Report Back #8

Not a great deal to report this month, but a few gems and, at last! – a momentous milestone in the map drawing.


Ferdi Fischer, of the Mysterious Chockstone fame, is off trekking around Nepal, near Mt Everest, for four weeks while the rest of us seethe with envy. However, in his absence Torben Wiborg has sent in a GPS track with the elusive Chock finally located.


Torben commented: 


“Middelberg North is a B-scramble route but without exposure.  Walking from Middelberg Huts towards Machine Gun Ridge, you turn off the well defined path at the neck.  From there we walked straight up to a small rock band through below knee-high vegetation.  From the small rock band there is a very clear line of cairns but no path.  The Chockstone is en route and can’t be missed.  The last section of the peak involves some B-scrambling but without exposure, so it’s fairly safe although slightly awkward.
I think it would be of value to include [the route] on the map as this peak is a three hour round trip from Middelberg Huts and very doable for the more adventurous hiker.”


Many thanks, Torben – it’s inputs like yours that will make this map very special.

Torben Wiborg’s Chockstone, on Middelberg North –
correctly located at last!

Peter Hart sent info about the Cederberg Heritage Route’s Annual General Meeting, to be held in Wupperthal on Wednesday 18 July at 12h30. It’s too late to organize accommodation at Brugkraal or one of the other buitepos houses, but anyone interested could still contact Peter – email address from me, on request.


I received this alarming message from Rob Woodward:


“I am using this channel as I was just looking at some of the pictures on your site. Over the last long weekend I took a group of old toppies from Uitkyk past Duiwelsgat round Sneeuberg to Bakleikraal and then down the valley to Riempie se Gat and Amon se Werf. The paths from the top of the valley below the nek are in shocking condition and have not been maintained for years [my italics]. Beyond Riempies se Gat we lost the path a number of times even though we are experienced hikers. We went up the Kruis Rivier kloof as planned using one of your maps and the old Cederberg map. We crossed the river three times as per the map but the path was also very poor and overgrown in places. After the third river crossing we came to the beacon and followed the path for a while but there has been a fire through and lots of fallen trees. The path has disappeared and we were unable to find the route over the top to Algeria even though we spent about 5 hours in the Kloof [my italics]. In the end we walked through to Niewoudt’s Pass. A great trip but awful and dangerous paths. Perhaps in your dealings with Cape Nature you could mention the issue of path maintenance in this most beautiful part of the Cederberg.”


This is bad news for a mapmaker: how do we characterise those routes on the new map? Do we mark them as paths or merely as “ways to go”? The whole Heks River valley route is far too beautiful to be ignored, with a fine, large cave near Die Kruis. This complaint is similar to that of Laurence Elton – on 2 December 2011 I wrote:


Laurence Elton wrote about his recent [November] trip down the Heks River valley. Just as we did, his party found the Kruisrivier kloof path over to Algeria impassably blocked by fallen trees. His party bailed out to Klein-Jongenskraal and copied us their letter of complaint to CapeNature about the state of a path that is shown so prominently on their map. 
Hmmm. I can see the mapmaker’s biggest hazard rearing its ugly head here – ground features that change and render the map info incorrect ...


Our researcher Matt Britton found his way through in July and September 2011, and again in February 2012, but then Matt is something else when it comes to pathfinding.

Matt Britton’s pics of the ‘path’
up Kruisrivier Kloof – July 2011

There’s a follow-up to our story about the WWII plane crash at Pakhuis in the May, 2012 edition of Go! Magazine, with some interesting pics. The article gives the date as 1946, but all the SAAF sites on the internet give 1945 ...


Finally, we are off to Heuningvlei for a couple of days to pick local brains for place names and many interesting little day walks in that area – you can even hire a guide. The contact details for the Heuningvlei backpacker’s [the old school, beautifully refurbished] are:– 
Dalene van der Westhuizen, 027 492 3070. The cost is only R130 pppn; we’ll let you know more after our trip!


And now for the BIG ONE about the map ... the redigitizing and contouring of Side 1 of the map is finally finished! It’s been a bigger task than I imagined and, with Side 2 still to go, I’m afraid the publication date moves back to December 2012 at the earliest.

Revised contour digitizing for Northern
Cederberg. The straight lines will not
 appear on the map!

The next step will be a sample section for your inspection – watch this space for a downloadable piece of map, probably the day walk north of the Kliphuis campsite [Pakhuis Pass]. I hope this will be ready in about 3-4 weeks and I’ll be asking for your comments.


