April 2 Hiking Table Mountain

Kryt and the Kuffners drove to Table Mountain. We prepared ourselves for the climb by stocking up on water and emergency snacks. We began our ascent at noon and the mountain was as hot as Hades. Not long into the hike I (Deb) started feeling the first signs of heat stroke (tingling up the back of my neck). I felt, too, that climbing in such sweltering heat with the amount of water that we had brought was probably not such a good idea. We were not yet half way up. I decided to turn back – first because I felt that I was going to quickly be in trouble with the heat and, second, because the boys would have my portion of water to continue their hike. As I set off down the mountain the boys headed straight up.

I stopped in the shade and it took me a good fifteen minutes to cool down. There was a stream nearby and I poured water over my head, hat, and shirt. I advised two Swedish girls who were heading up with just one bottle of water each to drink it all at the stream, refill their bottles, and soak themselves before heading up.

I got down to the bottom and got a ticket for the cable car. I got to the top and asked where the trail was where people were coming up. It was long descending before I talked to a couple of people who had seen the boys, Joe, and Kryt. They told me that the boys had gone one ahead and were sitting by a rock in the shade waiting for the men. It wasn’t long before I heard their little voices. I rounded the corner and they were very surprised to see me. Joe and Kryt, the boys told me, were further behind. Kryt had a very difficult hike as he had gotten sunscreen in the one eye he had sight in. He struggled for the entire hike up the mountain as he couldn’t find his footing. He was unbearable hot, too, and he and Joe took many breaks in the small bits of shade that they could find.

We all met up and headed to the restaurant at the top of the mountain for some cold drinks. Joe and Kryt had a beer. When Joe offered a second Kyrt readily agreed. Little did we know that Kryt was very upset – he didn’t let on one tiny bit. We took the cable car down the mountain and drove back home. Only then did Kyrt tell us that he had lost his wallet somewhere on the mountain. All his ID and credit cards were in his wallet. He also had his partner, RJ’s, credit cards on him. He didn’t want to tell us because he thought that it would have upset us, but we would have gladly walked back down the mountain together after a good break and when it was cooler. A couple of us are likely to go back to the mountain tomorrow, take the cable car up, and walk down the mountain in search of Kryt’s wallet.

Despite this happening both Kyrt and RJ were the consommate hosts. They took us to their favourite restaurant on the ocean for a beautiful dinner as the sun was setting. The boys built sandcastles as we walked the beach for a half an hour.