L to R: Kenneth Willemse (behind the photographer’s thumb) – a guest and his granddaughter Jean Maria Koen, Romy van der Hyde, Mike van der Hyde and Fay Jones
[Further photos (without thumb) kindly taken and submitted by Kenneth].
As very much an Old Timer in the club I can report that these new-fangled meet gradings are a great improvement. In the old days all meets were judged only against the criterium “Is it worthy of the Mountain Club ?” The answers “yes”, “maybe” or “no” was all we required.
The party sets off under a useful warning (photo by Kenneth Willemse)
So, when a meet described as suitable for Mature Hikers and Young Children sudden ends up in the old-fashioned grading system as “yes” you know something went wrong.
The leader had recced the route some weeks ago and the cycle trail that we planned to follow was in good condition and well above the water line. Unfortunately, there was a heavy rain shower overnight and the lovely path, parallel to the edge of the dam, suddenly disappeared under water. This left the party with the choice to return home, swim, or bundu bash and in true, misguided, Mountain Club style, the leader stupidly chose the last. We did make it through and up to our planned lunch stop at a look out point looking across the dam to the overflowing wall in the distance and we can confirm that the riverine bush on the north bank of George Dam is in pristine condition with huge trees and very thorny undergrowth.
View across the George Dam with the Dam Wall in the distance (photo by Kenneth Willemse)
Fortunately, from the lunch stop the planned route back via a circular route on an easy jeep track turned out as planned and we were all safely back, if a bit scratched, to our cars by 1 pm.
Appreciation to all those who braved the walk and those younger members of the party who aided the elderly through the unplanned bush-bashing. Particular thanks to Kenneth for his photos and sincere apology to him for blotting him out with my thumb. Not the way to treat our guests!
Team Leader ~ Dave Jones