Already acknowledged: Rudolf Andrag, Quinton Martins, Ronnie Hazell, Charles Merry, Ezan Wilson, Wim Morris, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Julyan Symons, Galeo Saintz, Paul la Grange, Laurence Elton, Mike Scott, Peter Hart, Justin Lawson, Paul la Grange, David Donald, Johann Lanz, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Torben Wiborg, Sandy MacDonald, Trevor Rennison, Hendrico Burger, Nicky Lombard, Jeroen Kant, Patrick Lane, Ingar Valentyn, Pip Nieuwoudt, Eugene Moll, Greg Moseley, Tony Heher, Andrea and Moritz Connrad


Enjoy the wintry weather!
Kaartman, May 2012

Seventh Report Back

Wow! The responses to my Sixth Report were déjà vu all right! Reminded me of the Committee of Seventeen who Advised and Argued over what should or should not be included in the Drakensberg maps of the 1980s. Then as now it was the minimalists versus the maximalists. In the end we opted for more rather than less – and now even Galeo has conceded that that might be necessary for the Cederberg.

My favourite all-time
minimalist map – or does
it have too many dots?

We have to bear in mind that the Cederberg, although a legally-proclaimed Wilderness, is nevertheless a very, very altered landscape – if it’s “pure” wilderness you want, with no paths, blockhouses, huts, sawpits, old leopard traps, ruins, graves etc etc then you should really rather be in the Kogelberg, or the Riviersonderend mountains.


Which is not in any way to deny the Cederberg its very, very special magic, but its “Wilderness” status carries two important implications. The first, as many correspondents pointed out, is that there are limitations on access in a Wilderness. Only a certain number of people are allowed on any given night. The booking system means that there is a way to follow up on miscreants, if necessary; the sheer distance from major population centres also insulates the range in a way that does not hold for the Peninsula or many Boland mountains.


The second is that a proclaimed Wilderness has no signposts, no awful little white footprints painted all over the rocks. Navigation for the newcomer can only be by map; and even amongst the old-timers there are few who can claim to know every inch of the vast Cederberg area. To be safe and effective there is a necessary level of info that the map must contain; if the only way to correctly identify routes is by means of landmarks these need identifying names, too – be they prominent rock pillars, pools or whatever.

This map shows why Wupperthal, Cederberg,
is the destination I personally prefer ...

The list of places I published last time remains posted below, and it remains open for comment. One of these days I will be publishing a list of “new” or “disputed” names for some features, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is when the fat will really be in the fire ...


In the meantime, thanks to everyone who sent in comments last time – they were all very much appreciated. If you have further comments, anyone, please keep them coming, but I shall be away from 20 April to 3 May so don’t think me rude, please, if you get no responses during that time.


I keep forgetting to mention that quite a long time ago Andrea and Moritz Connrad of Enjo Life [in the Biedouw valley] sent me a useful map of the summit of Krakadouw. The original was by Ernst Lotz and I gather was published in an MCSA Journal some years ago. It will be very useful: many thanks, you two.


Oops! I also forgot to mention that if you’re really interested in the philosophy behind mapping you should read J. Brian Harley on maps, an extract from ‘The Iconography of Landscape’, edited by D. Cosgrove and S. Daniels, Cambridge UP, 1988, published as chapter 8 in ‘Geographic Thought: A Praxis Perspective’, edited by George L. Henderson and Marvin Whitestone, Routledge, 2008. It’s a snip at $199.50 [yes, that’s US dollars] but I’m sure someone like Martin H-S could lend you his copy!
If you’re really interested, of course.


Info already in:
Already acknowledged: Rudolf Andrag, Quinton Martins, Ronnie Hazell, Charles Merry, Wim Morris, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Julyan Symons, Galeo Saintz, Paul la Grange, Laurence Elton, Mike Scott, Peter Hart, Justin Lawson, David Donald, Johann Lanz, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Hendrico Burger, Nicky Lombard, Jeroen Kant, Patrick Lane, Ingar Valentyn, Eugene Moll, Greg Moseley, Tony Heher, Andrea and Moritz Connrad


Have a great Freedom Day weekend!
Kaartman, 17 April 2012

Sixth Report Back

Debate this, please! As the map progresses it becomes clear that there are wide differences of opinion about what should be on the map, and what should not.


A couple of weeks ago I received this email:
‘While I do enjoy and appreciate your maps, I do worry about showing the hoi polloi how to find all the best gems in our wonderful mountains. The mob should be restricted to the main routes, and the best parts left to those who can find them for themselves.’


I’m sure my friend’s tongue was at least partly in his cheek. ‘Hoi polloi’ means ‘the many’ in Greek, and we were all hoi polloi once, even my friend. By good luck we were all introduced to the magic of the Cederberg by someone else – and hence we were welcomed into the hoi oligoi [the few].


My guru, Alex Basson, confessed that when he helped the Forestry Dept put together the 1981 map he deliberately scattered place names vaguely across the map without pinpointing their locations, because he too did not want the hoi polloi to find the ‘best gems’ in his wonderful mountains. However, he has appealed to me to include as much of his knowledge and wisdom as possible in the new map, before it gets lost forever. Part of the cartographer’s duty is to find and preserve place names; Alex appreciates that.


