1st Muizenberg Table Mountain Overnight Scout Hike

by Scout Dom

On the morning of the 4 of November, the 1st Muizenberg Scouts met at the Constantia Nek parking lot and geared up for a night at the Scout Hut. We all knew it was going to be fun, Scouts and parents alike were all excited to get started.

As expected, as we started hiking we had that familiar feeling of, "Oh, this is more tiring than expected”- and everyone wanted to go home (me included). Just then Dave revealed he had picked out a new never seen before “shortcut”. Now while this cut was short, it was not easy, and the heavy packs didn't make it any easier. We got passed it by Terminator-like “mature” ladies owning the mountain, most of us were pretty done by the time we got to the Jeep Track.

Mercifully the Indomitable Dave, who never seems to get tired from anything ever, let us take a rest. It was here that nonsense was spoken and snacks not so well shared. I decided to take a nap (as I usually do on hikes) but was woken up by the eerie quiet as everyone was leaving and did not tell me we were going.

Continuing along the Jeep Track, (a lot easier than Dave's "shortcut"), in no time at all we crested over the final ridge and ascended the Table. This was a great feeling as we were going much faster than expected and the view was amazing. We continued along the jeep track for some time, following the twists and turns of the path, passing dams and other hikers, who were unfortunate enough to be in earshot of our ridiculous topics of conversation. Eventually, we made it to the hut. We finally got to relax after a tough but surprisingly short hike.

After a while of not doing much, Hannah Post and the rest of her First Class Hike Group went down to the diving board cliff near the Scout Hut. I tagged along and took a bunch of pictures of the beautiful view.

Whilst the rest of the Troop began preparing their evening meal, I decided I needed a little bit more adventure, so my friend Jack, my Dad Michael, and I decided to climb the rocks behind the Scout Hut. Not as easy as it looks! Eventually, we made it to the top and enjoyed the view.

This enjoyment didn't last long however as we were called down by the others to help with an emergency that had occurred in our absence. When we made it inside we found one of the juniors, Micheal, sitting at a table with his knee bandaged. He had tripped on a rock, while running down a path, and had the misfortune of cutting it open. Not an ideal situation on the top of the mountain, but once again our fearless leader Indomitable Dave, hatched a plan to form a transportation team consisting of as many willing and able-bodied Scouts as possible to carry dear Michael down to the Jeep Track and off to hospital. Most of the seniors went and a couple of adults went as well.

It was hard work carrying him down, but we managed and before long he was on his way to a hospital. We made it back not long after and relaxed a bit longer before going to bed.

We woke up early the next morning to clean up the hut and get ready to make our way down. Hannah's group left earlier than ours as they were taking a different route, and after everything was cleaned up we set off down the mountain.

We were making steady progress and moving quickly. We had decided early to not go down Nursery Ravine and instead go down the Jeep Track. When we passed the top of Nursery Ravine, we met up with Hannah's group who were going

down the ravine. Deciding I wanted a bit more fun I joined them and we proceeded to (figuratively) fly down Nursery Ravine. We rested a bit at the bottom letting our shins recover from the strain before setting off again.

On our way to the jeep track, we were walking along a particularly thin stretch of path, we encountered a troop of baboons. As with all Baboon encounters, the etiquette required them to have right of way. We let them pass without any trouble from us and continued, warning hikers going the opposite way, of the baboons on the path.

We continued for a short while and before we knew it we had made it to the parking lot marking the end of an incredibly fun hike.