“Do you think that is snow” asked one of the participants when we reached the top of Diagonal at about 09:30am – “it sure looks like snow” was the general consensus. Our snow sighting was however confirmed when we first saw ice covering a rock pool along the way to Ark Ridge and later layers of fresh snow in small south facing gullies. I was even able to produce the familiar ‘crunch’ sound when stepping on the snow with my boots! This was our reward for enduring low single digit temperatures in glorious sunshine – the first we had had for many a day!
Ark Ridge never disappoints with its imaginative rock formations and ‘unlikely’ descent route – not to mention the vague overgrown path that leads one to Kitchen Ravine. We reached St Michael’s ‘bucket’ peak after tea and soaked up the far reaching views before starting our off path descent towards Backwater stream. The path alongside the stream, which was flowing swiftly after all the rain, eventually led us to Upper Disa Stream which we followed towards the museum, stopping along the way for a lunch break.
Our descent route was Kasteels Poort via the old railway track and we returned back at the cars by about 2:30pm after having completed just over 11km.
