#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]