of the ‘Table’ – about 40 minutes’ walk from the upper cable station – means that very few visitors to Table Mountain actually get round to it.

Despite the unremarkable topography around Maclear’s Beacon, the place offers exceptional views not seen from the upper cable station. The view across the tabletop reveals the lie of the summit and gives one an appreciation of how flat it really is.

So who was Maclear? In 1834, Irish astronomer Sir Thomas Maclear (1794 – 1879) was appointed Astronomer Royal at the Cape. In 1844, as part of his measurement of the Meridian Arc, he supervised the construction of a rock beacon at the highest point on Table Mountain. It formed one of his three major survey points and was painted lamp-black to make it more visible.  

In subsequent years, the conical beacon crumbled into a shapeless heap, but was restored in 1979 (using the original stones) to commemorate the centenary of Maclear’s death and has since been declared a National Monument. Nearby is a brass toposcope as well as the Mountain Club of South Africa War Memorial that commemorates the nine Club members who died in the First World War.

Maclear’s Beacon serves as a fitting climax to a hike up Table Mountain. Most routes on the mountain can be altered or extended (by less than an hour) to include this superb vantage point. Views aside, it symbolizes a sense of achievement – a point of reference to our efforts at scaling a mountain. Then there is the spiritual dimension of beacons, as the following passage from the 1938 Journal of the Mountain Club of South Africa reminds us:

“If weather and other circumstances permit, time must be spent at a beacon. The outstanding days are those when we have eaten, and lazed, and sunbathed at the beacon itself for two or three hours. A vivid memory is associated with three and a half hours spent on a high summit on a calm, silent, perfect day. The summit beacon is a special place with a special atmosphere, and to understand that atmosphere we must be still and take time to receive what the mountains have to give us. There, in a special way, our beings become saturated with what has so often been described as the Spirit of the Mountains.”

Hike Table Mountain offers hikes to the summits of all the peaks on the Table Mountain massif, and there are many. Whether you’re in it for the views, the challenge or the ambience, setting foot on some of Table Mountain’s summits is an experience not to be missed.

Table Mountain's most common mammal

Mammals used to be a common sight on Table Mountain back in the day, but man’s encroachment reduced them in numbers and species. Except for one: the ubiquitous Rock Hyrax, locally known as the Dassie (from Old Dutch dasje, meaning ‘badger’) – a brown, furry creature resembling an earless rabbit, and therefore also referred to as a Rock Rabbit.

Despite their nondescript appearance, these squat little mammals should not be dismissed as a mere mutant rodent or feral guinea-pig. For starters, they’re the closest living relative to the modern-day elephant and sea cow. All three animal groups – elephants, sea cows and Dassies – descended from a common ancestor millions of years ago and therefore share physiological similarities in teeth, leg and foot bones. Not surprising then that the Dassie was awarded its own order (Hyracoidea).

Rock Hyraxes occur in rocky habitats across Southern Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. The nooks and crannies of Table Mountain provide the perfect habitat, offering easy escape from their arch-enemy, the Black Eagle. They live in colonies of up to 80 individuals, divided into several families (harems) comprising 3 to 15 adult females, a single dominant male and several young. Several colonies inhabit the rock ledges around the upper cable station, where they are often seen basking in the morning sun. Older individuals have become tame from long exposure to humans and human feeding. It is not allowed to feed the Dassies; their habitat contains ample food sources (flowers, bulbs, roots, grass, sometimes insects and grubs) and they don’t need the likes of crisps, sweets and bread for sustenance. They can survive for weeks without water in that their fluid requirements are largely met by their diet.

The Rock Hyrax’s plump appearance belies its agility. Sure-footed and endowed with a good head for heights, they can often be seen scurrying up near-vertical terrain and across exposed ledges with consummate ease, seemingly insensible to the risk of falling. The soles of their feet consist of soft pads kept moist with a sticky secretion that facilitates heat loss and provides traction on rock surfaces, aiding in their agility.

