Great Hikes in 1997

Ian Webb, Cape Town, South Africa

A list of my hikes in 1997 on Table Mountain and other mountains in the Western Cape, South Africa.

In 1997

• 13/10: Cape Times Big Walk once again - the 36 km version. I made a time of 4h48 - not my best, but it was good to be on the road again.
• 20-21/9: A winelands meander with Scouts, from Koelenhof Station to Delheim on the Stellenbosch wine route. Then a hike up the slopes of Simonsberg, aiming for Kanonkop, but the heat of the day got to us and we decided to stick to the shade of the pine plantations.
• 29-30/8: Springbok Trail, in the Karoo National Park near Beaufort West. Stunning scenery, quite strnuous, very worthwhile.
• 23/8: Lions Head, a sunny Sunday morning hike with about 50 Scouts, Cubs and parents from the Scout Mountain Club.
• 9/8: Silvermine Panorama walk. 2½ hours. Great views over Noordhoek and Hout Bay, and good speed training on uphill gravel tracks.
• 1/6: A great hike: First Waterfall Ravine and the frontal route to Devils Peak. To paraphrase a fellow hiker, when looking at the drop below our half meter-wide ledge, `My goodness, it's very high!' Down Mowbray Ridge, a pretty spectacular knife edge as well. Thank goodness there wasn't a gale blowing.
• 18/5: To the Kalk Bay Caves, with the whole First Claremont Cub Pack. Visited Boomslang, Oread Halls, and even an excursion down a really tight squeeze into Robin Hood. (Photos)
• 20/4: Overslept for a hike at Cape Point, so instead we did our own thing by climbing Llandudno Corner. Well worth it - best views of any hike on Table Mountain.
• 19/4: Up Skeleton Gorge, across to the view down Kasteelspoort, then back down Nursery Ravine to Kirstenbosch. A very cliched hike but still pretty cool. With an Irish visitor, David Hutchinson.
• 6/4: Halfway up First Waterfall Ravine and then chickened out because of a short rainshower.
• 29/3: Then a big day hike on Bailey's Peak in the Bains Kloof range. Lots of uphill to reach a great view, then the same amount of downhill. These mountains without proper paths are the best.
• 21/3: An early autumn trip to the Cederberg where we did the Wolfberg Cracks (the narrow one is a beauty), and visited Maalgat. Part of the party visited the Maltese Cross by moonlight.
• After a six months break from hiking due to a slipped disk, including a back operation to fix it, I'm now back in action again. (Cheers reverberate!)

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