Hospitaalspruit & Stable caves - Monk's Cowl (Drakensberg) Jan 2008

I left work early at around 1:30pm and picked Gordon up at his place. The drive was uneventful and we arrived in Bergville around 7pm, sleeping under the tennis court veranda as usual. It was hot, but mosquitoes were plentiful, so we pitched the tent for the night.

Day 1 (29 December): The alarm woke us at 05:30 and by 6am we were on our way, driving first to Winterton and then to Monk’s Cowl. After signing in and paying, we were on our way at 07:20. Heading down towards Sterkspruit falls for the first time, neither of us really knew what to expect. The path was obvious to the falls and ended with a beautiful viewpoint. However, the path we could see climbing up on the other side of the falls, didn’t have a connection in between. There seemed to be a few paths connecting the two, but it was all fenced off. We climbed the fence and bundu-bashed through some sharp brambles before deciding to take a different route. We got to the river but needed to take our shoes off to cross it almost thigh deep. Then we picked up the path again and made good progress up a steep incline. The path suddenly ended at a road next to a cottage with no continuation. We decided to stick to the road for the time being and were happy when it eventually turned up-slope again and opened out of the pine plantation to where we could see the ridge we were aiming for. We followed the road until in ended at another fenced-off cottage. Just outside the fence, a path led off and up towards the hill. This we took and it soon joined a much better path and we finally figured we were on the path we wanted to be on all along. We made good progress along this contour path and went past Van Damm’s cascades and then past Steilberg. The path climbed up the ridge until we found ourselves on the saddle from where the path continues to Stable cave. We followed the path to the cave where we had lunch. After lunch we saddled up again and made our way across the top of the ridge towards Hospitaalspruit cave. It was a very interesting and beautiful walk, but both of us were tired. The track was thin in places but we were always able to pick it up again. The map indicated the cave to be at around 1820m in a patch of forest. We saw a patch that qualified but got a bit worried when the path kept on climbing towards the top of the ridge beyond. Then all of a sudden we found ourselves in the cave! It was a nice surprise. But it was clear that the map was wrong as the cave was at over 2000m. Unfortunately the cave was also dry. Gordon volunteered to go look for water and walked back the way we came to descend into the valley below. My thighs were badly chafed from the walk and I rested well until Gordon returned about an hour later. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading before starting dinner of bacon and pasta around 6pm.

Day 2 (30 December): We thought we woke up late but a quick glance at the watch told us it was only 05:30. Fog was blowing in from the east but there appeared blue sky above every now and again so it looked like it was going to clear later on. We packed up after breakfast and left on the track leading upwards beyond the cave. There were two tracks leading away from the cave indicated on the map. The second path however was only a way-to-go and I didn’t expect to see anything at all. As we were walking on a good path, and didn’t see any splits, we assumed we were on the right track. The fog kept blowing in so we were never able to really see where we were. When we suddenly arrived at the end of the ridge after walking over 3km, the mist cleared just enough for me to realize were on the wrong ridge. After a few minutes deliberation, we decided to can our original plans, head back to Stable cave and explore the area a little more. So we turned around and walked back the way we came. Arriving back at Hospitaalspruit cave, the mist started to clear and we saw where we went wrong – it was also quite noticeable that there was no junction – you had to see the other path to know where to go. We took a break at Hospitaalspruit cave before going back the same way to Stable cave, arriving there at around 10am. Another group of youngsters were still there, packing up to leave. After they left we ensconced ourselves in the cave, set our socks and boots out to dry and took a good rest. At around 11am, two elderly guys arrived from Vaalribbok cave. They were experienced Berg hikers and we chatted a long time, sharing some information about the area. They had lunch and then moved on to sleep at Hospitaalspruit cave. Just behind them, Gordon took a walk down to Vaalribbok cave and also climbed Vaalribbokkop while I rested in the cave. Gordon returned at around 4pm and at 6pm we started dinner of ham and pasta. After dinner we sat outside the cave watching the twilight turn into night – it was a beautiful night in the Berg!

Day 3 (31 December). Waking early once again, we were on our way by 06:40. Our changed plans were to head up the ridge behind us and walk all the way to Hlatikulu neck and then onto Blind Man’s Corner before finishing the next day. We took the upper path leading away from Stable cave and quickly climbed Verkykerskop. From here we stuck to the right side of the ridge, hiking on a path which was very overgrown with tall grass. Approaching Indanyana in the distance we ascended the connecting ridge and then Indanyana itself. We sat at the summit cleaning our boots before heading down again and picking up the good path that ran through “The V”. We set a fast pace through summer flowers with lots of pollen and were very surprised to see a wooden shelter off the path to our left about halfway to Hlatikulu neck. We carried on and soon found ourselves on the contour path. It was hot and although we have only walked for about 3 hours, we were pretty tired. We needed shade pretty fast so we kept on walking, arriving at the Blind Man’s Corner campsite, 4 hours after starting. A family group was having lunch but left about 15 minutes later. As they left, something was suddenly stuck in my left eye. No matter what we tried, it wouldn’t come out. After about half an hour I asked Gordon to pitch the tent so I could just lie down and close my eyes. After lying down for about an hour, it seemed to have washed out by itself. However, my left eye was swollen for the rest of the day. During the afternoon, three groups of people came past on their way down from Sterkhorn. At 17:30 I started food – pasta, tuna, mussels, oysters and cheese sauce, topped off with some wine for New Years Eve! We were in bed early and fast asleep by the time the year ticked over.

Day 4 (01 January): Once again we were out of bed by 05:30 and hit the road by 6am. We set a good pace and took Keartlands pass for the first time. The path descended sharply down the slope before contouring around past a few small cascading waterfalls. The path soon brought us to the road and we were back at the car at 07:30 – only 1 hour, 30 minutes walking! We had a welcome shower before buying a few things when the shop opened at 08:00, then left for home.