18/20 May 2007
Leader: Keith Ashton
Margaret… Warwick...Dave S...Pat andamp;
Bushy...Joan and Andrew...Pam (Oz)...Gerhard, Alice andamp; Martie…Max…Christie…Jenny…Rose
andamp; Dan
Highmoor – The Moor of
Constant Surprises, especially under the inspired leadership of Keith, who
always discovers new places, new views, new waterfalls. What a privilege to
hike with Keith.
Friday:
10k hike :
A few of us had arrived early, so went for an
afternoon walk, via the recently demolished “Lookout” to Aasvoels
Krans Cave. A warmup for
the hikes to come.
Keith led 17 eager hikers in the direction of
Mt Erskine where he told us of ruins on the mountain
side. An easy walk, mostly off path with
glorious weather, with the added bonus of two groups of magnificent eland who
watched our approach with luminous eyes and velvety ears pricked in our
direction before melting back into their
own dun coloured landscape.
We
didn’t quite make the ruins, but the rivers, gulleys and a beautiful waterfall
en route made the hike unusual and spectacular. We reached a lookout point
overlooking Kamberg and stopped there
for lunch – marvelling at the views way down in the valley and picking out
landmarks (Marys old cottage and Roman Baths)
Kamberg looked rather forlorn
and deserted –if they lowered their cottage prices, it might encourage more
visitors.
Here we were treated to the sight of a Cape
Vulture who slowly flew past giving us a perfect view of his back and
tail
Sat
evening: we gathered around a huge fire,
some people braaing
and others warming their own variations of supper (lentils!) .
Time spent chatting about the day and
enjoying our favourite tipple, some making new friends, others renewing old
friendships…..that’s what makes hiking such an
integral part of our lives.
The wind strengthened quite frighteningly
during the night and most of us were kept awake by strong gusts buffeting our
tents, threatening to blow us away – well, that’s what ones imagination says in
the early cold hours!
Despite a rather disturbed night, we were up
early (as usual!) and after a few fortifying coffees, struck camp and were
packed and ready to hike by 9.
The wind was very strong as we set off at a
good pace towards the Plaque which stands solid and lonely under Giant…After a
brief stop to read the faded legend, we set off down the valley to Ka-Dedakushe Falls
– a breathtaking sight, as, on approaching the gulley, the spray from the
waterfall misted over us enticing us down for a better look. We stood right on the edge of the falls-
savouring the beauty of a rainbow ribboning
in the wind-tossed spray- taking
photos of this magnificent hidden place. The wind was too strong to have lunch
on the edge, so we retired to a sheltered dip to carbo-load before the long pull back to the Beacon. By this time the wind was battering us as we repeatedly staggered off the path
into the long
grass.
What if you just spread your arms out
wide…would you fly? So it felt, but
we didn’t tempt fate .
On the way home, on an easy path winding
slowly through the shallow valleys, we saw a huge veld
fire coming from behind our campsite.
Had we forgotten to turn off the gas stove?. Keith told us sad stories
of rangers being burnt to death and Daves advice about carrying matches, certainly nagged at us
as we watched – in awe – as the enormous clouds of white smoke, tinged with the
redness of flames, roared over the hillside.
What a relief
to get back and find our vehicles were safe –
Keith, thank you so much for yet another
spectacular weekend which will remain with us for a long time as we return to our daily
lives. How privileged we are to be able
to experience our beautiful country with such a friendly and welcoming group of
hikers. As Jenny and I agreed, “the hiking bug bites deep”
Roseanne Dix