Angry man territory.
Team – Ed Kay-Shuttleworth ( Leader ), Clive Louw ( 2 IC ), Karin van Nierkerk, Greg and Cheryl Devine, Werner Frei, Ruth Powell, Ulrike and Bruno Baldzuhn and Jacolise Joubert.
In the annals of Western Cape hiking lore this three day hike is marked on maps as the Horingberg trail. Horingberg is a relatively innocuous mountain which at 1476 meters looms over the entrance to the Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve. The clue to the nature of this hike lay in the name marked down in the Clubs meet sheet – “The Boosmansbos Wilderness Alternative”.
Fortunately most of the weekends participants were familiar with the term “Wilderness” and know that word carries a “health warning” ! But more can be gleaned from Boosmansbos which can easily be misinterpreted as meaning Bushman’s forest or bush. However that extra “o” ( Boosman / Bosman) carries a lot of weight and renders the translation from mere Bushman into “Angry man”.
Guardians to the Angry Man’s Territory along the Barrydale hiking trail.
And so it came to pass that early on a fine Saturday morning in late April ten fresh faced and bushy-tailed South Cape section members assembled at the start of the Barrydale hiking trail and dared to enter this “Angry man’s” territory. Deception and guile was already forefront in the leader’s mind as he had decided to approach from the North hoping to sneak in via the back gate. The Barrydale trail has suffered recently from neglect and Barrydale residents warned about the last few kilometres on the first day – we did find ourselves searching for the trail towards the end, just before we meet up with the Loerklip trail which is the normal Southern approach but this was mere practice for what was to come in the days to follow.
After a long walk the first night was spent either inside or outside the Helderfontein huts. Although we were self-sufficient in respect of roofs over our heads the difficulty was finding somewhere flat to pitch. Water was plentiful and the normal hut residents were noted for their absence. Our number had now reduced to nine after an early and graceful retirement had been forced on a member early on the first day. The “Angry man” was obviously making his presence known !
Helderfontein Huts – 5 * all season
Day 2 dawned warm and bright. A stiff climb ensued straight after breakfast and after two hours plus a little extra we found ourselves sitting atop Grootberg at 1637 metres surveying the world below and beyond in full 360 degree technicolor.
Grootberg summit
Sleeping Beauty lay off to the East, our overnight lodgings were down below and to the South blocking our exit lay Horingberg peak and its stunningly photogenic partner Noukranspiek. Descent off Grootberg was steep and slow and the “Angry man’s” presence was starting to be felt by all. A rest for lunch and some nourishment was not sufficient to revive the spirits of one of the team and shorty afterwards the decision was made to summon a whirly bird to facilitate a speedy exit for a night of observation and professional medical care. The decision was then made to camp exactly where we were perched astride a ridge facing directly onto Noukranspiek to the South and on the
distant skyline to the North the mighty Klein Swartberg on which the iconic Towerkop was clearly prominent. Replenished with water from nearby, and in nothing more to T-shirts we ate our supper and star gazed !
S.A.R.C.S Whirly bird arriving on the ridge top
Delayed the previous day, by what transpired to be 4 hours , we endeavoured to make an early start and were en route by 0745 on Day 3 knowing that the going was going to get tough. Well this was when the tough had to get going as the Boosman threw at us everything he had in his bag of tricks. Maps and GPS’s might have paths marked clearly but years of Garden Route growth had S.A.R.C.S Whirly bird arriving on the ridge top generated Fynbos exceeding the height of our heads and rendered those virtually meaningless. We knew where we had to go there – the question was just how to get there. The team dug deep into their reserves and after a late lunch near the summit of Horingberg we rounded the mountain to the South and saw our destination somewhere down there in the farmland 1200 metres below. The walk off the mountain was our final endurance test and after some 11+ hours as darkness fell we were grateful to have escaped the clutches of the Boosman.
Thanks to a supportive and forgiving team and especially to Clive for his pathfinding / bush-whacking skills as 2 IC, to Werner for the extra miles of ferrying and to Greg for remaining cool, calm and collected under the circumstance.
Thanks also to the 4 members of the helicopter crew who helped us out on a Sunday afternoon.
Now – where is that new map I just saw with Wilderness marked all over it !
So lets just – “Feel the fear and do it anyway”.
Ed Kay-Shuttleworth