A short walk to Noordhoek Peak
Silvermine, Table Mountain National Park It has been many years since I walked the Silvermine plateau and the spectacular ridges and peaks above Noordhoek. On the spur of the moment I decided to exploit Marion's new-found interest in the outdoors to revisit Noordhoek...
Gentle adventures in the southern Cape
Our mid-winter tour of the Garden Route and Little Karoo ran the gamut of weather from crystal-clear, windless days to fierce storms, from balmy Karoo days to icy nights. We set off to take the roads less travelled and to stay at least two nights in a place to get a...
Tierkloof abseil
Paul Verhoeven arranged this exclusive adventure for a small group of mountain club members. It involved climbing the Peaks (¨Pieke¨), some of the highest summits in the Jonkershoek area and then 9 abseils down Tierkloof, the cleft that angles down south of the...
The Swartberg Trail
The Swartberge - the black mountains - are literally black now. A recent fire, the second in quick succession, has charred them. The other wildfire a few years ago destroyed the third hiking hut so that the trail has had to be adapted to use only two huts over three...
Baviaans2Coast MTB tour
6-day mountain bike tour through the Baviaanskloof, across the back of the Kouga Mountains, across the Langkloof, down Prince Alfred's Pass to Wittedrif This time we decided to plan a more compact private tour, which still included the incredible Baviaanskloof but...
The Whale Trail – take three
Almost fourteen years after the first time, we elected to sample the slackpacking option for this trail. Slackpacking involves paying R520 per crate/coolbox for transport from hut to hut. It makes for very good meals, meals that can do the "huts" justice. "Huts" and...
Witels – what else?
Having "done the Witels" back in 2009, I had little intention of doing it again, but then she-who-shall-remain-nameless talked me into another MCSA mission from 25 to 30 December. Anyway, when Christmas Day dawned it had already transpired that...
Riviersonderendkloof zipline adventure
High up in the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site between Stellenbosch and Grabouw, eleven steel cables spiral and zigzag down the Riviersonderendkloof ("river-without-end gorge"), forming a series of catenary for a thrilling,...
Stettynskloof to Du Toitskloof Traverse
This MCSA hike is led regularly by August Carstens since he participated in a mountain bike event along this route. I can't get my head around the biking concept because there is no discernible path to speak of in the upper Stettynskloof while thick riverine bush and...
Cathedral and Banghoek peaks
As Paul, the hike leader, had warned, the climb of the Cathedral (Second Ridge Peak) and Banghoek Peak would make for a "lang dag". And so it proved to be. The MCSA party of fourteen covered 16.5 km and climbed a total of 1790 m over 10.5 hours. We ascended via the...
Recent Comments