Dassies love to bask in the morning sun due to poor heat-regulation and a low metabolism. They rely on sentries, posted on vantage points, to warn them against danger. A sentry’s high-pitched bark sends the colony scurrying for safety among nooks and crannies. Black-eagles pose the greatest threat and usually attack from the direction of the sun, making use of the blinding light to avoid detection. Evolution has provided Dassies with a unique membrane over the eye that shields the pupil against the sun, enabling them to spot attacking eagles. The Hyrax’s unusually long gestation period (230 days; compared to the much larger Impala’s 196 days) suggests that Hyraxes the size of oxen once roamed the earth – hardly prey for an eagle.

Rock Hyraxes produce large amounts of hyraceum, a sticky mass made up of dung and urine. This petrifies over thousands of years into a rock-like material known as Africa Stone, used in traditional South African medicine for treating epilepsy and seizures. It is also used in perfumery for its complex, fermented scent combining elements of musk, civet, tobacco and agarwood.

Rock of ages

Mountains are often thought of as timeless; unchanged by the passage of time, impervious to the ravages of the elements. But the reality is they age as much as we do, just on a much slower scale.

Table Mountain is no exception. Time is fast running out for this crumbling relic of a mountain. Composed largely of sandstone deposited 540 million years ago by large rivers and inland seas, the mountain first came into being when the supercontinent of Pangaea scrunched into an unknown continent about 360 million years ago, uplifting the sedimentary rock around the Cape in a concertina-like formation that reached heights of about 3000 meters. Back then, Table Mountain formed part of a much larger mountain range, and it would take 300 million years of erosion to reduce it to its current shape and size. So the mountain as we see it today, with its distinctive tabletop, is only about 60 million years old – still a venerable age compared to that of the Alps (32 million years) and the Himalayas (40 million years), and bearing in mind the age of the rock itself (540 million years).

Table Mountain is actively eroding. Proof of this can be found on any hike up the mountain, where boulders the size of houses can be seen perched precariously on cliffside ledges. Another 10 million years or so will see Table Mountain reduced to an inconspicuous hillock. Wind and rain combine to wear away the sandstone layers. Expansion cracks form as the mountain sheds weight, aiding the erosive action of the elements. On a human scale, with 70 taken as the average life-expectancy, Table Mountain (in its current shape and size) has attained the ripe age of 60. Still 142 857 human lifetimes to go.

There is no better way to acquaint yourself with the geology of Table Mountain than on foot. Join Hike Table Mountain on a hike to discover some of the mountain’s weird rock-formations, caves and striking topographical features.

Forthcoming blog: ‘Why is Table Mountain flat?’

Happy 2012 to all. Make it count. Make it happen. Make time to connect with nature.

So what's the hardest hiking route on Table Mountain?

A contentious question. In my humble opinion, and drawing on the experience and knowledge I have gained ascending all the routes on Table Mountain many times over, I have the following to say on the subject:

For an accurate answer, we need to define “hard”, “route” and “Table Mountain”.

“Hard”

What defines a hard route? Four things: length, terrain, technicality and exposure to heights.

-          Length: the component least likely to lead to drama if you get it wrong, but still impacts on a route’s severity.

-          Terrain: while the average hiker might not despair when a route turns out to be a bit longer than anticipated, rough terrain could bring him to his knees as well as tears. Dense vegetation and loose rock are the two main ingredients that complicates terrain; others include cliffs (dealt with separately under Technicality) and wet watercourses.

-          Technicality: this refers to the degree of climbing skill required to negotiate vertical sections. Getting it wrong on technical difficulty is not cool and carries considerable drama-potential. Routes on Table Mountain are graded according to the most difficult climbing encountered along the way. An ‘A’ route involves walking only, with perhaps the occasional use of hands to negotiate steeper sections; a ‘B’ route calls for some elementary climbing (scrambling), sometimes necessitating the use of a rope; a ‘C’ route involves more serious scrambling, often requiring a rope. Upwards from ‘C’ is regarded as proper rock-climbing.