Patrick Lane, Wilderness Manager at Algeria, pointed out an important management problem in the Cederberg. ‘Most visitors,’ Patrick said, ‘want to visit the Maltese Cross, the Cracks, the Wolfberg Arch ...’ – leading to increased degradation of the paths to those places. ‘We need to highlight other features, to spread the load,’ Patrick said.


Finally, we have to consider that the Cederberg is a proclaimed Wilderness. This not only means that the number of overnight visitors [hoi polloi or not] is limited, it also means that by definition there are no signposts and, strictly speaking, there should be no huts or even paths. The only safe way, therefore, that anyone – hoi polloi or ologoi – can successfully negotiate routes in them thar hills is if they have an informative and reliable map.


Before listing the specific places for which I would like your inputs in this debate, please also consider this. When I produced my first map of Table Mountain I was asked by MCSA members to specifically exclude certain ‘best gems’ from my map [remember that, Greg?]. For nearly forty years I have not shown such places as Tranquillity Cracks on my map. The map is approved by the MCSA and it’s the only map of the mountain endorsed by SanParks – yet Tranquillity Cracks are nowhere to be found on it. Despite that, at least two popular hiking authors have published detailed descriptions and directions to the Cracks, and Full Circle mag published six pages of photos. Where does that leave my map? Red faced, if it could be, I reckon; sadly on a par with deliberately-distorted maps published in such great democracies as the USSR ...


If you know the following places and you don’t think / do think they should be included on the map, now is your chance to tell me. Please give coordinates if you can, to make sure we are talking about the same place. If you have other places you think SHOULD be included, please let me know [but bear in mind that no caves with rock art will be shown].
Here goes [these are all on the northern section, at this stage; NB these are all names not on existing maps; new names used by boulderers are not included; none of the caves listed below have rock art]:—

• Ambraal se Vrou [rock formation nr Heuningvlei]
• Amon se Kerk [rock formation nr Amon se Poort]
• Asjas se Grot [cave near Crystal Pool]
• Cederberggrot [near De Hoek, Vaalfontein path]
• Chockstone [Middelberg North]
• Dasklip [nr Amon se Poort]
• Die Punt [nek nr Kleinvlei]
• Die Rondegat [cave on Rondegat river]
• Eenboom se Kamp [at Grootlandsvlakte]
• Engelsmansgrot [cave near Pakhuis]
• Eselbank Cave [nr Eselbank]
• Geelgrot [cave at Krakadouw fort]
• Houtkappersgrot [cave s-east of Sneeukop]
• Kabouterland Cave [near Grasvlei]
• Klipboombos [nr Pakhuis]
• Koupoort Cracks [nr Klein-Koupoort]
• Kruidkop [nr Amon se Poort]
• Minor Arch [near the Maze]
• Nuwejaarsgrot [cave near Shadow Peak]
• Old Magazine [building nr Pakhuis]
• Panorama Cave [above Welbedacht]
• Pepper Pot [pinnacle near Welbedacht]
• Perdefontein [nr Kliphuis]
• Poon se Val [waterfall nr Sandwerf]
• Slangbossloep [path section]
• Strydom se Pad [Welbedacht to Uilsgat path]
• Tierhoek Falls [waterfall]
• Tierhoek [ruins nr Die Toring]]
• Vensterklip [nr Amon se Poort]
• Vuilpoortjie [nek near Shadow Peak]
• White’s Rock [or White Rock] [above Agter-Warmhoek]
• Winston Pinnacle [near Sas se Hoek]

More names may be added in due course; please send in any others you want excluded or included.

This website map correctly locates Panorama Cave

A note on Panorama Cave is appropriate, as two contributors have asked for it to be excluded:
1. It’s shown on all existing maps, albeit in the incorrect position;
2. It is correctly located on the public wallmap in CapeNature's Algeria office;
3. It is openly advertised at Driehoek, where they’ll even point its location out to you;
4. Jeroen Kant has pointed out that if you go to Driehoek’s website you can download maplets, three of which correctly locate Panorama Cave [see above] – http://www.cederberg-accommodation.co.za/hiking.html
How can I leave this cave off my map?


PLEASE send all and any comments through the Contact form on http://www.slingsbymaps.com/contactus.aspx


Report Back #6


Had a great response to my many requests in #5. Graham Bellairs came up trumps with the Chockstone, and he and Sandy MacDonald both sent pics.

Graham also sent a host of great pics; some copied here to whet the appetites of all who’ll be spending long weekend time in the Cederberg soon.

Pics by Graham Bellairs

Torben Wiborg and Trevor Rennison sent me some very useful GPS tracks for various trailheads/peak tops and routes which I had hoped to include but which are faint on the ground these days.

More pics by Graham

Peter Hart sent me the correct spelling of Ingar Valentyn – sorry I had it incorrect, Ingar. He also located Kroekedam for me.


