The weather forecast for this weekend promised nothing good. Consecutive cold fronts were expected to hit the Western Cape and the Cederberg can be an icy place when the weather turns foul. But although day two was pretty cold on the water, Saturday produced long sunny periods. Some of the rapids edged up into Grade 3 territory, but are fairly easy to negotiate in the inflatable, two-man crocs. Exciting and fun, without the fear that can sometimes grip one in the Batoka Gorge below Victoria Falls.

Related posts:

1. Rim of Africa Google Earth track
2. Cederberg – Wuppertal to Algeria
3. Klein River by kayak

View Larger Map

If the track doesn’t appear in the window above download the Google Earth Rim of Africa file and view it in Google Earth (download Google Earth)

The GE track shows almost every step of the trail as recorded on my Garmin Foretrex 101 personal navigator, waypoints describing some features or places, and geo-tagged photos.

We left our camp below Pakhuis Pass on a grey, misty day and our steps would be dogged by cold fronts and rain, except for the balmy days of our passage through the central Cederberg wilderness area from the Crystal Pools area to just north of Middelberg Pass. For me, those middle days were the highlights, especially when we skirted what would become known to the group as “the rim” between Bakleikraal and Breekkrans Valley. On that particular day one could literally see forever to the west, mountain ridge upon valley, as we raced a rapidly-closing cold front to our next campsite at Slangboshoek.

The trail was often tough – especially for those with less than optimal gear – always spectacular and uplifting, seldom a slog. We gazed out on vistas that few local hikers will ever see and listened to the utter silence of the rock and the metallic click of our walking poles as we picked our way south.

Eventually, having been trapped in our tents for a night and a morning by a raging storm at the head of the Elandskloof valley, we struck out into the fire-ravaged Hexberg Nature Reserve, a “lost” reserve. From there we climbed fire-blackened and white rock slopes and a sodden, peaty kloof into a gathering front in search of the gulley down to a remote valley. It was on the exposed ridges in rain, icy wind and poor visibility that Galeo and Ivan made the wise call to abort some 40km and two days short of our objective. I think the group was a little relieved to spend the night in a friendly farmer’s shed.

What an adventure, what an experience. Fitter and leaner I now look forward to completing the last couple of days and visiting Turret Peak. And then… stage two….

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1. Patagonia Treks in Google Earth
2. Rim of Africa
3. Rim of Africa photos

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Go to my Rim of Africa photo album

A Google Earth track of the trail, almost every step captured on a Garmin Foretrex 101, will follow shortly, along with a short account – once I have thought of something profound to write…

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Go to the hikers’ photo pool on Flickr

Related posts:

1. Rim of Africa
2. Rim of Africa Google Earth track
3. Crystal Pools – Cederberg

The vision of the Rim of Africa is to create a mega-distance trail on a par with the best the world has to offer. Mega-distance trails in Europe and the USA play an important role in giving access to time in wilderness while stimulating a walking culture.

The Rim of Africa stretches from the greater Cederberg wilderness area on the Cape’s West Coast to the Outeniqua Mountains in the Garden Route, traversing more than 650km of mountain paths. The route takes in the Cederberg, Skurweberg, Hexrivier, Keeromberg, Langeberg and the Outeniqua representing a flagship hiking product of international significance, attracting hikers from around the world. There is potential to link the Rim of Africa to the Outeniqua Trail and on to the Eden to Addo Hike for Biodiversity creating an extended trail of 1200km ending at Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape.

I’m looking forward to getting “lost” in the wilderness, communing with Nature.

Related posts:

1. Rim of Africa Google Earth track
2. Rim of Africa photos
3. Groot Winterhoek wilderness

Once again Peter and I headed off into the mountains above Algeria to find silence and isolation, accompanied by a lone Finnish traveller. But this time the weather stayed cool, and on the Sunday became even windy and rainy.

