After work on Friday I drove over to the Newing’s place and arrived shortly after 17:00. I left my car there and we drove to Gordon’s cousin’s place to pick him up. We left Pretoria around 18:15. Not long before 20:00 we picked Nicola up in Middelburg and then drove through to the petrol station on the N4 at the Belfast turn-off where Darrell and Liza had a quick dinner – the rest of us had eaten before we left. We took the Schoemanskloof alternative to Waterval Boven But I didn’t notice that it was still called the N4 and mistakenly sent us on the R36 to Lydenburg. When we saw the Kwena dam turn-off I realized I made a mistake and we had to backtrack to the Schoemanskloof road. We looked for any signs to Uitsoek but didn’t see any. As a result we had to go all the way to the N4 and then take the R539 to Sabie/Sudwala. This road eventually turned into a dirt road which we followed for 10km before we saw a signpost to Uitsoek. Through the boom the road turned into tar again and we drove on this to the forest station where it turned into dirt again for the last section to the hut. We arrived well after 23:00 and were eager to go to sleep. We discovered other people were also there and there were no more mattresses for us. A little upset, we managed between one remaining mattress, as well as two that Nicola and Gordon brought, to sleep OK for the night.
Day 1 (10 May): I had a bit of a fitful sleep and got up when it grew light outside. I started packing up and the others soon joined me and we started breakfast. We were ready to go at 07:30 and off we went up the hill. Almost immediately we entered the pine plantation and despite the gentle uphill, we made very good progress. Initially one of the day walks followed the same route and when our trail inconspicuously split off, we didn’t notice it until Gordon, who was walking in front, returned without having seen any white footprints. Gordon retraced our steps for about 100m and then found the split – very indistinct. Gradually we gained height through the pine, until, at about 10:30, we emerged from the forest at the exact same spot I recall having missed the trail 10 years previously. This time however, the bushes were cleared and we could directly see the trail going up into the upper grass slopes of the escarpment. With Gordon and me in front we started gaining rapid height. We came across a small forested gully with clear running water and we sat down for a while. It was a beautiful and hot morning but a slight breeze gave just enough relief. We left the forested gully around 11:20 and soon afterwards came across a bigger gully with a very nice clear area where we decided to have an early lunch. After lunch we contoured around the mountain and then dropped into Clivia gorge. It was really beautiful and I was enjoying the hike tremendously. Climbing out of Clivia gorge was a little less pleasant, but when we eventually topped out, we had stunning views over the lowveld stretching into the distance. We crossed a small stream just before entering pine again and this gave some very welcome relief from the hot sun. We walked steadily until exiting the forest again and saw Lisabon hut right in front of us. It was just before 14:30. I had faint ideas about climbing Makobulwane, a ridge peak I saw when we topped out on the escarpment. However, arriving at the hut I was fairly tired and very lazy and decided to rather relax for the rest of the afternoon. Most of us went down to the river for a brief splash-down as the shower seems to have fallen into disrepair. We started the fire early as I wanted to eat at 6pm. We cut thin green branches from a young pine tree and used this as skewers to fry marshmallows. After dinner we sat around the fire for a short while but we all drifted to bed before 7pm and were soon fast asleep.
Day 2 (11 May): I got up soon after it started lightening outside. It looked to be a brilliant day and I got everyone out of bed. We had a quick breakfast and were walking by 07:15. We started through pine plantation again but soon emerged on the escarpment edge and contoured here for a fair distance with magnificent views to the east. A cool breeze was blowing and kept the sweat away. At about 3km from Lisabon hut, the path dropped through the top rock bands, descended first through grassland and then a young pine plantation before dropping into the lower reaches of Clivia gorge. Here our pace slowed a little as we enjoyed the beautiful green of the forest and the murmur of cascading streams. I remember our difficulties crossing the bridges 10 years ago vividly, but the wire they fixed to the bridges completely solved this problem and we experienced only one difficult bridge where one of the support beams has collapsed. The route through the forest eventually opened up slightly and we walked through more savannah type vegetation. In total, we crossed 19 bridges. This number excludes the bridge we crossed directly below Lisabon hut, as well as a small little wooden step built shortly after the first or second bridge in the forest. With everyone keeping to their own pace, the group split up but eventually all got back to the hut without problems. We all had a quick shower and were on our way back by 13:00.
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