Hike the Cederberg: the Map

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

#19 Report Back: April 2013 [2]

1. Map 4 Beta released for checking

2. More new names

3. Know these places?

4. Know these rocks?

1. Map 4 Beta released for checking

Great news! Map 4 in the new series is in beta and has been released for checking. It’s the south-eastern corner, more or less from Driehoek / Tafelberg [top left] to Mount Ceder / Grootrivier [bottom right] and includes most of Matjiesrivier, Dwarsrivier, Kromrivier and the MCSA properties, down to Kunje [bottom left].
As thanks to all who so kindly provided coordinates for all those arches south of Breekkrans, here’s a snippet of the map. There are still a few changes to be made and, of course, your comments will be welcome. Click on the sample to enlarge it, or download it by right-clicking and choosing “Save image as”.

We’ve already picked up a couple of things to change, and a recent visit from Quinton Martins [who popped in with Elizabeth and Ayla to enjoy the Stormers thrashing the Sharks] has yielded some new names and a whole new MTB trail, from Mount Ceder to Vogelfontein. Maps are never static ...
Map 3 will be in beta next [next month?]

A sign from on high that we got something wrong?
Photographed at Travellers Rest

2. More new names

Huge thanks are due to Jannie and Katrin Nieuwoudt of Jamaka, for their recent hospitality and great inputs for the map. We walked up their Geelhoutskloof to the rocky amphitheatre where the rooibos tea cutters used to cut and dry the tea in long-gone days.

Bo-Driffie, where rooibos tea was once cut and dried

The next day Petrus Hanekom, author of “Diep Spore”, took us on a drive from the Clanwilliam road to Uitkyk, filling in nearly seventy new names – including “Bo-Driffie”, the authentic old name of the Geelhoutskloof “teestasie”. Petrus also located names from further afield, historic names that should not be lost, such as Swiet se Graf. Petrus also pointed out to us a formation that for all these years has completely eluded me. On the south-west slopes of Middelberg South, above Uitkyk, is a formation called “Die Brug” on all the old maps. I have always assumed it was a rock arch, and have always failed to find it. Well, there it is, in plain sight – a rock arch that eludes because it is not on any skyline, but blends against the slope with the surrounding rocks.
Petrus’s names include important ones such as “Slaweboom”, “Wysterskloof” and “Sandkraal”. On our way back to Clanwilliam we spotted the Sandkraal gate. It bears the sign, “Sandkraal (moontlik)” – what confidence, hey! In the meantime, Sandkraal owner, rest assured – it’s no longer “moontlik”, it’s real! Pic sent by Jannie N - many thanks, Jannie!

If anyone else wants a copy of Petrus’s book, please contact him directly – he’s at 072 028 7331.

Tante Emma Laden se Winkel at Vleituin Farm; Langkop behind

We rounded off the trip with a visit to the ever-helpful Patrick Lane at Algeria; Patrick gave us inputs on the new proposed route up Sneeuberg, which should be completed soon. Our meeting was interrupted by a call from the SAPS, Clanwilliam – a Chinese tourist was apparently missing in the mountains, but whatever happened to him in the end I do not know. We left for Travellers Rest and Charité’s excellent hospitality none the wiser!

Flowers along the road to Agter-Pakhuis:
Amaryllis belladonna [L]; Brunsvigia bosmaniae [R]

3. Know these places?

Two mysteries that need tracking down ... any ideas?

The first is the “Hole in the Ground” near Filander se Werf. This is apparently a deep hole that can be climbed into, although it fills with water sometimes. According to Petrus Hanekom it is about 300 m north east of the path between Warmhoek and Middelberg, round about the nek south of the Dome and west of the Boskloof Pinnacle. It’s simply a hole that appears unexpectedly on level ground and is scarily deep. Do you know it? Do you have a GPS coord for it? Should it be on the map?

The second is a riverside shack known to the enquirer simply as “Africa”, see pics. Can you locate this? It could be near Beaverlac, in which case it falls outside our new map. Any info, anyone?

4. Know these rocks?

Here and there in the Cederberg are outcroppings of very dark rocks ... this author’s geology is not good enough to identify them, but they are landmarks and as such could be shown on the map. Greg Moseley has offered to help but, as he rightly says, he can’t identify positively from a photograph. If anyone knows these and what they are, geologically speaking, you could save Greg a lot of legwork. The captions explain where they are; in most browsers clicking on the pics will enlarge them.

L: Suurvlak 1 R: Koupoort 1

“Suurvlak 1” is a thin line of black rock protruding out of the sandstone, near the Suurvlak nek on the western side of the Algeria valley.

“Koupoort 1” is a closeup of a much larger outcropping, on the western side of Klein-Koupoort, before you reach the Groot-Koupoort path.

L: Koupoort 2 R: Suurvlak 2

“Koupoort 2” is a single boulder [with a few bits] lying on the Klein-Koupoort path on the eastern side of the nek, apparently all by itself and not in association with any visible outcroppings.

It looks like a huge block of rusty iron.

“Suurvlak 2” is an outcropping near, but is not in the same place as, Suurvlak 1.

