More Arangieskop pics

No quarter asked or given

The Arangieskop Trail of June 2011 was not a 'walk in the park' for me...
After doing it 3 or 4 times previously, I've learnt that time has taken its toll on me.

The 1st day unfolded without any major mishaps. It was a slog, but done in good time.
The occassional squawk of the 2 way radio accompanied us to the blustery top.

The snow on the distant mountains was quite a sight! like a light frost on a cake. Diè bakker was baie suinig!

Our time at the overnight hut was spent eating laced brownies and coping with the after effects (for some) and others actually disappointed that they had had none ( after effects, I mean).
Supper was made by Justin, amidst clouds of smoke. Occasionally, windows would be opened to ventilate the cabin because the stove was smoking! Then the temperature would go down and the fire would be fed religiously to get it up again. This dance would continue to bedtime.

After supper some okes were given a 'varkie' at klawerjas. A few hairs were neatly brushed in place to impress the new group that joined us (there were 2 ladies of the female persuasion in that group).
Some 'wine tasting' afterwards when some had already crawled into their sleeping bags. The die-hards sit 'bankvas' with a selection of tipple presented at the table in hip-flasks, coke and water bottles and the genuine glass bottle. Geen genade is getoon nie! Alles is somier verslind! Lekker geslaap daarna....

The snoring on this particular hike was not as bothersome as usual. The main contenders probably didn't think the competition was tough enough, especially since the title holder (Greg Geduld) wasn't there.

We awoke to the wind roaring at us to get going , it couldn't wait to play!
Oats was made, coffee was a forlorn hope and mugs were left behind.............

Then the slog to the high point, the photo shoot of the virgins AND then the dreaded downward
trudge .

On this day, this trail claimed some skin and blood.
I took a tumble on some rocks or as sister dearest said: "like someone doing cartwheels without using their arms" WTF!!!?
We were together up to this point. When she saw that I was in the capable hands of Wally and Ferdie, she abandoned me to go haring off on her own!
We saw her again after more boulder hopping, gorge scaling and chain hauling. She was on the opposite side of the valley, looking like a little pin with a yellow head!

Yup, that downhill really tested me physically and mentally.
Reaching that jeep track at the bottom was like crossing the finish line, ' cos you knew that the rest of the way was a stroll to warmth, cheers, white-toothed smiles, big bear hugs and that looong awaited cup of coffee!

A Midwinter Walk on the Wild Side

Pretty Pink Protea Aurea

We arrived at the Dassieshoek cottage, my two travelling companions and I, at three o'clock in the afternoon. The cottage was in the most spectacular natural setting, a typical old South African farmhouse with a coal stove and everything! We promptly lit two fires, one in the braai outside and one in the stove, so that, by the time the regular crowd shuffled in, we would be all set up, lekker gesellig by die vuur, binne of buite. The top of the coal stove was cracked and had been patched up in a rough-and-ready sort of way, with the result that it smoked a bit at first, but once the fire got going it set up a natural flow through the chimney, so that that problem was at least partly solved.

I am not even going to try to describe the view from the front stoep; the Langeberg Mountains, heads in the clouds, tower above the cottage, rugged and beautiful.

The usual suspects arrived in two carloads, and soon we were braaing, beer, red wine and whisky lubricating conversations, which, as usual, varied from the ridiculous to the sublime! Man, it was good to be back home again.     

We arose at an unearthly hour so that we could have a good breakfast before hitting the trail. The 07h00 zero-hour morphed into 07h30 and we were on our way. It was cold in the early morning in the half darkness of dawn and the grass was wet with dew. The clouds had lifted from the mountain tops and there were stars in the sky.  In the west the moon was slowly sinking towards the horizon. 

We had not gone very far when we were into the protea belt. These beautifully coloured proteas, red-pink-cerise, were growing en masse and were in bloom in this first valley, up to a certain altitude, where they were replaced by Ericas, Restios, various other plants and indigenous trees in the river valleys.
   
Indigenous forest and waterfalls there were aplenty; how can one describe the magic of a forest to someone? I think Dalene Matthee comes close when, in the novel 'Fiela se Kind', the little girl says, 'Daar's feetjies in die woud' (there are fairies in the forest).


The uphill slog was hard, but not nearly as hard as the downhill leg we would do the following day. When, eventually, the overnight hut hove into view, it was a most welcome sight. 
  
The overnight hut has a fireplace in the middle of the floor, as well as a coal stove in the corner, which was more or less in the same condition as the one at Dassieshoek. There was a donkey boiler outside; one has to make a fire and keep it going to provide hot water. There were absolutely no problems with that, the showers were piping hot for the nine of us and the four people in the other group with whom we shared the hut. The other group were not entirely strangers, as Justin knew two of them from way back when! We got on like a house on fire. 