-          Exposure to heights: although only a mental strain, it should not be discounted, as it can sap your energy as much as an uphill slog. And if you don’t have a head for heights, an exposed ‘B’ route can feel more like a ‘C’ or even a ‘D’.  Incompetence or negligence on an exposed route – especially ‘B’ and ‘C’ grades – could spell disaster.

Does a route’s gradient affect its overall difficulty? Not as much as you might think. To gain a 1000 meters in elevation along a straight route with a 45 degrees gradient, you would cover a distance of 1400 meters. To gain the same elevation along a route with a 22.5 degrees gradient, you would cover a distance of 2400 meters. That’s a full kilometer further. Many variables come into play when putting this into practice: the gentler route might be bushy, while the steeper route follows an open path – which one you gonna take? Or the steeper one gets summertime shade most of the day, while the gentler one is in full sun the whole way. In my opinion, it’s best not to fret too much about a route’s gradient; there are other more important factors to take into account.

“Route”

What qualifies as a route on Table Mountain?

For the purposes of this exercise, we will only consider current routes – routes that are still in existence. There is quite a number of hiking routes on Table Mountain that has fallen into oblivion and obscurity; trails long since overgrown and faded from memory, with only a few lone, moss-covered cairns as evidence to their erstwhile existence. A route like Slangolie Face (C-grade) on the north side of Slangolie Buttress, one of the Twelve Apostles, has probably not seen any hikers in decades. Opened in 1922 by A.G.S. Black and party, you’d be lucky to even find a crumbling cairn on it, let alone a hint of a path. So we’re not going to count Slangolie Face as a route, apologies to Mr. Black.

“Table Mountain”

For many people, Table Mountain comprises only the tabletop you see from the city center. But there’s much more mountain hidden behind its iconic facade: the Twelve Apostles, the undulations and mounds of the Back Table and the forested buttresses on the Suburban side. All these areas are considered to be part of the Table Mountain massif. Lion’s Head and Devil’s Peak are not included. So we will consider routes leading up all sides of the Table Mountain massif, not only those terminating on the tabletop summit.  Bear in mind that some routes do not lead all the way to the summit, but latches onto another route for the remainder of the way. An example would be Kloof Corner (C) – a route in its own right; not a sub-route or variation – which terminates about 150 meters below the summit, from where hikers use the India Venster route to gain the summit.

It’s tempting to assume that a C-grade route would take the honors as the hardest route on Table Mountain. But the reality is that an exposed B-grade route leading up bushy and brittle rock feels much harder than a C-grade route involving clean and short C-grade pitches on sound rock.

So let’s line up the candidates. Starting on the east side of the mountain, the first candidate is Hiddingh-Ascension incorporating its Ferny Dell variation. Weighing in at a B+ grade, it is technical, bushy in places, long and exposed with some loose slope thrown in for good measure. Bonus points given for the fact that it involves complex route-finding.

Our second contender is Silverstream Ravine, a C-grade that leads up the north (front) face of Table Mountain. Although fairly tame for three-quarters of the way, it makes up for it with a steep top-section that involves tricky and exposed climbing.

Third up is Kloof Corner Pinnacle, a souped-up variation to the Kloof Corner route. Both are C-grade, but the Pinnacle route involves more scrambling, and if strictly adhering to the original route, more exposure. Awkward scrambling over considerable drops makes it hard, rather than bush and loose rock.

On the western side of the mountain, we have the Grotto-Fountain-Cairn Traverse, a sensational route with ample exposure, bushy stretches and tricky route-finding.

Victoria Gully, along with its non-official approach, Pimple Traverse, makes for a worthy addition to the above candidates. Long and bushy, it involves tricky and exposed scrambling in its latter stages. Graded B, but not to be sneered at.