Inputs already acknowledged from:
Rudolf Andrag, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Chris Berens, Willem Beukes, Hendrico Burger, Lizette Burger, Theresa Burton, Eleanore Colyn, Andrea and Moritz Connrad, Louis Conradie, David Donald, Connie & Lizzie du Toit, Laurence Elton, Kerneels Filander, Ferdi Fischer, Carina Hanekom, Petrus Hanekom, Theunis Hanekom, Peter Hart, Ronnie Hazell, Tony Heher, Martin Hutton-Squire, Sam Jack, James Joubert, Jeroen Kant, Gerrit Kartsen, Tony Kings, Isak Koopman, Thys Kruger, Paul la Grange, Patrick Lane, Johann Lanz, John Ross, Justin Lawson, Margie le Roux, Nicky Lombard, Tony Lourens, Sandy MacDonald, Pieter Malan, Quinton Martins, Charles Merry, Eugene Moll, Wim Morris, Greg Moseley, Anneke Nieuwoudt, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Jannie and Katrin Nieuwoudt, Marianna Nieuwoudt, Pip Nieuwoudt, Barry Ockhuis, Joey Ockhuis, Kellie of Grasvlei, Caro & Steve Oldroyd, Paddy O’Leary, Mare Olivier, Linton Pope, Peter Jan Randewijk, Trevor Rennison, Galeo Saintz, Mike Scott, Mariet Smit, Mariaan Smuts, Haffie Strauss, Julyan Symons, Gert Theron, Edmund Thompson, Ingar Valentyn, Anne-Marie van der Merwe, Leonie van der Merwe, George van der Watt, Andricus van der Westhuizen, Hennie van der Westhuizen, Johan van der Westhuizen, Mike van Wieringen, Charité van Rijswijck, Kosie Viljoen, Jill Wagner, Torben Wiborg, Ezan Wilson, Steven Windell and Louise Esterhuizen, Mary Anne Zimri

Kaartman, Meidei 2013 [Wukkasdag]

Monday, April 1, 2013

#18 Report Back, April 1st 2013

1. Algeria to be sold?

2. Luna news from Google Earth

3. Mapping news: real light at the end of the tunnel?

4. Ferdi revisits the Chockstone

5. Namaqualand flowers

6. New place to stay

1. Algeria to be sold

News that a North African consortium has put in an offer to purchase the entire camp, cottages and offices at Algeria from CapeNature has aroused mixed feelings. Led by multi-millionaire Algerian businessman Moocha Mullah, the consortium issued a statement claiming that “Algeria belongs to North Africa; we merely want to relocate it in the Atlas where it belongs.” Plans include the reconstruction of all existing buildings with classic Moorish windows and minarets, and the replacement of the bluegums and indigenous trees with Atlas cedars. Similar plans by a Maronite Christian group for Lebanon, near Grabouw, but this time with Lebanese cedars, have been dismissed as a copycat fraud.
Before you correspond with me [or anyone else] on this please note that it was posted before noon on April 1st.

Apollo Peak on Google Earth

2. Google Earth

The good news from Google Earth is that at last they have updated their [mostly] extremely poor aerial views of most of the Cederberg, though there is still a large part of the northern section and Agter-Pakhuis where the pics are so poor that you wonder why they bothered. This good news is tempered, however, by some bad news: they have also released version 7 of Google Earth, which fixes several things that were not broken in the first place. A huge inconvenience is that you can no longer turn off the “terrain” feature. This rather silly idea lets you imagine that you are flying over a 3D model of the Earth but is absolutely hopeless for tracing paths, and pretty awful for finding coordinates.
It seems that to be able to turn off “terrain” you have to spend US$400 on the professional version; however, there is a partial work-around. You can set the vertical exaggeration to 0.01 [on a scale up to 3], which for most decent purposes flattens the earth.
You also can’t access the Full-Screen feature: push the buttons and instead of expanding your view, it minimises it. Fix the bug, Googs!
Google Earth’s rival, Bing maps, has complete, very high quality pics of the whole Cederberg [all updated October 2012] but Bing suffers because you can’t georeference its pics easily. The software is also densely-non-intuitive. I have yet to find out how to save a particular area as a Favourite: it insists on defaulting to the first one I ever saved. Use this url to access Bing; it will take you to a place near Brugkraal, and you’ll have to navigate from there, I’m afraid.
www.bing.com/MAPS/?form=flredr#5003/s=w&p=c/5872/style=a&lat=-32.263325&lon=19.159622&z=16&pid=5874
Both Google Earth and Bing include areas obscured by cloud but, except for part of the Wolfberg, you can fill in the areas that are clouded on one of them by using the other one’s pics.
Bing is usually better quality than even the recent Google Earth pics, but you must choose – see sample pics of Apollo Peak.

Apollo Peak on Bing Maps

3 Mapping news:

Great news is that at long last there is some real light. It’s been 18 months since we started drawing, and the need to correct the [very poor] contour information on the Official Maps has been the main cause of delay. Please appreciate that the four A1 maps are the equivalent of drawing eight Table Mountain maps from scratch.
That said, the “beta” version of Map 2, side 2, the south-eastern corner, will soon go out to relevant folks for comment. It covers the area from Langkloof/Driehoek south to Kunje/Mount Ceder, with Dwarsrivier/Kromrivier in the middle.

Click on the map to enlarge it

The sample [incomplete] includes info that Rudolf Andrag has provided around Luna Peak [please comment as freely as you like on this ‘bit’: http://www.slingsbymaps.com/contactus.aspx ]. The new Google Earth view of the peak illustrates the ‘craters’ from which the peak takes its name, and as Rudolf describes:
“Dit lyk bo-op soos ’n maanlandskap kompleet met kratertjies. Verder is die klippe almal in klein regop paddastoellietjies verweer waaroor mens moeilik loop. Dit skep ’n baie besondere soort klipverweringspatroon. Die naam Luna Piek is gegee deur die Stellenbosch Afdeling van die Bergklub op een van hulle gereelde uitstappies onder leiding van Ernst Lotz na hierdie deel van die Cederberg, wat hulle reeds van die sestiger jare gereeld besoek en goed ken.”