Looking forward to your input on the names – all inputs will be acknowledged, and please don’t be afraid to say what you think!


Info already in:
Already acknowledged: Rudolf Andrag, Quinton Martins, Ronnie Hazell, Charles Merry, Wim Morris, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Julyan Symons, Galeo Saintz, Paul la Grange, Laurence Elton, Mike Scott, Peter Hart, Justin Lawson, David Donald, Johann Lanz, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Hendrico Burger, Nicky Lombard, Jeroen Kant, Patrick Lane, Ingar Valentyn




Kaartman [April Fool’s Day was yesterday, this doesn’t qualify, hey], 2 April 2012

Fifth Report Back

Humble apologies for nearly two months of complete silence. It’s been a frantically busy time, frustrating because I have been unable to finish the digitizing for side 1 of the map. Problems with the ‘official’ contours have led to a massive amount of necessary revision, a very time-consuming business which is now half-finished for side 1. I am revising my hoped-for publication date to around November 2012, as a result. But better to be right than half right.


I’ve divided this blog into chapters, ’cause there is so much to tell.


1. Mike Scott’s great inputs and the features around Skerpioensberg – with the story of Vangstasie.
2. Peak-top enlarged insets: info received.
3. An air crash from Alex
4. The Gabriel Trail
5. That damn Chockstone: is it ‘Gatdeur’? STOP PRESS: FOUND!!!
6. Some other names: ‘Bakleikraal Pool’, Oomsberg and Oompie se Kop, Agterstevlei, Slangboshoek
7. Know any of these places? 




1. Skerpioensberg. Mike Scott has been a fantastic mine of info, and with his help I think we’ve sorted out the features around Skerpioensberg, with inputs from Alex Basson and Rudolf Andrag. Please have a look at the bit of map: if you have any further comments, they are very welcome.

In the meantime, Johann Lanz asked: ‘A place name I have always wondered about the origin of, and what stories are behind it: Vangstasie (as it is named on maps) below Skerpioensberg.’


Vangstasie, although correctly placed, is incorrectly marked on existing maps using the typeface used for a ‘thing’, like a ‘Tierhok’, but it is in fact a place name. ‘Stasies’ [eg also ‘Sederhoutstasie’] were places to where gatherers brought produce – buchu, rooibos tea, cedar wood, kliphout bark, etc – to meet the donkeys and mules that would carry or drag the stuff to Garskraal [Algeria], Welbedacht, Wupperthal etc. Back in the 1930s the Algeria foresters became aware that buchu was being poached in the valley below, at the head of Boskloof [Sas se Hoek]. They staked out the ‘stasie’ and caught the poachers red-handed; from that day forward it has been known as ‘Vangstasie’. A couple of relevant pics follow.

Vangstasie is at the giant boulders. Left: pic by Mike Scott;
Right: geo-referenced pic by Matt Britton

One should not forget that in the late nineteenth century the Cederberg was populated by several subsistence farmers, as the remains of cultivated lands in the Middelberg/Grootvlak areas attest. The lack of stone ruins does not mean anything: many of these people lived in ‘riethuise’ or in built-up caves. There are still people in the Wupperthal ‘buiteposte’ whose forefathers lived in the mountains, and who still bear some [justifiable?] resentment towards the takeover and the formation of the ‘Goewermintsberg’.

Vanzylsklip.  Left: pic by Mike Scott; Right: geo-referenced pic by Matt Britton . 

2. My appeal for info on the peak tops has borne some fruit. Torben Wiborg, who teaches Biology at SACS [Alex’s old school] and who taught my son at Muizenberg, sent great info about trips up Middelberg South, Breekkrans, Shadow Peak, Langberg, Consolation Peak and Corridor Peak. We also have Groot-Krakadouw, Tafelberg and Truitjieskraal. Any other peak routes – esp Skerpioensberg/The Maze and Sneeuberg will be gratefully received!

3. Alex mentioned an air crash at the Pakhuis Pass in 1945. Google helped fill in the details.
In 1945 [exact date unknown, but before the war ended] a Junkers Ju-86 General David Baird crashed into the northern side of Hope Peak above the Pakhuis Pass. All on board – three crew and one passenger – were killed.
The aeroplane was one of 17 Junkers bought by SAA as airliners in 1937. All were taken over by the SAAF after war with Germany was declared in 1939.
The aeroplane’s civilian registration was ZS-AGJ [see pic] and military, serial 647. The aircraft were infamous for their poor serviceability. Naturally, after 1939 spare parts were hard to come by!
General Sir David Baird commanded the expedition against the Cape of Good Hope in 1806, capturing Cape Town and forcing the Dutch General Janssens to surrender. He was Acting Governor until 1807.

