Rooi Ivoor hiking trail Aug 2008

I had a half day off and drove to George’s at around 13:00. Shortly after arriving Pam showed up and we were off. We drove through to Middelburg, then onto Stoffberg and Steelpoort before arriving just before 19:00. Shirley and Eddy were already there as well as two members of another group. The fire had already produced coals so I could throw my boerewors on immediately. After dinner I showed some videos and pictures of previous trips on the laptop before we all headed for bed.

Day 1 (02 Aug): We woke up slowly but by 08:00 we were packed and ready to go. We struggled a little initially finding the way – the markings weren’t particularly clear. We wound up on the 4x4 track and followed this right down into a stream bed from where we started seeing signs that must have resembled a tree at some point. We were reasonably sure we were not on the right track but also confident that we’ll find it at some point. Not much further we came to a crossing of paths with a decent signpost that indicated right for the Moepel trail. We got onto this and sped up the hill. Birding was really good, seeing Grey-headed and Orange-breasted bush-shrikes, Southern boubou, Woodpeckers and many other birds. The path steadily wound up the hill and when we reached the top it started skirting along the side of the ridge with nice views down to the valley about 500m below. I was in the lead at this point and I kept a steady pace on the easy path, going past a radio mast and then reaching the point where we were told a new fence has cut off part of the trail. From this point we could clearly see the overnight hut in the distance on the opposite ridge. The path dropped down before climbing a last time up to the hut. It was a fantastic hut with a great location: wonderful views of the valley far below, perched almost on the summit. We rested for the rest of the afternoon and Shirley and I went off to find some birds. It seemed that most birds were having a siesta and we came back without anything new. After 14:00 we saw the other group summitting the ridge in the distance and not long after they also reached the hut. At 4.30pm we started the fire and we all finished dinner before 6pm. It was a beautiful evening so Shirley, Eddy and I all slept outside on the stoep. We heard a Fiery-necked nightjar calling for some time but I fell asleep quickly.

Day 2 (03 Aug): After breakfast we were on our way. The path wound through a few nice patches of bushveld and a small ravine before we reached the turn-off point for the longer trail we wanted to do. Taking the kudu trail we climbed up a pretty ravine with a few wooden ladders before reaching another split in the path. The way we were going was very poorly marked and the path almost non-existent. However, with all five of us looking out for it, we kept on the path and eventually made it to the flats where George and I streaked ahead and reached the hut at about 11:30. After a shower the rest arrived and by 12:00 we were on our way.