DATE: 17 – 19 JULY 2009
TYPE: BACK PACKING
AREA: CLARENS – FREE STATE
We somehow seem to be suckers for punishment by doing the hikes in the Free State in the freezing winter months. But this area has a beauty of its own during these cold dry months, and as there is not too much in the line of shade, we feel it would not be prudent to do these hikes in the very hot summer time.
This hike was formerly called St Fort, and although a few changes have been made, those of us who had done this before found it fairly familiar. A barn/storage area has been converted into the base camp, and I honestly don’t think any of us have ever been so cold on any local hike. The temperature recorded in the cars the next morning was -8.5, we managed to photograph it at -7, and cold has nothing on this. But oh so typical of our beautiful country, no sooner had the sun shown its face, and the temperature climbed relatively quickly. The wind kept on reminding us that we were well and truly in wintertime though.
Lovely views, gorgeous rock formations, and then the rock paintings in the overnight cave (which by the way is huge – you could fit more than an army in there with ease) are still well preserved. Having had such a cold night on the Friday we thought we would all not survive the night, but it was very much warmer, even though we were basically out in the open – maybe it has something to do with the cave being much higher up. There was quite a bit of the trail that still needs a fair bit of attention.
In conclusion – any hike done in the Clarens area is always very beautiful, the maintenance of the trails and of the accommodation just needs to be monitored, but then this applies to all the hikes.