The ‘craters’ on Luna Peak. The crack is also clearly visible [altitude 300m]

Rudolf has also provided a magnificent gallery of pics of the area.

Finally, Matt du Plessis has provided a fine pic which we will almost certainly use as the cover pic for this map sheet.

4. Ferdi Fischer popped in in real life the other day, replete with news of his trip with Martin Hutton-Squire and others to revisit the Chockstone. Ferdi reports that it is indeed where he suspected it should be, and that it has not changed in the fifty years since I was there with him. Martin Hutton-Squire sent me this great pic of Brian de Villiers and Ferdi [in the flesh, in the blue shirt!] proving that the Chockstone really exists!

5. Please note that Annelise le Roux’s well-known guide to the wild flowers of Namaqualand, published in 1981 by BotSoc, is being completely revised, and many additional species are being added. The new edition should be available in Spring 2013. The Kirstenbosch branch of BotSoc is offering the opportunity to anyone who would like to sponsor, subscribe to or buy a pre-publication edition of the book, all signed by the author, to visit their website for full details, at www.botsoc-kirstenbosch.org.za .

6. Finally, I would not normally include an ad, but Ouma’s House is a new place to stay in the southern ’Berg, near Kunje:

Thursday, February 14, 2013

#17 Report Back February 2013

1. Feedback on Heuningvlei – pics from Mike Scott

2. Mapping news – tantalising covers?

3. Fire: the aftermath

4. Book Review : ‘Diep Spore’ by Petrus Hanekom

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1. Feedback on Heuningvlei – pics from Mike Scott

Pieter Malan of ‘Rapport’ asked for pics of the old Heuningvlei Forest Station. Within hours these two had arrived from Mike Scott – can anyone give me a precise location for the riethuis?

Any other pics, especially ones that might show the old rooidak house from the front, would be most welcome.

2. Mapping news – tantalising covers?

I thought it was time to tantalise my readers with possible covers for the two-map set; the packaging and presentation will remain a secret until publication date [now firming up at last – more next month]. The Northern Section pic is from the brilliant photo library of Graham Bellairs; if anyone has a better shot for the Southern Section that shows both the Maltese Cross and Sneeuberg I’d love to use it.

3. Fires: the aftermath

The official news is that the Maltese Cross/Sneeuberg area is closed until further notice; the whole of block ‘A’ [Rocklands/Pakhuis and the northern areas] is closed pending a full assessment of the fire-damage, but it is probable that Rocklands will be open by July.
The current allegations of fraud and corruption in the Cederberg Municipality have nothing to do with the fires!

4. Book Review : ‘Diep Spore’ by Petrus Hanekom

‘Algeria is my tuiste. Agter die groen seder is rus. Rustigheid in die veldkamp by Sneeuberg. Die uitkyk van bo-op Wolfberg is lieflik en wyd. Hoog in die berge is daar rus. Die lafenis van die Sederberge. Koel water. Kom drink.’
These words of Petrus Hanekom introduce his delightful and informative personal history of his seventy years in the Cederberg. Rudolf Andrag breezed in the other day with a copy for me – ‘Read this!’ Rudolf said before fleeing back to the mountains, and I certainly owe Rudolf for several evenings of absolute reading pleasure.

‘Diep Spore’ is Petrus Hanekom’s own story, but it is also the story of the people whom he worked with, of the changes that he saw, of the things they did together. For those of us [myself included] who have tended to regard the Cederberg as our personal playground, Hanekom’s story introduces a new dimension, one that we have perhaps not thought about enough. Hanekom and his family and fellow workers are the Cederberg’s people; we are merely visitors. We outsiders are all, perhaps, the real ‘hoi polloi’ that some of my correspondents feared so much!
The book is all in Afrikaans, as it should be, and if you can’t read Afrikaans you should find a willing translator, because, like ‘Witwater se Mense’ that I mentioned our ‘Special Report’ of June 9 2012 cederbergmap.blogspot.com/2012/06/special-report-collecting-names.html , Hanekom’s ‘Diep Spore’ is essential reading for every Cederberg fan.
There is an introduction by the late Ernst Smit, who helped Petrus Hanekom produce an earlier version of the book. The Foreword deals with Hanekom’s childhood, followed by a chapter on the Forestry Department days, and the extraordinary and varied tasks that he and his fellow workers were called upon to complete, from fire-fighting to path building to clear-felling plantations using axes and hand-saws – even carrying huge ‘blokke’ [logs] down the mountain by manual labour. He describes as ‘one of the most difficult jobs’ the carrying of 18-foot telephone poles up to the old fire-lookouts at Middelberg and Sneeukop. Two men were assigned to a pole, and they had to carry three poles a day up from Algeria ...

