A boys' day out

Last Saturday, as I was about to ascend the diagonal route to the top of Table mountain I met this group coming down. They were a bit despondent as they said they had reached a dead-end on their first attempt . They were on a "boys' day out away from the girl friends for the day" and had started on the road, or more accurately the train, from Elsies River at 6 am into Cape Town and then up to the mountain. The joined me on another attempt and my first tick of acceptance came when we discovered the minor error in navigation they had made first time. The second tick, of admiration, came when they discovered most had trouble keeping with someone as old as their grandfathers but it did give them another challenge! They did have difficulty comprehending I was planning on going 6 times higher ( 6000m ) next month. I normally enjoy the solitude on the mountain but this was not to be this time. A really happy bunch of guys, gabbling away in Afrikaans, laughing, whistling to each other when separated and then switching to English to speak with me i.e. lots of noise! All were +-20 years old and either in a trade or a trade apprenticeship. Not an e-mail address amongst them. I can remember 4 of their names : Alphonse, Fernando, Dane & Gerd but may have the spelling wrong. I did discover another handicap of being old...you are expected to be wise. Lots of questions like "Peter, why is the mountain shaped like it is" or "Peter, what happens if we meet baboons?". The last one I could tackle with " as far as I know there are none on this part of the mountain" but was surprised by there apprehension. I now think I prefer the Chinese definition of a wise person as one who listens well or as Rob Muldoon would put it "breathes through his nose".



All in all, an enjoyable climb up the mountain. The photo was taken at the top of Platteklip gorge they intended to descent later.
 
As for solitude, I can walk for 1-2 hours on the mountain without meeting another soul. I am still amazed though when you get to the edge, there 1000 metres down below is a city of over 3 million people going about their daily business.