The idea was to overnight at that castellated valley beyond Crystal Pools, but it soon became clear that the hike would be beyond our companion, so we settled down for the night under some forlorn cedars in the Grootlandsvlakte, a high valley.

This proved to be a very comfortable camp under the full moon. But before dawn I was awoken by the pitter-patter of rain on my sleeping bag. Having decided not to hang around unduly, we headed for Uitkyk. Luckily I knew the way, because on the plateau visibility was often bad. We were drenched by the time we arrived back at Algeria, having discarded rain gear as unnecessary…

Read Peter’s amusing account of this trip…

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1. Crystal Pools – Cederberg
2. Cederberg – Wuppertal to Algeria
3. Rim of Africa Google Earth track

Our judgement impaired by a few beers and a bottle of red wine over dinner one night in the Strand, Ron, Peter and I resolved to try the Cederberg Traverse from Wuppertal to Algeria again – in the heat of December (a previous attempt was curtailed).

This time we got the logistics right. Deon, a friend who enjoys bush cooking, was appointed “base camp manager” and would run the shuttle service to drop us at Wuppertal. However, we

Peter at Kleinvlei

understimated the time required to drive there from Algeria, and consequently only set out into the Dassieboskloof at 10h00.  It was already hot – into the mid-30s.

It seems the locals have misguidedly spraypainted the names of features and path markings on most available rocks for the first 5km of the path. This, allied to the fact that power lines and water pipes, and not a little litter, mark the path, make the sector less than a “wilderness” experience.

Later that morning we shuffled into a “buite-stasie” of the Wuppertal mission called Kleinvlei, a quaint hamlet of about 10 houses and subsistence farming. Surprisingly, we were able to buy ice-cold Cokes. A friendly chat with the local women revealed that the most populous family in Kleinvlei is the Zimmeries clan. My comment that the name sounded German triggered much mirth, as the locals confirmed that an Oupa had always reminded those who would listen that “they were Germans”. Apparently, the Moravian missionaries had indulged in some over-enthusiastic conversion of the Khoi-Khoi…

Our contour map (dated 1981) shows the path up the Dassieboskloof to continue through Kleinvlei, when in fact it snakes up a kloof to the left, away from Kleinvlei, and then veers

Vogelsang valley at dusk

right to enter Dassieboskloof high on the left slopes. The locals pointed out where the path runs, but graciously allowed us to overrule them when we insisted we had to go up Dassieboskloof. Big mistake.

Little Mario and his gang were appointed to guide us up the river. The route quickly became a kloofing expedition, but the rock pools were fantastic. However, we realised that there was no path anymore and we began to doubt our map-reading abilities. The only thing to do was to climb the steep wall of the gorge until we hit the path, but by now the sun was beating down. I promptly lost my Game-filled waterbottle as we scrambled over large boulders, so I had to tackle the climb without it. The climb was an ordeal. The rocks were too hot to touch and the heat was something else. Eventually we dragged our exhausted bodies into some shade, but we knew we still had about 10km to cover to Crystal Pools. While we tried to recover, we wondered where the path was, only to find, when we finally staggered to our feet, that it was 5m away from our resting place!

The path continued upward in merciless sunshine. Eventually we decided, as heat exhaustion started to kick in, to rest in some shade until about 16h00, and then walk until sunset (about 20h00). This was a better decision than the one at Kleinvlei, and probably saved the hike for us. Although, it didn’t feel much cooler, we soldiered on up the interminable Vogelsang valley, crossing a number of vlei’s and streams. We were aiming for the tree and swimming hole near Turret Ridge, having realised that we probably wouldn’t make Crystal Pools in our condition. However, when night fell we found ourselves near the headwaters of the Sand River, still some way short of our destination. A meal, tea, custard and an incomparable view of the night sky

Big Ron and I overheat

restored us, and I enjoyed my best night’s sleep ever on a hike.