There is a chapter about the social life of the various families, the places where they lived, and the seasonal gathering of tea and buchu in the mountains by people from as far away as Eendekuil, under permit from Forestry. It was these expeditions that introduced 9-year old Alex Basson, born and raised on Sorgvliet farm at the Eendekuil end of the Piekenierskloof Pass, to the Cederberg, from Riempie se Gat up the Heks River and over to Duiwelsgat.
Hanekom’s chapter on attempts to save the cedar trees is most interesting; I was intrigued to find that his comments – on why the cedars have become so much more threatened by veld-fires than they were in the old days – matched precisely Olive Nieuwoudt’s comments in her as-yet unpublished memoirs of the Cederberg.
Medicinal and edible plants, ghost stories, accidents, the camp sites, veld-fires, gobsmacked visits to Cape Town, and the people of the Grootkloof valley are all the subjects of Hanekom’s pen.
As a mapmaker I am of course intrigued by the masses of new place names that Hanekom has produced, so we’re off to Algeria soon to pick his brain about ‘Slaweboom’ and ‘Swiet se Graf’, ‘Wysterskloof” and ‘Tom se Gat’ and a hundred other places. His information about paths is both helpful and tantalizing, because some of the footpaths he mentions have totally disappeared, and we can no longer trace them.

Have you visited these? You should, you know!

One small criticism – Hanekom rightly condemns the mindless demolition in the 1980s of Welbedacht, Heuningvlei, etc, but he wrongly attributes the destruction to ‘KNB’, which can only mean ‘Kaapse Natuurbewaring’. This is very unfair; Hanekom’s memory has let him down here. It was the State Forestry Department who were the great destroyers, long before ‘KNB’ assumed control of the Wilderness.

Welbedacht farm house before demolition

Finally, Hanekom’s description of the effects of apartheid on his life is moving and required reading for all who think that we should simply ‘move on’ and forget that terrible evil. This is an ordinary, conservative, middle-class, hard-working family man, not a radical activist with fanatical eyes; how anyone could have supported an ideology that treated him and his community as it did is beyond my understanding.
‘Diep Spore’ is hard to find – only 100 were printed. If you’re lucky you’ll find one at the Clanwilliam Apteek [R120] but if you would like me to bring you one from Petrus Hanekom himself please email me through www.slingsbymaps.com/contactus.aspx and I’ll let you know if and when I have copies.

Inputs already acknowledged [if I have left you out, please let me know!]:
Rudolf Andrag, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Chris Berens, Willem Beukes, Hendrico Burger, Lizette Burger, Theresa Burton, Eleanore Colyn, Andrea and Moritz Connrad, Louis Conradie, David Donald, Connie & Lizzie du Toit, Laurence Elton, Kerneels Filander, Ferdi Fischer, Carina Hanekom, Petrus Hanekom, Theunis Hanekom, Peter Hart, Ronnie Hazell, Tony Heher, Sam Jack, James Joubert, Jeroen Kant, Gerrit Kartsen, Tony Kings, Isak Koopman, Thys Kruger, Paul la Grange, Patrick Lane, Johann Lanz, John Ross, Justin Lawson, Margie le Roux, Nicky Lombard, Tony Lourens, Sandy MacDonald, Pieter Malan, Quinton Martins, Charles Merry, Eugene Moll, Wim Morris, Greg Moseley, Anneke Nieuwoudt, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Jannie and Katrin Nieuwoudt, Marianna Nieuwoudt, Pip Nieuwoudt, Barry Ockhuis, Joey Ockhuis, Kellie of Grasvlei, Caro & Steve Oldroyd, Paddy O’Leary, Mare Olivier, Linton Pope, Peter Jan Randewijk, Trevor Rennison, Galeo Saintz, Mike Scott, Mariet Smit, Mariaan Smuts, Haffie Strauss, Julyan Symons, Gert Theron, Edmund Thompson, Ingar Valentyn, Anne-Marie van der Merwe, Leonie van der Merwe, George van der Watt, Andricus van der Westhuizen, Hennie van der Westhuizen, Johan van der Westhuizen, Mike van Wieringen, Charité van Rijswijck, Kosie Viljoen, Jill Wagner, Torben Wiborg, Ezan Wilson, Steven Windell and Louise Esterhuizen, Mary Anne Zimri

– Kaartman, Dag van Valentyn en Rosies, Februarie 2013

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Report Back #16 – January 2013

Fire!

Fire near Pakhuis – photo Charité van Rijswijk

It’s been a bad season for fires in the Cederberg. A huge area in the central ’Berg burned in a December fire that started near the Kliphuis scout camp. It burned towards Sneeuberg and all the way across into the Kromrivier valley. Some of the veld at Dwarsrivier was old and needing to burn, but an awful lot was much too young. I gather that the Maltese Cross area has been closed to hikers until there is some veld recovery.

Pakhuis Farm, a lucky escape! – photo Charité van Rijswijk

The fire this week burned from Biedouw to the Pakhuis, through Bushmans Kloof, in the east sweeping across near Traveller’s Rest and in the West through Klein Pakhuis and into the Pakhuis mountains. A volunteer firefighter sadly lost his life, and our sympathies go too to Dave and Di Moore and their small sons for the loss of their beautiful home. We have heard from Charité van Rijswijk and Haffie Strauss at Travellers Rest – Haffie reckons it’s the biggest fire she’s ever seen in the area. To Thys Kruger, Jill Wagner and Connie and Lizzie du Toit – we hope you did not suffer too much damage at Alpha, Bushmans Kloof and De Pakhuys. Once again much of the veld was very old and needing a burn, while other areas were much too young.
Both areas will remain moonscapes until well into winter, unless they enjoy some uncommon late summer rain.