Justin made supper, which consisted of a minced beef-spaghetti dish with lots of onions in it; it was just what the doctor ordered, and there was more than enough to go round. Supper, of course, was complemented by the variety of alcoholic beverages that each of us could squeeze into our backpacks.

After supper, we broke out the cards and had a good old game of Klawerjas. 

It was cold at the top. Inside the hut is a digital display coupled to thermometers inside the hut and out. When we awoke in the morning it was four degrees centigrade outside, which in itself is not that bad, but, when coupled to the wind chill factor - and the wind was literally howling -  it made things slightly uncomfortable.

After a really good breakfast, we hit the trail at 08h30. The first leg was uphill for about a kilometer to the top of the peak called Arangieskop. If anything, the wind right on top was worse still. It ripped my beanie off my head and launched it into the wide blue yonder, never to be seen again. But soon, as we dropped into the next valley from the one we had ascended, we were on the lee side and the wind wasn't that much of a bother anymore.






Arangieskop


As I said, the downhill leg was tougher. There were the most spectacular cliffs and waterfalls, and, when one got down to that certain altitude, the proteas of the previous day were replaced by a completely different species of protea, a very pretty pink variety that I personally have not seen before. 

Mackerel sky

Some of us were a bit tardy on that downhill leg, to put it mildly. By the time it was fully dark I was about 500m from the Dassieshoek Cottage; I made it at 18h30. A cup of hot coffee, five minutes or so to 'recover', and we were ready to head back home.

The Dassieshoek house, where we spent Friday night

Way over yonder
Is a place I have seen
In a garden of wisdom
From some long ago dream...
(Words and music by Carole king)

Fynbos

Erica

Daisy?

Ferdi negotiating a slippery crossing

Light-coloured Protea

Arangieskop backlit

Arangieskop with the sun behind it

Backlit Ericas

Mountain Stream

The overnight hut near the top

Pillar inside the overnight hut

Melanie & Justin relax at the fireplace

The rules

Protea Nerifolia

Melanie and Carol through the front door of Dassieshoek Cottage

View from the garden at Dassieshoek

Dassieshoek Cottage

Dassieshoek

Dassieshoek Kitchen

Koffie Kapitaal

The braai area at Dassieshoek

Ancient tree

Sunset at Dassieshoek

Signpost at the gate

Another signpost near the entrance to the nature reserve

Milestone?

Klipwerf

Moonset in the early morning

Carol on the trail

Protea Nerifolia

Dassieshoek Cottage

Proteas all along the trail

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

15 June 2011

Soon the countdown to the Arangieskop Hike will be measured in hours, not days. My backpack is packed and I am chomping at the bit, nervously excited about my first hike up the Langeberg Mountain.

The group of 9....7 guys and 2 gals, seem a balanced mixture of seriousness and playfulness, but we all have one thing in common and that is to successfully complete the hike with maximum enjoyment.

We have been putting in some hard work, some more than others, preparing for this Everest of the Cape. Some needed it more than others and I am strictly talking about myself here. I have done the gym thing and the early Saturday morning hike thing, all in preparation for this hike.

Okay, so I am a chronic "need to know what the hell I am in for" kinda person, but who do I believe...the many people who have done it before, who tell me, "jy ga'n k@k" or the, admittedly few, who said, "ag man, dussie soe baddie'???

Well, 3 days from now, I will have decided for myself!

So yes! I am ready to push myself and step out of my comfort zone. I am sooo looking forward to the one thing that everyone agrees on and that's the beauty of this hike and what makes this experience all the sweeter, is that I get to do it with a group of awesome people.

So bring it on Arangies!

Note to self: If there is space in the backpack, pack your pom-poms...after all, I AM the self-appointed cheerleader of the group...hahahaaaaa!!!

ten on the mountain

The planned devil's peak walk was once again postponed as the white blanket covered the mountain above us for as far as the eye could see.
We, the flexible, opted for a nice walk up Lion's Head again. Just across the way, on towards Signal hill is the start to a steep, winding jeep track. It is not entirely an easy walk. The regular occurrence of rocks and ladders on the trail made for some awkward stretching and heavy breathing. It was a fair challenge for the out of action few. The views at the top was well worth the raising of heart rates.
Breakfast sandwiches from Mel's kitchen was really enjoyable. Cedric's rye bread Gatsby, fresh and healthy, was equally rewarding. To top it off we sipped some coffee from the flask and then a lekker black toffee sweet, the one what sticks to the teeth. Delightful!

As the food disappeared, and cigarettes burnt shorter, we enjoyed the warm morning sun as it broke through. The blanket of cloud over the table mountain range lifted for a short while as we contemplated a possible late start on Devil's peak. That thought was short lived as the cloud once again covered the trail on the other side of the valley.

All in all it was a really good workout. The upcoming hike at Arangieskop this coming weekend is going to be a breeze for the hardworking, early rising few.

Wees gegroet stappers

Balckie