So which one deserves the distinction of being the hardest hiking route on Table Mountain? It’s a tough call, but I have to give it to Hiddingh-Ascension via Ferny Dell. This route ticks all the boxes of what makes a route hard, and grand. Hats off to the pioneers, G.F. Travers-Jackson and G.T. Amphlett, who way back in 1899 blazed a trail up this forbidding part of the mountain.

Hiddingh-Ascension is such a superb route, it deserves its own blog post, which it will get in the near future. Best is to experience it first-hand. Hike Table Mountain offers guided hikes up this sensational route. If you’re adventurous, in good shape and have a good head for heights, then this route will blow you away. We’re ready when you are.

PS: Second place goes to Kloof Corner Pinnacle, by a short head.

Table Mountain: New Wonder of Nature

Table Mountain has been elected as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in the first tally of global votes (along with the Amazon jungle, Halong Bay in Vietnam, Iguaçu Falls on Brazil-Argentina border, Jeju Island in South Korea, Komodo in Indonesia, Puerto Princesa Underground River in the Philippines). Not that I ever thought of the mountain as anything less than a wonder of nature, but it’s nice to know there are many out there, from all over the world, who feel the same.

The results are provisional and all votes will now be validated and independently verified. Once this process is completed (early 2012), the New7Wonders campaign will work with the confirmed winners to organise the inauguration events. It may happen that one or more of the provisional winners announced on the 11 November drop out from the list during the validation process. Chances of Table Mountain dropping out? Around 1%, according to an informed source. “It’s pretty much confirmed that we’ll stay in,” says the source.

The man behind the New7Wonders campaign is adventurer and filmmaker, Bernard Weber. The New 7 Wonders of Nature is the group’s second campaign. It began in 2007 when more than 440 locations were nominated in more than 220 countries through a global voting process. The top 77 choices were short-listed, and with the help of a panel of experts, further narrowed to 28 candidates and announced in July 2009, when the voting for finalists began.

Says Weber, "So many breathtakingly beautiful, natural places are still quite unknown to many, from waterfalls to fjords, rainforests to mountain peaks, freshwater lakes to volcanoes. We are discovering together the incredible beauty and variety of our planet."

In a statement announcing the provisional results, Weber says: "When the New 7 Wonders of Nature are confirmed they will join the man-made New 7 Wonders of the World in becoming part of global memory for humankind forever."

The movement began when Weber had an idea to revive the Seven Wonders of the World, much like Pierre de Coubertin revived another ancient Greek concept, the Olympic Games, in 1896 with the introduction of the modern Olympic Games.

The Seven Wonders of the World, selected by Philon of Byzantium in about 200 B.C., included the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Pyramids of Giza, and served as a travel guide for fellow Athenians. The key difference, noted on the N7W website, is that the New 7 Wonders of the World were not chosen by one man, but by millions of people all over the world.

Weber’s next campaign? The New 7 Wonder Cities, where we’ll have the chance of voting for our 7 favourite cities.  Now how cheeky it would be if Cape Town makes it to the top 7 in that campaign.

Table Mountain’s new status as one of the 7 wonders of nature is no doubt a boon to the depressed tourism industry, as it will bring thousands of additional tourists to our shores. The downside is the increased environmental impact on the mountain. South African National Parks sure have their work cut out for them. To all trail-runners, hikers, dog-walkers, mountain-bikers and climbers on Table Mountain, let’s help where we can by respecting the mountain more than ever and picking up any litter we come across.

With its new triple status as a World natural Wonder, World Heritage Site and National Park, hiking Table Mountain is now more exciting than ever.