Leipoldt's Grave, Pakhuis Pass – photo Mariaan Smuts

We’ve had some great info from Pieter Malan of Rapport. Pieter reminded me that the huge amphitheatre on the Algeria side of Protea Peak is named ‘Veregat’. “Apparently a group of boswerkers were once fighting a fire in the area and sitting on top of Protea Peak, totally exhausted, looking down into that amphitheatre. One said he wished the hole was filled with feathers, so that he could jump down. And so it became the Veregat amongst forestry workers.”
Pieter pointed out two naming errors, too. The ridge near Driehoek is frequently mispelled as ‘Mied se Berg’. It should be ‘Meid se Berg’, so named because of an occasion when, with fires raging through the Cederberg, there were no men left to fight a fiery outbreak on this ridge. The women of Welbedacht, Driehoek and Eikeboom were called up for fire duty, and hence the name.
Pieter also pointed out that on our sample map Asjas se Grot is correct, but the kloof to the south is incorrectly named Asjas se Kloof. The kloof is the one with the cave, in fact. ‘Asjas’ is frequently mispelled ‘Asias’ on some maps.
Pieter also suggested a new name. “There is another thing, and that is the honouring of Jan Zimri, the path builder who has built/re-opened the footpath from Pakhuis through Amon se Poort to Boskloof in the 1990s. He is also the man who built the ‘new’ path up Wolfbergskeure, replacing a horrible slog up the middle with a decent path. Maybe one of these paths should be known as Jan se pad? He and his fellow builder – the name escapes me now – is the last of the last great Cederberg path builders.”
I think we can manage ‘Zimri se Pad’ for the Amon se Poort path. Zimri’s Cave is nearby but that will definitely NOT be shown on the map. Any offers on the name of the other path builder?

Pieter added to our debate around the Pakhuis air accident, too ... “You mention the Junkers wreck in Pakhuis. It might interest you that my wife (Sonja Loots) wrote an Afrikaans novel called ‘Spoor’ in the early 1990s in which that plane crash features quite prominently. There should be an old box somewhere in our house with her research for the novel. But where to find it ...”
Finally, Pieter appeals to anyone who has photos of the old Heuningvlei forest station before it was razed to the ground ... he and Isak Koopman of Heuningvlei remember it well, but have no pics.

Rudolf Andrag’s pic of Sneeuberg, from Luna Peak.
Rudolf has provided some great names from the area.

Your helpful contributions ...

Thys Kruger pointed out that De Pakhuys manages Laughenis on behalf of the owners, so we can include it on the map.

Louis Conradie pointed out that Karu Kareb has new owners, so we will try to contact them.
The Waterfall farm we want is the one near Rockwood, Louis, not the Porterville one – we don’t stretch as far south as Porterville, but thanks anyway.

Charles Merry sent this photo of the Breekkrans Arch with its coordinates – it’s the “Arch on Moorrees Peak” in Howes-Howell’s pic, so that’s another one located!

Had a brief but productive visit to Kunje and the surrounding area, with great inputs from the friendly Hanekoms; exploring the byways over the Middelberg Pass has helped to make sense of some of those southern access routes that appear on the CapeNature map. We missed the first farm worker’s strikes in the Citrusdal area by one day ...

Digitizing side two of the map is 95% complete and in the next few weeks we will start sending out bits of map to the resorts that have their own trails, for comment. Unfortunately we are still having to realign the very inaccurate contour lines on the Official Maps, a mammoth task, so all those of you who have asked to be notified of the publication, please remain patient! Click Here if you have not already asked to be notified when the map is launched.

Finally, I am looking for cover pictures – appropriate Cederberg backgrounds preferably including a hiker or three – for the Northern and Southern sections. There will be a prize! – name your own reward, please! All and any pics that are used will be fully acknowledged and will carry your name on the map. Hi-res, uncropped, roll them in.

Inputs already acknowledged [if I have left you out, please let me know!]:
Rudolf Andrag, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Chris Berens, Willem Beukes, Hendrico Burger, Lizette Burger, Theresa Burton, Eleanore Colyn, Andrea and Moritz Connrad, Louis Conradie, David Donald, Connie & Lizzie du Toit, Laurence Elton, Kerneels Filander, Ferdi Fischer, Carina Hanekom, Theunis Hanekom, Peter Hart, Ronnie Hazell, Tony Heher, Sam Jack, Jeroen Kant, Gerrit Kartsen, Tony Kings, Isak Koopman, Thys Kruger, Paul la Grange, Patrick Lane, Johann Lanz, John Ross, Justin Lawson, Margie le Roux, Nicky Lombard, Tony Lourens, Sandy MacDonald, Pieter Malan, Quinton Martins, Charles Merry, Eugene Moll, Wim Morris, Greg Moseley, Anneke Nieuwoudt, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Jannie and Katrin Nieuwoudt, Marianna Nieuwoudt, Pip Nieuwoudt, Barry Ockhuis, Joey Ockhuis, Kellie of Grasvlei, Caro & Steve Oldroyd, Paddy O’Leary, Mare Olivier, Linton Pope, Peter Jan Randewijk, Trevor Rennison, Galeo Saintz, Mike Scott, Mariet Smit, Mariaan Smuts, Haffie Strauss, Julyan Symons, Gert Theron, Edmund Thompson, Ingar Valentyn, Anne-Marie van der Merwe, Leonie van der Merwe, George van der Watt, Andricus van der Westhuizen, Hennie van der Westhuizen, Johan van der Westhuizen, Mike van Wieringen, Charité van Rijswijck, Kosie Viljoen, Jill Wagner, Torben Wiborg, Ezan Wilson, Steven Windell and Louise Esterhuizen, Mary Anne Zimri

–Kaartman, January 2013

Thursday, November 15, 2012

#15 November 2012 Report Back

In this blog:

1. 1:40 000 or 1:50 000? Some good news!

