There is no short answer to the question, ‘How fit must I be to hike Table Mountain’. Several variables determine whether you should bother or not. The short answer is, you don’t need to be very fit. But if you don’t have much fitness, you need to bring something else to the table (pun intended): motivation / determination, often an offspring of enthusiasm and passion.
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Posts by Riaan
Table Mountain hikes: diversity of views – 7 April 2016
Nothing motivates people more to hike Table Mountain than the prospect of great views. Sure, there are other motivations – connect with nature, exercise, sense of achievement – but the crowning enjoyment often comes down to the quality of views. While hiking Table Mountain shouldn’t just be about views, views, views – the mountain offers so much more – looking at the surrounding landscape from
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Table Mountain hiking routes: Grotto-Cairn Traverse – 1 April 2016
Table Mountain hikes come in all levels of difficulty and adventure, from straightforward trails along well-defined trails involving nothing more technical than big rock steps to challenging ascents leading up near-vertical cliffs and traversing rugged terrain. Of all Table Mountain hiking routes, Grotto-Fountain-Cairn Traverse (GFC) ranks as one of the top three toughest. It ticks all the challenge boxes: strenuous, exposed to heights, technical at times,
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Table Mountain hikes up the Twelve Apostles – 24 March 2016
For diversity and pristine nature, hiking Table Mountain via the Twelve Apostles offers more than any other part of the mountain. Many routes of varying difficulty and character lead up this dissected bastion of Table Mountain, with much variation and numerous add-ons, hidden gems and spectacular viewpoints. The Twelve Apostles is a chain of peaks extending behind the famous tabletop summit of Table Mountain. Considered
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Table Mountain hikes: levels of difficulty – 17 March 2016
When it comes to Table Mountain hiking, the ambiguity of the word ‘difficult’ often lands people on a less-desired route, to put it mildly. Difficult takes many forms on Table Mountain, and knowing what they are can mean the difference between an experience of a lifetime and a disaster. Table Mountain hikes offer endless permutations of difficulties and challenges, all of which people experience differently.
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Hiking Table Mountain via Porcupine Ravine – 10 March 2016
The Twelve Apostles, a chain of peaks extending behind the famous and iconic table top summit of Table Mountain, and considered part of it, offers more nature and solitude than other parts of the Table Mountain massif. Porcupine Ravine leads up to the first and highest Apostle, offering superb sea and mountain views complemented by dramatic landscapes off-the-beaten track. Table Mountain hiking routes vary greatly in difficulty,
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Hiking Table Mountain via Platteklip Gorge – 2 March 2016
Platteklip Gorge is the quickest, easiest and oldest route up Table Mountain, as well as the most direct. It’s also the least scenic and exciting route. While a stream graces the lower portion, and imposing cliffs add grandeur to the upper portion, the views are limited and the hiking tedious. So why bother with it? If you’re unfit and not prepared to extend yourself physically,
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