DATE: 22 – 24 MAY 2009
TYPE: BASE CAMP (12.8 & 7.8km)
AREA: MACHADODORP
14 hikers did this one – we haven’t had such a nice large crowd for a while.
The sign posts for this hike are quite misleading, board is on the right of the road, and entrance to the railway carriages is on the left and the entrance for the converted bus further down the road with no sign at all!! But we all eventually got there. The accommodation was reasonably “rustic” but we took it all in our stride, battled with the hot water until the farmer came and helped out. Pauline kindly enough, once again, made pots of gluwein for us.
Unfortunately one of out hikers, Nikki, picked up a tummy bug on the Friday evening (she is now in the running for the happy hurler award!!), so the numbers hiking on the Saturday were slightly depleted, as Karen then had to stay behind to look after Nikki (Karen we know you took one look at that mountain and decided it was way too big for you!).
The trail on the Saturday literally takes you almost straight up to the very top of the mountain, the one that we had all been admiring the evening before, and then straight down again, straight to the gluwein pot, especially as Pauline had decided after a short meander to return to base!!
The Sunday trail was also a lovely walk, with some stunning views.
In conclusion, some work needs to be done at the camp as well as on the trail, as erosion could be quite a problem in places, but otherwise a reasonably enjoyable hike.