2. New places to stay, and more private hikes

3. Feedback: Memorials and Howes-Howell photos

4. Cederberg 100

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1. 1:40 000 or 1:50 000? Some good news!

Received a comment from ‘Stephen’ [no surname, no email – step forward please, Steve]:
‘I think the map looks really good but far too busy – cluttered with all sorts of information that you simply don’t need to see on the map ...’
Well, we had that debate some months ago and I have no intention of reviving it, but it has bothered me for some time that 1:50 000 is a very small scale for a hiking map. You won’t find many good hiking maps overseas at less than 1:25 000. The Cederberg area is too big for that scale – think about it, you’d need a map four times larger than the 1:50 000 sheets – or four double-sided sheets with eight maps. However, I have worked out a compromise and the samples are here for your inspection. Click on the sample and it should enlarge. I took the complex area around Heuningvlei/Krakadouw, which is difficult to show without Steve’s ‘clutter’ at 1:50 000, and tried it at 1:40 000.
The difference is significant and so we’ve decided to produce the final maps at 1:40 000. There will be two double-sided maps, approx A1 size each, and we will sell them together as a set, in one plastic pocket. We will absorb the extra cost on the first edition, ie the whole will retail for the same price that the single, 1:50 000 map would have gone for. And we’re still aiming at Easter 2013 ...

The Heuningvlei area at 1:50 000 [2cm = 1km]. The original scale.
[Click on the map to enlarge it]

The same area at 1:40 000 [2.5cm = 1km]. Much clearer?
[Click on the map to enlarge it]

Having two maps means two title pages for North and for South, and I will soon be running a competition for cover photos for each, so if you’d like to see your pic in thousands of grateful hikers’ hands please start sifting your collection!

2. New places to stay, and more private hikes

Welcoming on board Petersfield [John Ross] and De Pakhuys [Thys Kruger]; both have private trails on their farms, and have sent great maps for inclusion. Great maps also received from a variety of others, including Bushmans Kloof [Jill Wagner], Cederberg Oasis [Gerrit Karsten] and Jamaka [Jannie Nieuwoudt] and more ...
We recently visited Kunje and got some great info from a very hospitable Theunis Hanekom.

The following accommodation places have not responded; we might have their emails incorrect, so if you know them please steer them our way:
Laughenis (Agter-Pakhuis); Karukareb (Boskloof); Keurbos (near Algeria); Koedoeskop (off N7); Old Village Greys Pass (Piekenierskloof); Allandale (near Citrusdal); De Eike (near Citrusdal); Wolfkop (near Citrusdal).
We’ve no contact details for the following; do they still exists?
Klein-Kliphuis (Pakhuis Pass); Sawadee (Nieuwoudts Pass); Little Boy’s Farm [Klein Jongensfontein] (off Nieuwoudts Pass); Robyn (N7); Waterfall near Citrusdal; Berg en Dal (near Kunje).

Clockwise from top left: Vlerkboog on Arch Peak; Klein-Beesgat Arch; Spinnekop Arch; Sandfontein Arch. Pics by Andricus van der Westhuizen

3. Feedback: Memorials and Howes-Howell photos

Mike Scott sent this sensible response to the Memorials issue:
‘Agree with you that the SAAF crash site should be marked for the historical record as it is just like the Boer War battlefields or a shipwreck ... Whether to erect a tidy memorial in a ‘public’ place or not is often bedevilled by emotional views, but mine is that we do not want a proliferation of plaques, etc ... if there is a need, then gather them in one place at the Park entrance or somewhere suitable which is what is happening now in Scotland and elsewhere, like the pillar for memorials at the upper Cable station on TM.’

Mike also sent a valuable response to the Howes-Howell photos, and I have a ‘wrap’ of almost all the mystery arches from Andricus van der Westhuizen, with pics and coords – fantastic!!, and many thanks to you both.
Mike van Wieringen sent this:
‘We stood on the same arch this past weekend as the arch on Arch Peak in the picture with the two standing on top of it [‘Vlerkboog’]. It is situated just below the escarpment looking across onto Bloukop in the Sandfontein Peak area. There is a lovely large cave some 50 m below it. The GPS coords of the cave are S 32° 36' 58.9"; E 19° 14' 50.5" to an accuracy of approx 50 m, so the arch should be within about 100 m of that.’
Does anyone have an email address for Mike van Wieringen? I would like to put him on our mailing list.

Sam Jack sent this pic by RA Hayes of Sterrebosbank. This is the shale band that wraps around the northern end of Sneeuberg and it used to carry a popular footpath that has long disappeared. The most popular ascent of the peak also used to start from here.