4. The Cederberg Heritage Route has opened its new route, the Gabriel Trail. It runs from Driehoek, over Gabriël’s Pass via De Rif and down to Langkloof, Eselbank, and Kleinvlei to Wupperthal. More info at www.cedheroute.co.za ; down load a freebie of the simplified route map from our ‘Hike the Cederberg’ page www.slingsbymaps.com/cederberg-hiking.aspx .

5. That Damn Chockstone: I’ve started wondering if this thing exists, as no one knows where it is. Even Ferdi Fischer failed me – and he took me there in 1964! I have, however, done an exhaustive search over Google Earth looking for the kind of shadow pattern the thing would make. There is one very good candidate, on Gatdeurkop [west of Machine Gun Ridge and Middelberg North]. Now, I know that some claim that the ‘gat deur’ is a prominent gap in the skyline, a bit like the Venster across the Algeria valley, but could it be that the Chockstone is actually the ‘gatdeur’?

STOP PRESS ... hot on the heels of this report, Graham Bellairs has correctly located the Chock on Middelberg North ... phew! We thought it had evaporated! More next time ...


6. Some other names ...


Mike Scott suggested the name ‘Bakleikraal Pool’ for the prominent pool west of Disa Pool, in the Kromrivier valley. However, according to Pip Nieuwoudt it already has a name: the area is known as Die Hoek and the pool is Die Hoek se Swemgat. But keep up the suggestions, Mike – without your inputs this info would not have come to light!


Oomsberg is the older name for the Camel in the Hondverbrand area, aka Mike again, but does anyone know the origin of Oompie se Kop near Heuningvlei? We are intrigued because Herbert Liddle, after whom Mt Oompie in the Drakensberg is named [his nickname was Oompie] also climbed a lot in the Cederberg, where he was killed by the bite of a six-eyed crab spider [probably] in the early 1900s. Anyone offer any more info?


The correct name of ‘Agtersvlei’ near Kleinvlei is Agterstevlei, according to Ingar Valentyn at the Wupperthal info office.


Jeroen Kant sent some useful info about the Driehoek area.


Finally, Slangboshoek near Suurvlakte is where two Dutch draft-dodgers were sheltered by Wit Andries Nieuwoudt during World War II, which ought to finally lay to rest all the rumours you ever heard about the Kromrivier Cave being used for this purpose. Rudolf Andrag sent this pic of the ruins.

7. Does anyone know any of the following names? These are places gathered from reading: can anyone locate them correctly?


Vaughn’s Weir [on Driehoekrivier near Matjiesrivier?]


Kerskop Pass [pass between Eselbank and Wupperthal?]


Moordhoek [slopes of Wolfberg nr Matjiesrivier?]


Sandrivier - gotcha, from Graham Bellairs


Kroekedam - gotcha, from Peter Hart


Info already in:
Already acknowledged: Rudolf Andrag, Quinton Martins, Ronnie Hazell, Charles Merry, Wim Morris, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Julyan Symons, Galeo Saintz, Paul la Grange, Laurence Elton, Mike Scott, Peter Hart, Justin Lawson, David Donald, Johann Lanz, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Hendrico Burger, Nicky Lombard


I hope to be in touch a bit sooner next time!


All the best
Die Kaartman 14 03 2012

Fourth Report-back

In this report-back, some news of new maps and downloads, more lekker inputs and a great session with Alex Basson, ‘Die Bergman’.
PLUS A VERY IMPORTANT REQUEST! [see below]


First, your email responses.


Mike Scott wrote that pic 35 in Book One is The Anvil. Thanks Mike – indeed confirmed by Alex Basson. Pic 127 that we thought might be The Anvil is in fact the Turret of Turret Ridge, on the western side of Skerpioensberg.

Left: The Anvil  ::   Right: The Turret

Mike also confirmed that 153 is the MCSA’s water-supply at Bakmakersfontein, and that Disa Pool is indeed incorrectly shown on the ‘official’ maps. He suggests that the prominent pool that is on the present maps be named ‘Bakleikraal Pool’ – any objections?
More on Mike Scott vs Alex Basson below!

Bakleikraal Pool?

Johann Lanz sent further comment on the Knobless Robot [pic 50] – thanks, Johann.


Charles Merry sent the true coords for the Sandfontein Arch, taken by Ezan Wilson. Great, I think our map will be the first that positions the arch correctly.


Rudolf Andrag sent news of the Cederberg Management plan and the public meeting in Clanwilliam for the 31st Jan – you can download the relevant doc at http://www.capenature.co.za/eco-tourism.htm?sm[p1][category]=720&sm[p1][persistent]=1  
– scroll down to Download: CNRC_PAMP_FINAL PARTICIPATION_12DEC2011 _1_.pdf
Be warned, it’s a large download.


Nicky Lombard sent useful info re the Maltese Cross path, and a request that GPS coords for path junctions be made available as a download, so that users can import them to a GPS reader. Great suggestion – we’ll investigate.