Singular sightings on Sugarloaf

One hardly expects to come across animals on the well-trodden slopes of Sugarloaf (Lion's Head circa early 1600s). Scarab beetles, girdled lizards and red-winged starlings are the usual suspects, with a rock kestrel putting in an occasional appearance. Great was my surprise then when, on a recent climbing foray with my favorite miscreant and fellow climber, I startled a 1,20-meter rhombic skaapsteker (snake). Sleek and patterned, it packs about as much venom as your garden-variety bee. Then, 3 hours later on the descent, trudging down the main path at dusk, having done justice to a route called Sunset Crag by topping out at sunset, we watched in mute wonder as a spotted eagle owl swooped down on an unidentified prey in the path a few meters ahead of us. It peered at us for a full 5 seconds before flying off. What a privilege. You never know what you might find when hiking Table Mountain, but one thing is sure: you never come away disappointed.

Snakes and Ladders

No, not the board game – real snakes and ladders.

I came across a Berg Adder the other day meters after negotiating one of the steel ladders on Table Mountain, making me feel like I was playing a game of real-life snakes and ladders. So, with no common ground other than their significance with regards to foot placement – the one you want to step on, the other you don’t – let’s take a closer look at what a hiker on Table Mountain can expect in the way of Adders and ladders.

First, Adders. (Snakes on Table Mountain in general will be dealt with at length in a future blog – watch this space). Two Adder species occur on Table Mountain: the Berg Adder and the Puff Adder. Both have scaly, plump and boldly-patterned bodies with flat, triangular heads. And both are sluggish and strikes readily. Berg Adders reach lengths of between 30 and 45 cm, while Puff Adders grow to 90 cm.

So what venom do they pack? Berg Adders are considered mildly venomous, but no anti-venom exists, so a bite might confine you to a hospital bed for months. Also, the venom is both cytotoxic (cell-destroying, attacking tissue and blood cells) and neurotoxic (attacking central nervous system, causing respiratory failure), but fortunately lacks the potency to kill a human.

The venom of the Puff Adder is mostly cytotoxic and apart from causing excruciating pain, can lead to the loss of a digit or limb. Fatalities from a Puff Adder bite are rare, but do occasionally occur. Colloquially referred to as a “Puffy”, it thoroughly deserves its notoriety in that it is responsible for more fatalities than any other African snake. This can be ascribed to a combination of factors: prevalence, wide distribution, aggression, potent venom, long fangs, habit of basking in footpaths and its sluggishness (most snakes slither away when sensing danger; the indolent Puffy holds its ground).  

So what are your chances of coming across an Adder while hiking Table Mountain? Slim. I spend a lot of time on the mountain, often in remote locations, and haven’t seen a Puff Adder in years. As for Berg Adders, I chance upon one perhaps once a year. Puff Adders seem to be more prevalent around Cape Point, as I have come across them twice in the last eight visits to the area. Both times they were coiled up in the path, basking in the sun and in no hurry to get out of the way. Mean-looking and with a face only a mother can love, I steered a wide berth around them.

From Adders to ladders. A few routes on Table Mountain feature artificial aids at some point along the way, whether it be steel ladders, staples (U-shaped steel bars fixed to the rock) or chains. One of the most well-known ladders are those found in Skeleton Gorge, where they help hikers to negotiate a steep and treacherous section in the ravine bed.

Another route that has benefited from artificial aids is India Venster, notorious after it saw a spate of fatalities in 2009. Since Table Mountain is a national park and a World Heritage Site, authorities are usually loath to pin ironmongery to the mountain, but in this case it was justified. On other routes, the use of aids is questionable, like the chains on Kloof Corner and the staples on the Llandudno Ravine route.

The newly-installed chains and staples on Lion’s Head (formerly only chains) sparked off an impassioned debate among regular hikers and climbers. Some pundits are of the opinion that the existence of an easier and safer way to the summit renders them superfluous and only defaces the mountain, while others maintain that they enhance the route and makes it more accessible and safer to novice hikers. Then there are those who feel that too much ironmongery has been affixed; that it constitutes an overkill in the use of aids.

This is a contentious issue and will always be, with opinions surfacing on forums and articulated on the mountain being as virulent as an Adder’s venom.



(c) Riaan Vorster