Boskloof hiking trail Apr 2005

Just after 14:00 Friday afternoon, I drove over to George’s. Brian and Norma arrived close to 3pm. The drive to Boskloof was uneventful, but when we heard there was going to be another club joining us, we were a bit apprehensive of the crowds at the hut and on the trail. When we arrived, Gordon was there already, as well as most of the Boksburg hiking club. We were able to use one and a half huts, but there was still one bed short – I decided to sleep outside. Everyone arrived eventually and we had a nice braai.

Day 1 (16 April): The Boksburg hiking club was up early and busied themselves with breakfast and packing up. All this commotion got us out of bed as well and we were all ready to go before 8am. The trail started with a leisurely climb up a small kloof, which looked a lot like part of the Skeurkrans trail we did last year. Louis and Retha Strydom from Discovery Trails had laid out the trail and Louis’s style was apparent early on – plenty of ladders and walkways over rocks and rivers and aptly naming a lot of the scenic spots on the way. We were all impressed by the time and effort put into the trail. We topped out at the Ledge, a rocky outcrop where we abseiled from on the Skeurkrans trail. Past the Ledge the path climbed steadily, criss-crossing the kloof numerous times. We caught up with the stragglers of the Boksburg hiking club and some of our faster walkers managed to pass them. With the path rising continuously, all of us were sweating and panting up the hill. Luckily, it was not nearly as hot as on the Meteorite trail a few weeks ago. The path finally rose to just under 1600m with a lovely eastern view towards the highveld and north towards Skeurkrans. From here the path rambled in and out of a few rocky outcrops until it came to a short cliff where I decided to set up an abseil. While waiting for the others to arrive I set up anchors and got all the equipment ready. When Shirley, Eddy, George and Gordon arrived, I quickly set up the rigging and rope and soon all of us had a quick abseil. Although it was a bit of a mission to get back up, most of us abseiled twice. Just before 1pm we packed up and left. I set off in front and soon passed some of the group spread out on the trail. Ominous clouds were building in the east as I reached the viewpoints looking out onto Skeurkrans. It was a pleasant surprise as Skeurkrans trail never came close to this awesome feature. The rock pillar lent itself to a few interesting climbing possibilities. The path soon reached its highest point and descended into a high valley. At this point I picked up my speed – thunder and lightning threatened on my heels. Beyond the high valley, the trail aimed for a steep kloof north of Skeurkrans. The kloof promised to be bone jarring and with the impending rain I knew the trail would become dangerously slippery. Down the kloof there were a number of cliff faces that would have been far more fun abseiling than the one we used earlier in the day. I promised myself that I would come back just for the abseiling. The path zig-zagged precariously down the kloof until it eventually flattened out for about 700m before the hut. By then it had already started raining but I made it to the hut before the worst of the storm broke. As the rain continued, bedraggled-looking people started coming in. At around 4pm there was nobody left on the trail and most of the rain had gone too. We started the fire by 16:30 and despite the damp wood, we soon had a roaring fire going. Once again there were a few beds short and while Eddy and Shirley pitched a tent outside, George and I decided to sleep on the porch.

Day 2 (17 April): Dew that managed to sneak through holes in the roof, made it onto our beds outside. But the dawn was clear and it promised to be a beautiful day. We had breakfast quickly and set off before 8am. The trail led through the flat acacia forest below the high cliffs of Skeurkrans and it seemed we were going to be back at camp quickly. But after 3km the path started climbing towards the lower cliffs south of Skeurkrans. It wound past a rock captured by strangler figs before continuing upwards. It finally climbed precariously up a few rocky ledges before settling on the plateau above. Then it was an easy walk to where it joined the first day’s trail and descended down the kloof back to the basecamp huts. I had a quick shower while waiting for everyone. At around 10am everyone was back but we lingered a little longer to pack up and decide where we were going to have lunch. Eventually we left for the Wimpy on the highway, just past Kranskop.