Finally, before launching into Alex Basson’s superb info, I wrote to Peter Hart indicating that we’d like to collect place names, where available, from the Heuningvlei/Wupperthal/Eselbank locals – names like ‘Oompie’ that don’t appear on existing maps, yet which will be lost if they are not recorded. Peter has suggested Abraham Ockhuis, Izak Koopman and Abraham Jantjies of Heuningvlei and Ben Zimri of Brugkraal. Any other suggestions, anyone?

TP Stokoe, aged 84,
on the Spring Stepover

Alex Basson
I owe Alex an apology – he was, of course, a teacher at SACS, not Rondebosch – my mistake. Alex spent a very generous morning with us, on the very hottest of those hot January days. He’s a gold-mine of information, the great mass of it gleaned from the oldest Cederbergers, the forest workers whom he accompanied in the 1950s. They and their fathers and grandfathers knew the mountains intimately for decades before the ‘Peak Baggers’, the Engelse mense who in the early days congregated at Kromrivier to engage in the strange pursuits of mountain climbing and hiking. Just as we had reported from the letters of TP Stokoe [included in our biography of that fascinating old botanical mountaineer], in the pre-war years you got to the Cederberg by taking the train to Eendekuil, then waiting from midnight until 6 am for the bus to Kriedouwkrans. From Kriedouwkrans, near the present N7, you hiked with donkeys into the mountains ... think of that next time you rip over Nieuwoudt’s Pass in your 4 x 4. Alex knew Stokoe, and was with him when Stokoe re-climbed the Spring Stepover on Table Mountain, at the age of 84 ...


I have two tightly-scrawled pages of my notes from Alex’s visit, too much info to detail here but much of it will certainly greatly enrich our map. Of interest, though, because we have other inputs on these, are:


* Vogelgesangvallei: This is in fact NOT as Ralph Taylor has it, the valley below Engelsmanskloof – the Trig map is actually correct! The ‘vallei’ is the ‘vlei’ or extensive seepage zone on the path down to Kleinvlei, with its prominent and beautiful waterfall. This makes much more sense to me: ons Engelsmense tend to forget that the Afrikaans geographic reference vallei usually means vlei or marsh. I also doubt the presence of too many singing birds in those harsh high-mountain areas.

The real Vogelgesangvallei; the waterfall is to the right

* Basson se Klip: Here I have a problem. It would seem very churlish and inappropriate not to show Alex’s ‘klip’ on the map, but Basson se Klip is actually a cave with rock art, so we cannot show it in its precise position. In the old days it had a wooden floor, and the entrance was walled off with wood and a proper door – rather like the Makkedaat Cave in Baviaanskloof, and considerably older than the latter. Mike Scott, Alex identifies the ‘klip’ in your pic as Vanzylsklip – without a doubt! Interestingly, Ralph Taylor has this correct on his map. There is an old footpath from here down to Agter-Warmhoek; we’ll show it on the new map as a ‘way to go’.

Vanzylsklip: we think that Alex should know!

A VERY IMPORTANT REQUEST ...
It has been suggested that we include on the map [or provide online as free downloads] enlarged insets of:—
[a] trail-heads – how to find the starting point of routes into the Cederberg, and
[b] High peaks – safe, non-climbing routes that might be cairned or even have footpaths. I would welcome comment on this, and if anyone has GPS tracks that they are prepared to share [with acknowledgment, of course] for the following, I would be very grateful:
* Routes up the Krakadouw peaks
* Skerpioensberg
* Sneeukop
* Tafelberg
* the northern ridge-route up Sneeuberg, over Sterrebosbank
* any in the Apollo Peak area and the MCSA area to the south of Breekkrans.
I am NOT necessarily looking for ‘formal’ paths, only ‘ways to go’ that might improve the safety-value of the map.


And to end off, the formal stuff ...


Mapping News


NEW Waterproof maps – in response to public demand we’ve printed waterproof editions of our Cederberg [touring], Swartberg and Wild Coast maps. At the mo these are only available online – see www.slingsbymaps.com 


NEW free downloads – we’ve moved the freebie Algeria maplet to a new page which you can access from the Free Stuff button on the Hike the Cederberg page. There’s now also a freebie maplet of HEUNINGVLEI, as an example of the ‘trail-head’ insets we’re hoping to include on the map. We’ll shortly also have a freebie of the route of the Cederberg Heritage Route’s new Gabriel’s Pass Trail.

Mapping the hiking map proceeds apace; we have almost finished the digitizing for side one, and I am hoping that by the end of Feb I might have snapshots of bits of the map up on this blog for your comment.


Info already in:
Already acknowledged: Rudolf Andrag, Quinton Martins, Ronnie Hazell, Charles Merry, Wim Morris, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Julyan Symons, Galeo Saintz, Paul la Grange, Laurence Elton, Mike Scott, Peter Hart, Justin Lawson, David Donald, Johann Lanz, Cisca Nieuwoudt, Hendrico Burger

All comments more than welcome!
Kaartman, 21-01-2012

Third Report-back

This will be my last report-back until after the holidays – so compliments of the Season to you all!


