This meet was listed on the SC Section Meet Program as GROOT WINTERBERG et al 1 – 5 April, however the leaders changed the dates and the “et al”, as will become apparent. This meet overlapped with the Leopard Trail and Cedar Falls meet which was also offered by the SC Section (2021 April 3 – 7). This resulted in a very small turnout of SC Section members for the Groot Winterberg meet. In point of fact only two members of the SC Section participated in this meet for the full duration, which was somewhat disappointing.
The summit of Groot Winterberg. L-R: Werner & Zeta, Dennis Lange, Mimi Kay-Shuttleworth, Danny Dreghorn, Leonie Yendall, Clive Louw, Ed Kay-Shuttleworth, Charles Smith
On Friday April 2 we drove to Finella Falls – a remote farm situated north of Adelaide in the Eastern Cape, along the road to Tarkastad. I had been there during Easter 2017 on an EP Section meet hosted by Werner and Zeta, so I knew what to expect, except that the road to Tarkastad has deteriorated markedly over the past 4 years, and there were now an additional 276 potholes. The approach to the farm is an exciting roller-coaster ride which includes a few steep sections. The descent is quite decent.
The farmhouse is situated at about 1700m – approximately the height of Cockscomb, and it can be rather cool there at times. It rained considerably during the 2017 meet, and true to form the heavens opened during our first night there. Clive’s tent leaked like a sieve, and he took refuge in the farmhouse.
The next day we drove to a neighbouring farm and walked up a hill to a cave to view San rock art. On returning to Finella we met Ed and Mimi, and we all walked across a vlakte to the entry point of Finella Gorge. It quickly became apparent that the descent into the gorge was going to be tricky and hair-raising. A couple of hikers decided to forgo the initial precipitous bundubash which necessitated clinging onto vegetation for dear life. As the vertiginous descent progressed we became more and more desperate to acquire traction on the muddy slope. Various acrobatic manoeuvres were employed to prevent oneself from falling headlong down the gorge. With the help of ropes and ladders we eventually gained the waterfall and the pool below.
Due to time constraints we spent only a few minutes here before tackling the seemingly endless climb out of the gorge, once again using ladders, ropes and wits (not the university). A machete fell off the pack of an individual who shall remain anonymous. Fortunately the machete did not decapitate anyone below him, otherwise heads would have rolled. A subsequent hunt for the machete produced no results. Clive, who is as sharp as a machete, went back alone the next day and located and retrieved this instrument of destruction.
The next day we set off to climb Groot Winterberg, at 2369m the third highest peak in the erstwhile Cape Province after Compassberg (2502 m) and Nardouwsberg (2429m) apart from the Drakensberg and its extensions. Despite its height this peak is an easy climb except for a tricky scramble near the summit. A couple of desperate moves enables one to squirm onto the summit.
One is then confronted with the problem of how to down-climb this section. After studying the puzzle for a while one realises that delicate acrobatic manoeuvres are called for.
The following morning was dedicated to a very successful mushroom hunt.
In the afternoon we drove to a farm where Zeta’s son lives. We enjoyed tea on the veranda, and then went to the sheep pens. It was there and then that I decided to put pen to paper.
The next day Clive and I set out to climb Mary (1940m) and Martha (1933m i.e. a 7m difference!), two prominent peaks along the road to Tarkastad, except that they were obscured by thick grey clouds. We had been given a telephone number. Finding a position where we could get a cellphone signal proved rather difficult. When we eventually got thru to someone he gave is another number to try. That person arranged to meet us somewhere along the road. He then directed us to another farm where we were given a gate key and directions. Mary and Martha were still under heavy cloud cover. We decided to make our way up Martha as far as visibility would allow.
Clive is a renowned master mountain navigator, and armed with instructions from the farmer he located a gully which led past a spectacular column to the summit.
As we gained altitude the clouds dissipated, and we had 360 degree views including Tarkastad below. The summit of Martha is an extremely rough rock-strewn plateau surrounded by terrifying sheer cliffs. After plodding to the beacon the master navigator was now faced with the challenge of finding the correct gully to descend. We marched back and forth along the cliff edge examining a multitude of gullies, trying to figure out where we had ascended. One gully had a column seemingly identical to the one we had passed on the way up. Left to my own vices or devices I would have blundered down, never to be seen again, however Clive said it was not the right gully. He insisted that there was a cairn at the top of the correct gully. Somehow Clive managed to locate the access gully, and reiterated that there was a cairn there, however I never saw the cairn.
The gully was rather slippery, and one had to watch ones step going down. Clive took off at a hare’s pace, and was later seen lounging miles down the mountain slope. Whoever said that “slow and steady wins the race” was somewhat mistaken. When I eventually caught up with Clive he announced that due to the hour and the weather closing in we would have to forgo climbing Mary. Rough mental arithmetic confirmed that an attempt on Mary would result in being benighted, particularly as the route appeared to include a challenging scramble, and the weather was closing in.
Knowing that mushrooms were waiting for us back at Finella (not to mention Werner and Zeta), we agreed to continue the descent to the car. By the time we reached the vehicle Mary and Martha were in thick clouds. Had we climbed Mary we could well have become disoriented and had to overnight there, although one must never understate the uncanny ability of the master navigator.
Darkness fell as we made our way back to Finella. It was a challenging drive dodging potholes by headlamps. I missed the turn-off to Finella, and was quickly put right by the master navigator. We eventually reached Finella in the middle of the night. Werner and Zeta were relieved to see that we were still alive, and fed us Werner’s speciality of mushrooms – a magical reward for surviving Martha and the hazardous road. Charles had elected to forgo mountaineering in favour of spending the day watching sheep, which he found fascinating.
It was decided not to proceed with the proposed additional week of hiking and camping near Rhodes, Maclear, Elliot and Lady Grey (the appendage). Hopefully Werner I and Zeta will take us there in the not too distant future. Hopefully the roads to Rhodes will not be full of potholes.
We thank the land-owners whose properties we traversed, and in particular Wilhelm and Len du Randt , owners of Finella Falls were we stayed and who facilitated the whole adventure.
Meet Leaders ~ Werner Illenberger & Zeta Michau
Report ~ by Dennis Lange; embellished by Werner & Zeta