Soon after first light we set out again, determined to cover as much ground as possible before the heat took its toll. The cedar tree and the swimming hole, our goal of yesterday, looked idyllic – we will be back to spend time there. There followed a wonderful meander up the lower reaches of Engelsmanskloof. This is surely the one of the most beautiful parts of the Cederberg – sandstone castles and old cedars, valley meadows and sparkling streams.

After a great swim and breakfast at Crystal Pools we set out for Middelberg, down Groot Hartseer, across Grootlandsvlakte, where two mounted rangers – one known to us through our annual cedar-planting efforts with the Cederberg Conservation Group – passed us. We continued up to Geelvlei and Cathedral Rocks and then dropped down to the basin where the Middelberg huts nestle. It was still early afternoon and we believed Algeria was only a short downhill away, so we leisurely savoured lunch under the oaks next to the stream. At this point Peter rediscovered his sunglasses in his rucksack, which he had packed in for the previous expedition at Boosmansbos, and then ‘lost’. I suppose one way of preparing for a hike is to leave the rucksack packed…

Algeria wasn’t a mere downhill away. As we breasted the valley rim, the heat rising out of the valley hit us like a blowtorch. Although we could see the green of the campsite as we zig-zagged down the shadeless slope, we never seemed to get closer, and the lower we got, the hotter the path became. Eventually, at the end of our tether, we staggered into Algeria, attracting uncomprehending stares from the holiday-makers, and fell into the pool.

It was only in the bakkie on the road back home that we realised the Cape was in the grip of a heatwave, and that temperatures had edged into the 40’s.

I think we will spend the summer months windsurfing, and leave the hikes for autumn…

Related posts:

1. Crystal Pools – Cederberg
2. Grootlandsvlakte – Cederberg
3. Boosmansbos Wilderness Trail

The Cederberg is probably my favourite wilderness area.  Little can compare to the remoteness, the silence and timelessness of those mountains.  Ron and I resolved to tackle one of the classic wilderness routes – Algeria to Wuppertal, by  way of Crystal Pools. However, the threatening wild weather and our unfamiliarity with the route to Wuppertal, tempered our enthusiasm, and we decided to walk up to Crystal Pools via Middelberg, and then circle back via Sleepad and Uitkyk Pass.

The rain bucketed down on Friday night as we slipped into a deserted Algeria.

Our lone tent at Algeria campsite

The only way to unpack the vehicle was to decamp straight into the ablution block. Later, as the weather cleared, we pitched the tents.

I had packed in such a rush that I forgot most things, including ALL my food (left on the kitchen table). Things were not starting well…

However, Saturday was one of those pristine winter’s days that only the Cape can conjure up – diamond light under azure sky. The route was long and strenuous, but the places were remote and beautiful, and water was coursing down every stream and seeping out of every rock. Often we surprised small families of klipspringers, getting to within tens of paces of them before they bounded up the rocky slopes in panic.  We passed through groves of threatened Clanwilliam Cedar, remnants of once great forests – a sad commentary on the mindlessness of humankind.

Crystal Pools is a suspended amphitheatre through which a stream

Big Ron at Cathedral Rock

runs, but it wasn’t warm enough for a dip. A much-quoted guide book informed us that the old forester/ranger hut no longer existed, but we found it on the ridge north of the amphitheatre about an hour before sundown. It’s not much more than a “stable” with grass on the floor, but it sheltered us from the rising wind.

On Sunday the north wind blew icily, but the sun was out, and we made it back to Algeria at 16h30. Except for a small party who arrived at the hut at sunset, we had not seen another soul.

My lack of rations had not been a problem: Big Ron, true to his philosophy of not going hungry on trail, had packed so much that we both lived off his rations for 2 days – and then he still carried plenty out!

The hut near Crystal Pools

Related posts:

1. Cederberg – Wuppertal to Algeria
2. Grootlandsvlakte – Cederberg
3. Rim of Africa Google Earth track