Hiking up Table Mountain

I finally got my chance to hike today - and it was a satisfying hike. We parked on the road near the cable car, and hiked up the mountain. The top is about 3000 ft high, and the road is probably about half that elevation. The hike is nearly straight up a gorge - there's info on it here:
http://www.tablemountain.net/visitor_info/hiking/platteklip_gorge_to_upper_cable_station.html

and pictures to show the hike:


























It took us just under 2 hours, which is slower than my host usually goes, but faster than the estimated 2.5 hours that is marked at the start of the trail. The webpage says 1 hour for the superfit, and 3 hours for the slow. I did have to stop a handful of times to catch my breath. The climb is worse than I had imagined - it is stone steps, but often the steps were nearly knee-height. It felt good to reach the top, and we had a little picnic lunch there, before checking out the vistas from the top of the cable-car area, having tea, and taking the cable car back down. The cable car is hard to see in this pic - but it's there. Just click on the pics to expand them.










Here are pics of the vistas:




















There were also amazing plants: