Fonteintjiesberg – Thomas Hut | 25-27 October – Mountain Club of South Africa

MCSA members, generally being a bright bunch, will know that not only is the earth round, but that it is not a single chunk of solid rock. Rather it consists of several thin rocky crusts, or tectonic plates, floating about on a core of pyroclastic goo. So continents are free to roam and change shape. And they have been doing so for some time now. For example, South America used to be tucked up cosily next to Africa, but now it’s several thousand kays away.

Nowhere is this drifting apart more evident today than in the Hex River mountains near Worcester. Not only has the Thomas Hut moved much further from the car-park, but it has moved higher as well. A walk that took us four hours nine years ago took us five and a half hours last weekend. And the Plateau is no longer flat. If this is not proof of mantle-shift then I don’t know what is.

We rather like leading a meet like Fonteintjiesberg. There is a single path that leads to the hut and only the hut. So all the rock-rabbits and spring-hares can be sent ahead with the hut key, to go at their own pace, while the old-timers selflessly act as sweep. By the time we got there the hut had been opened and sorted out and everyone had even bathed in the nearby stream.

The Thomas Hut is a very comfy and cozy hut that was built in 1931 mainly for skiing. Skiers were to use the hut when there was snow and mountaineers when there wasn’t. With no cable-car or ski-lifts and indeed very little snow, the skiing never really took off. So hikers now go up for the summits of Fonteintjiesberg and Brandwagpiek and for the magnificent views of the Hex. Up to the hut is also Day One on the Hex to Waaihoek Traverse.

On the Saturday we walked up to Fonteintjiesberg, which is about 600 metres higher than the hut and tops out at about 1950 metres. The path is faint in places and is mostly just a way-to-go marked by cairns. It starts steeply and as one nears the summit the mountain plateaus out and then ends in a precipice just beyond the summit. On previous visits we had then gone on to Brandwagpiek, completing a triangular route back to the hut, but this time round there wasn’t any enthusiasm for this extra bit of effort.

The weather was great for Friday and Saturday but the forecast had predicted much rain for the last day, so we were all well prepared for it as we left early on Sunday morning. It was cold and wet with a strong wind as we set off, but conditions improved on the way down and by the time we got to the cars it was sunny and warm. And so ended another fantastic weekend in the uber-rugged Hex River Mountains.

Many thanks to Gillian for managing the hut and leading the peak on the Saturday.

And many thanks to Hut-Warden and Angel-of-Mercy Erika van Niekerk of the Worcester Section for her infinite patience in dealing with our booking changes and for fetching and sheltering one of our members lost and alone in the car park.

Greg and Cheryl Devine (Leaders), Ed Kaye-Shuttleworth, Ruth Powell, Steve Ueckermann (NM), James and Lauren Norval, Werner Frei, David Collett, Chris and Kim Kruyshaar (CT members), Gillian Forbes, and Charles Smith for part of the way.