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After work on the Friday, Nicola and I drove to Pretoria to drop her cats off at her parents and pick Gordon up. Jo’burg traffic was slow as usual but we arrived without mishap at the base camp just after 8.30pm. Gordon added some wood to the glowing embers left by the rest of Highveld Hikers who arrived earlier. We stood around chatting while Gordon and Edwill finished their braai before hitting bed.
We woke to a cool morning with scattered clouds, had breakfast and were on our way shortly after 8am. The trail, built by Tiaan Strydom of Discovery Trails, first wound through some eroded dongas in the valley before starting the climb up a sandstone ridge so typical of the eastern Freestate. Interesting ladder placements and a well-cleared path made for some highly enjoyable walking and we reached the top of the ridge in good time. Along the top the walking was easy and we stopped for a break with a view towards the west. The path climbed in-between some large sandstone boulders, dropped a little on the western side of the ridge before ascending to a saddle where we decided to have an early lunch.
After lunch we walked along the top of the ridge before climbing steeply down a series of ladders to reach a lower plateau that led to Rory’s rock, a prominent feature on the trail. We all scrambled to the summit and took in the magnificent view before descending the last few hundred metres back to the camp. The base camp is 5-star luxury for a hike with a decent kitchen, braai area, ablutions, accommodation, and even a small dam in front where we were able to row a bit on a slalom canoe. The afternoon was spent resting, taking pictures of sparrow weavers and chatting about past and future hikes. Soon after dinner, Gordon suggested we go for a night walk. With a bit of vascillation, all but George and Brian decided to do the second day’s hike right then. It was quite chilly so we all put on warm clothes, packed some water, and were on our way. With only 7km to go for the second day’s hike, a full moon blazing down and windless conditions, it was an ideal time to do a night walk.
We climbed back up the ladders towards Rory’s rock and then soon had some trouble finding our route as the path across open sandstone is virtually impossible to follow at night. But with a bit of searching we were soon on track again and we started enjoying this exciting adventure. We first descended down a ridge to a shallow valley before climbing back up to near the ridge summit. Traversing east and then north we lost the track again over some large sandstone slabs and had to back-track to the last footprint before we found our way again. The path then descended to the “Fairytale Wonderland”, an overhang of more than 500m long, covered by mosses and ferns, barely head height high. During the day this would have been a very interesting section. At night, it took on a surreal quality as our foot falls echoed strangely off the roof and our flashlights shimmered between the overhanging growths. Not having a flashlight at all, it was interesting walking for me and Edwill but with the occasional help from the others, we managed perfectly fine. At last we started descending back towards base camp. Climbing down through two inversion zones, we understood perfectly well why it was so cold at the hut but very pleasant higher up the mountains. We reached the camp at 22:15 and had some tea and biscuits before crawling into bed, tired but very happy with a great day done.
Rising just before 7am, I went to the kitchen to start breakfast. Brian and George were on their way to do the second day on their own as they were the only ones who didn’t do it the previous night. The rest of us had a leisurely breakfast before packing up. Shirley and Eddie had to wait for the other two to return but with a much longer way to drive, Gordon, Edwill, Nicola and I decided to hit the road. Shortly before 9am we were on our way and drove back uneventfully.
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