4. Cederberg 100

Peter Hart has sent me info about the new Cederberg 100 trail –
This is a seven day/eight night, 100km “slackpacking” trail running between the top of the Pakhuis Pass in the north to the Driehoek Resort in the central Cederberg. From the top of the Pakhuis Pass the route leads down via Amon se Vlak, Amon se Poort and Die Toring to Boskloof for the night. On the second day the route goes up Krakadouwpoort and over Krakadouw Pass to the Moravian village of Heuningvlei for the night. On the third day the route heads south via the Boontjieskloof Hut and Boontjieskloof to Brugkraal for the night. On the fourth day the route carries on south via Grasvlei, the spectacular waterfalls on the Grasvlei River and over Middelkopnek to Kleinvlei. The route on the fifth day makes a deviation up Dassieboskloof for views of Skerpioensberg and Sneeukop and then proceeds to Eselbank. On the sixth day the route goes over the mountain (weather permitting) to the little village of Langkloof, and on the last day the route goes over Gabriël’s Pass, with a deviation to the Wolfberg Arch, to Driehoek. There the group is met and conveyed back to Clanwilliam for the last night.
For more info see www.cedheroute.co.za

Torben Wiborg riding ‘The Slug’ on Groot Krakadouw
[Photo: Graham Bellairs]

Inputs already acknowledged [if I have left you out, please let me know!]:
Rudolf Andrag, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Chris Berens, Willem Beukes, Hendrico Burger, Lizette Burger, Theresa Burton, Eleanore Colyn, Andrea and Moritz Connrad, Louis Conradie, David Donald, Connie & Lizzie du Toit, Laurence Elton, Kerneels Filander, Ferdi Fischer, Carina Hanekom, Theunis Hanekom, Peter Hart, Ronnie Hazell, Tony Heher, Sam Jack, Jeroen Kant, Gerrit Kartsen, Tony Kings, Isak Koopman, Thys Kruger, Paul la Grange, Patrick Lane, Johann Lanz, John Ross, Justin Lawson, Margie le Roux, Nicky Lombard, Tony Lourens, Sandy MacDonald, Quinton Martins, Charles Merry, Eugene Moll, Wim Morris, Greg Moseley, Anneke Nieuwoudt, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Jannie and Katrin Nieuwoudt, Marianna Nieuwoudt, Pip Nieuwoudt, Barry Ockhuis, Joey Ockhuis, Kellie of Grasvlei, Caro & Steve Oldroyd, Paddy O’Leary, Mare Olivier, Linton Pope, Peter Jan Randewijk, Trevor Rennison, Galeo Saintz, Mike Scott, Mariet Smit, Haffie Strauss, Julyan Symons, Gert Theron, Edmund Thompson, Ingar Valentyn, Anne-Marie van der Merwe, Leonie van der Merwe, George van der Watt, Andricus van der Westhuizen, Hennie van der Westhuizen, Johan van der Westhuizen, Mike van Wieringen, Charité van Rijswijck, Kosie Viljoen, Jill Wagner, Torben Wiborg, Ezan Wilson, Steven Windell and Louise Esterhuizen, Mary Anne Zimri

–Kaartman, November 2012

Monday, October 15, 2012

#14 October report back

If you’re a mountaineer interested in Munros, have a look at blog #13 below.

Contents this month:

1. Places to Stay: maps of walks outside the Wilderness Area; Petrol at Dwarsrivier

2. A debate: accident sites, grave sites, memorials

3. A Cederberg survey beacon from 1819

4. Mapping progress

1. Places to Stay: maps of walks outside the Wilderness Area; Petrol at Dwarsrivier

First, Cisca Nieuwoudt has asked me to point out that soon petrol will no longer be available at Dwarsrivier; they are negotiating with Cederberg Oasis who might take over the supply. Watch this space.

Second, we welcome Bushmans Kloof, Kunje, Ouma’s House at Ysterplaat [near Kunje], De Pakhuys and Cederberg Oasis onto the map. Good info about hiking routes not inside the Wilderness has been received from these and others such as Jamaka and Nuwerus, and we’re looking forward to a really comprehensive map that includes all of these ‘private’ hikes.

Gerrit Karsten sent this track of the Visgat Trail at Cederberg Oasis. Contributions like this are really useful ... more, please!

2. A debate: accident sites, grave sites, memorials

Arising from the Munro Memorial, subject of my previous blog, it’s a notable feature of the Scottish landscape that there are memorials all over the place. They might be quite modest, celebrating St Columba’s chapel constructed near the Mull of Kintyre in 563 AD [makes van Riebeeck look a little silly, hay] or absolutely over-the-top indulgences of dark and gloomy masonry [you can watch Paul McCartney singing about the Mull at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5626WzsfMw ].

St Columba’s Chapel and more gloomy Scottish memorials – even a paley-loitering knight