First, two older ‘responses’ that fell through the cracks because they came in long before we put up the Cederberg Hiking Map webpage. At Cisca Nieuwoudt’s request Hendrico Burger has sent in comprehensive GPS tracks for the MTB routes – old and new – at Dwarsrivier. Many thanks, Hendrico – these will certainly be on the final map, and also on the Dwarsrivier/Sanddrif downloadable freebie, when we get around to revising that!


Back in August Johann Lanz sent us the Panorama Cave coords and some useful path info.

Cathedral Rocks, also known as the Organ Pipes

Back to the present. Mike Scott has been sifting our virtual Book 3 and came up with these:


Picture 112 is just known as the Welbedacht cliff with rock climber’s routes mainly by Andrew de Klerk.
Picture 114 is the old Sleeppad used for sledges laden with Ceder logs.
[That’s what we thought, Mike, until Alex Basson put us right – see previous blog!]
Picture 118 is the Uilsgat needles, and Picture 120 looks suspiciously like another view of the Westernmost one.
Picture 127 does NOT look like The Anvil to me, unless there is another rock also called an anvil? [See NOTE below]
Picture 128 [Vogelgesangvallei] I am trying to find my pictures of the valley, but would tend to believe Ralph Taylor, as often Trig maps were wrong, and if not actually wrong, used names from the locals which differed from the ones used by mountaineers! 

Vogelgesangvallei:  we too agree with Ralph Taylor

Picture 129, mystery concrete-lined hole near Sneeukop Hut:  we thought it was an old toilet hole filled in when we were last there!
Picture 135 Yes - Cathedral Rocks, but some people refer to them as the Organ Pipes.
Picture 143 Yes [Boskloof Pinnacle]
Picture 144 Yes [the Machine Gun of Machine Gun Ridge].

Boskloof Pinnacle

Many thanks, Mike – looking forward to your inputs for Book 4. 


However, we’re still uneasy about The Anvil. Can anyone comment? 




We seem to have these options:

The Anvil – the left or the right?

David Donald sent this interesting account of the Maltese Cross path in the snow, thereby illustrating yet another hazard for the mapmaker: what happens when the path is simply buried? Unfortunately not all the high-altitude paths have tall beacons ...

David’s pic of the Cross
in the snow : we used it
on the cover of our second
Cederberg touring map

In the winter of 2001 or thereabouts, I set out to climb up to the Maltese Cross with two good friends, Peter Fiske and Chris Wren-Sargent.  It was a beautiful, clear day after heavy falls of snow across the Cederberg the previous night. However, as we made our way up the gully to the Cross, the path became more and more difficult to follow as the snow became thicker towards the top. Nevertheless, we floundered on through ever-thicker drifts but with a clear sight of the top of the gully to guide us. The sight which greeted us as we reached the plateau was absolutely stunning: a thick, white blanket of white as far as we could see with clumps of snow clinging to the ledges of the Cross itself. After having a mild snow-fight and taking some photos we retreated as rapidly as we could in the face of an advancing south-westerly squall of snow. When we showed the photos to the manager of the Nieuwoudt farm below, he was amazed: he had never before seen the Cross and its surrounds as deep in snow as that.


The moral of the story is simply that if any one contemplates climbing up that gully to the Maltese Cross when it has snowed, please be well clad, aware of what I have described regarding the path and, even on a day that starts out sunny and clear, keep an eye out for the sudden changes that the south-westerlies can bring!


Galeo Saintz sent a GPS track of the routes used by Rim of Africa - useful, Galeo. See what he's all about at www.rimofafrica.co.za


Justin Lawson continues to keep us prominent on the www.climb.co.za website: many thanks, Justin. I’m hoping some of your members spend some holiday time in the Cederberg, and send in info early next year!


Paul la Grange turned out to be a former colleague of Alex Basson, when the latter was teaching at SACS; Paul sent this snippet:


On one occasion, Alex, having had quite enough of the stresses of teaching naughty youngsters, took himself off to his favourite area near Basson’s Klip and by his own admission tried to live like a Bushman for a couple of days. He wore only a loincloth, no shoes and survived by living off the land. I cannot remember the details of the story, but suffice it to say that he did not last too long and had to scramble for his bundle of tucked-away clothes and emergency rations in quite a hurry! He did mention that the experience had done him the world of good and he certainly went on teaching for many years to come after that. 


And to end off, the formal stuff ...


