Participants/ members
Greg & Janet Moore; Gillian Forbes, Tony & Evie Bowen; Ulrike & Bruno Baldzuhn; Karin van Niekerk; Ed & Mimi Kay-Shuttleworth; Analyn Knight; Gonny Houtsma; Ruth Powell; Ann McGregor; Sanet van Meersbergen: Wolf Schneider; Tannje Strauss.
Participants / guests
Janet Meintjies: Graham Moore resident in the UK; Dennis Weaver from Oregon USA; and 2 extra guests brought by Ed.
Details
Hike distance and duration:
The Meet leader had estimated about 700m of height gain, and 15 km of distance to cover – however some of the participants say that their GPS trackers measured around 19 km!! They obviously did loads of extra steps!! A fast pace was set – thus we managed to finish in the allotted 6 hours.
Access, permits and trail head:
The hike in the Groeneweide Forest Reserve is controlled by SANParks. There is a “stand” at the trail head, where self-issue permits, and maps can be obtained.
Grade: The hike was offered as a grade 2M.
We followed a good footpath or track for the hike. In order to reach our “Kop”, a short section of both up and downhill of no path was encountered.
Note: The meet leader was possibly using the wrong name for our peak. Local mountain peaks and
koppie names are often very variable. No wonder Google does not include them on their maps. Looking at the “Garden Route” Slingsby maps, I notice the Koppie immediately behind Groenkop, which is the one we hiked to, is marked as “Haarnaald” at 734 m, while the further peak seems to be Paddakop, (See photo taken on a previous hike to Tierkop), and the highest peak is Melville Peak. Strange though – as I have heard local people using the name Haarnaald for the more northern peak at 918 m??
Hike details:
It was a wonderful day out. Perfect hiking weather. Our party of 21 hikers and the meet leader set of at a brisk pace from our cars which were parked at Strawberry Hill. Some super patches of local indigenous forest, which remained unscathed after the George fires of October 2018. Only the perimeter trees were affected.
Majestic views toward Cradock Peak and George Peak as we gained higher ground. Here the extent of the fires is very evident.
We climbed over numerous burnt pine logs to reach our” Paddakop” for the day. At this point the group showed off their different priorities. Some of us coming to grips with our very meagre snacks, while some relaxed into rather fancy prepacked home cooked Thai food-delish! Tony adopted a comfortable posture in his normal style. Ed was busy coming to terms with the Club’s newest gadget – the “SAT NAV”, and even Evie was given a brief introduction, while Gill concentrated on the info given. Our overseas visitors, Dennis and Graham stayed upright enjoying the circular views.
On the return no one was prepared for a dip in the pools just off the “Red route”. Ulrike dots the water with a few toes only!!
Finally, a meander in and out of the tall indigenous forest trees, where numerous tracks abound. Luckily with the aid of a cell phone, we did not lose any of the acceptable 10% of the party and all arrived back saying “despite it being a longish hike – it had been most enjoyable”. Some of the hikers even managed an extra stroll in a garden in “Wilderness Heights” in order to end the day replenishing their energy levels.
Thanks to all who participated and for enjoying yourselves. Many thanks to Strawberry Hill, for the excellent free parking.
Evie Bowen – meet leader