Arangieskop 17 to 19 June 2011

What a Mother of a hike!
Our group of 9 set off on our quest at 7h30 Saturday morning, after a lekker gesellige braai and chill session at the Dassieshoek hut the night before.

The weather was ideal for a hard hike…cool and overcast. After a short walk on the gravel road, the path goes over a river and then the uphill begins….and goes up and up and up with an unnecessary downhill somewhere in the middle! The group eventually split up, with Justin and Wally, pitting themselves against the clock; Paul, Mario and Wayne doing well to keep them in sight; Carol and I, slogging our way up the mountain and then Ferdie and Cedric, who seemed to be out to get their money’s worth :-).

At the 2km to go mark, my legs decided, ‘enough is enough…if you wanna go any further, you’re going to have to find another way, cos we are tired of carrying your behind up this mountain’…well! I gave my legs an Energade Snotklap and finally made it to the hut after 6 gruelling hours.

What a marvel the top hut is! Seeing it on photos on the internet, does not do its rustic beauty justice. Soon everyone had arrived and Justin started supper, while the rest showered, got out their medication and deep heat for the aches and pains. We shared the hut with a group of 4 hikers. A lovely group of people who happened to know Justin and Ferdie and will also be doing Kilimanjaro next month.The evening was spent playing klawerjas, rehashing the trail, sampling Justin’s brownies and chilling around the downstairs fireplace.
Soon it was time for bed and it felt like I had barely closed my eyes, before it was time to get up and start the hike back down.

The uphill to the summit was quite taxing. I think mainly due to my body still recovering from the previous days’ hike, but I got up there in 40 minutes and then the dreaded downhill started.

It was relentless to say the least! All of us slipped, slid or fell somewhere along the way…some of us did it more regularly than others, leaving skid marks all along the trail. Then just when you tell yourself that you wouldn’t mind a little incline, it arrives, quite unexpectantly! And the only thing that goes through your mind is, WTF!!!

What a beauty this hike is. The numerous waterfalls, little pools (which we did not make use of because of the cold), fauna and flora in abundance and the truly majestic presence of the Langeberg Mountains, makes this hike A MUST DO, for everyone who loves this pastime.

And now the stiffness, photos and memories are all we have left to remind us that we have conquered the Arangieskop Hiking Trail.

Final Note:
Saturday morning as I was putting on my backpack getting ready to leave, this massive… okay reasonably BIG, spider was crawling on it. I immediately threw down my bag and Wally and Justin confirmed that the spider had moved on.
About 5 minutes later, with the straps pressing against my bladder, I removed my backpack to go to the ladies. Upon my return, I reached out for my backpack and there sat the spider, making itself comfortable in the folds of the backpack. Again Wally came to the rescue, hitting the spider off with a set of keys and this time he confirmed that that was the last time I would see that spider.

But there is one thing I have realized about Wally… he is an eternal optimist. So when we took our last energade break before getting to the top hut, I took off my backpack to stretch the muscles in my back and guess what……???!!!
After 9km’s, Mr Spiderman, made his appearance once again. This time Carol got him off my backpack and I stomped that eight-legged nightmare so hard into his afterlife!
So thanks Carol, you saved me from countless sleepless nights cos it looked like that Spider was planning on going all the way to Cape Town with me.

To Carol, Cedric, Ferdie, Justin, Mario, Paul, Wally and Wayne…I’ll go on a hike anytime with you guys!!! Till the next time, go well!!

Mel