Mapping: have digitised comprehensive map info from the northern edge down to a line more or less from Boskloof to Biedouw ... hope to be down to Wuppertal by New Year.
Response to webpage: 671 individuals since Nov 14; 102 Algeria maps, 150 books and 55 GoogleEarth photo-tracks downloaded.
Info already in:
Already acknowledged: Rudolf Andrag, Quinton Martins, Ronnie Hazell, Charles Merry, Wim Morris, Alex Basson, Graham Bellairs, Julyan Symons, Galeo Saintz, Paul la Grange, Laurence Elton, Mike Scott, Peter Hart

Second Report-back

Here are this week’s NEW INPUTS ... in the order received:

Strydom’s Path

First, a Fabulous Fax from Alex Basson, a genuine Cederberg old-timer who has been stomping the ’berg since he was twelve .... which was in 1943! Alex has info about names, places, stories etc etc that will all be available for the new map. I asked him about the ‘built path’ up Uilsgat – he tells me it was built as a pure folly by a long-gone forester, possibly a Mr Strydom, whom Alex described as a ‘frustrated road builder’. I will call that path ‘Strydom’s Path’ on the map, unless a different name comes to light. ‘Strydom’ also rebuilt the Eikeboom-Sneeuberg jeep track and the Pakhuis-Heuningvlei road that is still in regular use by donkey-carts, hikers and boulderers. Basson se Klip is named after Alex – see photo below.

The Pup – pic by Graham Bellairs

Graham Bellairs sent some valuable info about the path confusion around The Pup. Thanks, Graham, we had already found that the path on the south side of The Pup no longer exists. 
Graham also had more info about the old path up Protea Peak that Rudolf had mentioned to us. After a careful study of GoogleEarth and Bing maps I’ve managed to locate most of it – we’ll probably show it as a ‘way to go’ rather than a marked path.
Graham also suggested that we should not neglect the Klipbokkop and other paths in the Nuwerust area; we’ll certainly show all the routes that fall on the map, but we’ll need some GPS tracks.


Julyan Symons confirmed the pic of Welbedacht Cave, but still no names for the nearby rock-pillars – for some good news see below, Julyan.


Galeo Saintz asked that we include a link for the Rim of Africa trail – see www.rimofafrica.co.za 

Meidegat Falls near Sevilla

Paul la Grange named the falls at Riempie se Gat as Riempie’s Falls; he also pointed out that the Eselbank Falls are higher and even more impressive [how do these compare with the Meidegat Falls near Sevilla, by the way?]. 


Laurence Elton wrote about his recent [November] trip down the Heks River valley. Just as we did, his party found the Kruisrivier kloof path over to Algeria impassably blocked by fallen trees. His party bailed out to Klein-Jongenskraal and copied us their letter of complaint to CapeNature about the state of a path that is shown so prominently on their map. 
Hmmm. I can see the mapmaker’s biggest hazard rearing its ugly head here – ground features that change and render the map info incorrect ...
Laurence also asked for the inclusion of a UTM grid ... more on this later. He asked for True North to be at the top of the map: it will be.

Basson se Klip? Maybe. Pic by Mike Scott.

Mike Scott sent a couple of great photos and valuable info. He confirmed our pics of The Anvil, the correct position for Vogelgesang-vallei [Ralph Taylor was right, of course], and the Knobless Robot. Mike’s pic of Basson se Klip is included here, though I’ll have to get Alex Basson’s confirmation that this really is his klip! Mike confirmed the location of several other features, sent me off to revise my ‘Vanzylsklip’ with a new pic of the real thing, and he named one of your ‘unnamed pinnacles’, Julyan Symons – the one to the east of the Welbedacht path is the ‘Pepper Pot’ and was first climbed in 1969. [our pic 75]

Pepper Pot: climbed in 1969

Finally, Peter Hart of the Cederberg Heritage Route provided a couple of gps tracks for the Route’s great new 4-day trail from Driehoek to Wupperthal, via Gabriël’s Pass and Eselbank/ Kleinvlei [opening January 2012]. Peter was great source of info, with several new names and some great – and previously unknown to us – waterfalls.
See www.cedheroute.co.za 

And, to end, the Formal Stuff ...



Mapping: completed geo-referencing & correct setting for the northern section; adding info about bouldering in the Pakhuis area.
Response to webpage: 413 individuals visited the website-page since 14 November. 82 Algeria maps, 112 books and 47 GoogleEarth photo-tracks were downloaded.
Links on other websites: These orgs kindly notified their members of our quest, though their websites:
Meridian Hiking Club  – http://www.meridian.org.za/news.htm 
Climb ZA – http://www.climb.co.za/2011/11/new-cederberg-hiking-map-can-you-help/ 
as well as the MCSA – http://mcsa.briefyourmarket.com/Newsletters/Mountain-Ears-December-2011/Help-make-a-new-Cederberg-hiking-map-.aspx 
Info already in: 
Already acknowledged: Rudolf Andrag, Quinton Martins, Ronnie Hazell, Charles Merry, Wim Morris.

Keep ’em coming!

Kaartman 2011-12-02