I have no patience with edifices built by the taxpayer on behalf of fat-bummed politicians – yes, Britain has its Nkandla’s, too – but there are also countless memorials to very ordinary people. What these reflect is an essential, humane respect for people, for fellow human beings that our own oft-divided nation tends to lack, however much we may boast about ‘ubuntu’.
Our Cederberg map records many memorials – the settlement cemeteries, the Anglo-Boer War forts; the Englishman’s Grave, the unmarked graves at Papkuilsfontein – and the 1945 aircraft accident at Pakhuis. This was recently reported upon by Go! Magazine, controversially because there were inaccuracies in the report. CapeNature were not happy with the article, which incorrectly suggested that a trail was being built to the site – it is not! CN suggested that the crash location was a “grave site” and that souvenir hunters should be discouraged. I’d agree with that, but Graham Bellairs has also put his oar in ... so here’s a debate where you can throw your hat into the ring too, please ... http://www.slingsbymaps.com/contactus.aspx
“Interesting story about the Junkers. I think it should be left on the map. It is far from any path and on a remote steep mountain slope at 1000 metres so it’s unlikely to be visited by many and those with the desire to do so would probably be respectful. I mean, Louis Leipoldt’s grave is still there at the side of the pass and would be far more subject to possible vandalism or ‘souvenirism’ ...
“People die all over the show in all sorts of gory ways. The mess gets cleaned up, the wrecks of planes, cars and buses are removed, the roads are reopened for traffic and life goes on... The wreckage of the jets was removed from Devil’s Peak and the pristine beauty of the slopes restored. The runway was cleared and repaired and Charles de Gaulle was reopened after the spectacular Concorde crash in more recent times. Hiroshima has been rebuilt. I wonder why CapeNature or the SA Air Force have not cleaned up the mess left behind in the wilderness area near Pakhuis Pass? What makes it so special and different? [my bolding – Ed] I think it is misplaced sentiment. Clearing a crash site does not detract from the respect or sadness for the loss of the dead which fellow humans show and feel for those who died so tragically.
“It will be interesting to see what people have to say. I still think that marking the spot is fine as long as there is a note that visitors should respect the site ...”

Graham and friends on their way to climb Faith, Hope and Charity [Pakhuis]

What do the families of the crash victims think? This received from Paddy O’Leary ...
“A friend drew my attention to your response to the Weg/Go! magazine article on the Junkers crash in the Cederberg and I am responding to your request for the date of the crash. My uncle, Capt K. L. O’Leary (SAAF) died in that crash on 8 July 1945. I contacted the SAAF Museum to check whether there had been more than one Junkers crash in the Cederberg. I have pasted their reply below ...
“ ‘Dear Paddy, it was definitely 1945. Your uncle was unfortunate to be a passenger on the flight, the crew were Captain HP Blinkhorn AFC (pilot), Flt-Sgt RH Ford and Air-Cpl FE Ford (wireless operator). It was en-route Swartkop to Brooklyn (Ysterplaat) with a cargo of plywood when it crashed in heavy cloud and rain conditions. I understand there are still a few smaller pieces of the wreckage on site, the largest, a section of rear fuselage, was removed to the Air Force Museum at Swartkop in Pretoria a few years ago for display.’
“ ‘Regards Steven McLean, Historical Research Assistant to SAAF Museum, AFB Ysterplaat.’
“I’m delighted that information is useful to you. I was very pleased that you had noted and pointed out the inaccuracies in the Weg! article, not just the one I knew about. I ... feel that it would be good to have some kind of memorial on the site to the men who died in the crash.”

What do you think?

3. A Cederberg survey beacon from 1819

George van der Watt sent us this pic from Driehoek, of a ‘memorial’ of quite a different kind.

Thanks for the pic, George. The engraving on the rock is a surveyor’s mark – it reads “IBM D 4 Juny 1819”, which was the day upon which a surveyor, Jan Schutte, finished his survey of Driehoek – he had been ordered to survey all the Cederberg farms by a British Government commission of inspection. The D stands for Driehoek and the date is the survey date, but I haven’t a clue what IBM stands for. Any offers?

Johann Lanz sent this pic of another rock arch in the Klein-Beesgat area

4. Mapping progress

After a month’s break exploring the Scottish Highlands and northern Wales we are back at the drawing board; the mapping of Side Two proceeds apace. No deadlines yet! In the meantime, we’ve had inputs on the Rim of Africa routes from Galeo Saintz and Johann Lanz, and lots of inputs on the Howes-Howell photos. We need more, though – keep ’em coming, please.

Trevor Rennison’s pic of Howes-Howell’s ‘Twin Blocks’, below Murraysberg

Inputs already acknowledged [if I have left you out, please let me know!]:
Rudolf Andrag, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Chris Berens, Willem Beukes, Hendrico Burger, Lizette Burger, Theresa Burton, Eleanore Colyn, Andrea and Moritz Connrad, Louis Conradie, David Donald, Connie & Lizzie du Toit, Laurence Elton, Kerneels Filander, Ferdi Fischer, Carina Hanekom, Theunis Hanekom, Peter Hart, Ronnie Hazell, Tony Heher, Sam Jack, Jeroen Kant, Gerrit Kartsen, Tony Kings, Isak Koopman, Thys Kruger, Paul la Grange, Patrick Lane, Johann Lanz, Justin Lawson, Margie le Roux, Nicky Lombard, Tony Lourens, Sandy MacDonald, Quinton Martins, Charles Merry, Eugene Moll, Wim Morris, Greg Moseley, Anneke Nieuwoudt, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Jannie and Katrin Nieuwoudt, Marianna Nieuwoudt, Pip Nieuwoudt, Barry Ockhuis, Joey Ockhuis, Kellie of Grasvlei, Caro & Steve Oldroyd, Paddy O’Leary, Mare Olivier, Linton Pope, Peter Jan Randewijk, Trevor Rennison, Galeo Saintz, Mike Scott, Mariet Smit, Haffie Strauss, Julyan Symons, Gert Theron, Edmund Thompson, Ingar Valentyn, Anne-Marie van der Merwe, Leonie van der Merwe, George van der Watt, Hennie van der Westhuizen, Johan van der Westhuizen, Charité van Rijswijck, Kosie Viljoen, Jill Wagner, Torben Wiborg, Ezan Wilson, Steven Windell and Louise Esterhuizen, Mary Anne Zimri

Kaartman, 15 October