Led by Jonathan Ray and Mogamat Londt from the 4th – 6th April 2025.
On a hot, late summer Friday morning, our group set out from Eikerboom, bound for adventure, elevation, and if we were lucky, finding enough water for an afternoon dip. Our target for the day, Hoogvertoon Peak.
After an early lunch we stashed our packs at the bottom of the ascent proper and made our way up a very steep first pitch onto a series of stepping plateaus. Despite the peaks forbidding name, it was politely accommodating and only occasionally tried to take someone in the group out with deep dry potholes hidden under the copiously grassed vlakte. After a respectable amount of puffing and climbing the group crested Hoogvertoon where we enjoyed a quick snack before retracing our route back down. After collecting our packs, we descended to the area around Noordpoort arriving in the early evening.
This was to be our campsite, and what a delight it was. Nestled discretely out of sight, our spot was quiet, scenic, and close to enough water for a half-body submerge. Soaring thunderclouds and a completely still evening brought the most spectacular sunset enjoyed over dinner before we all went to bed.
On the second day we left camp early, with light day bags and high spirits, to ascended Sneeuberg. After the initial steep switchbacks, we crested the saddle with elevated heart rates and rested a little before enjoying the pleasantly sketchy scramble to the summit. We descended off the summit by skirting the southern flank of the peak just below the cliff face at about 1900m. We enjoyed lunch in the shade along this traverse line before tracing our way down the western ridgeline which was a real highlight of the day.
A somewhat poorly chosen line off the ridge took us down a bushy descent towards Sneeuberg Hut were we passed quickly and gratefully through the bustling metropolis of tents which had congested around the hut during the course of the day. The recent fire had closed Areas A and B, and seemingly everyone overnighting in the area had clustered there; the smell of jetboil ramen was thick in the air and the resident ninja mice were rubbing their paws in anticipation of a bumper night of pack raiding.
The night that followed was windy. Not your average “bit of a breeze” windy, but enough to make our tents flap like startled laundry and caused me to lie awake wondering what a 7001 aluminium and 20D nylon actually meant. Despite this, the groups’ mood remained cheerful the next morning, possibly due to the presence of two Madrigal Singers who were never not in chatty high spirits and commanded us all to “kyk noort en f*k voort”.
On day three, we walked out through Duiwelsgat – a place that, contrary to its name is enchantingly scenic. Here bloomed a patch of Nerinas so fresh and vivid they invoked genuine amazement from the group. In time the hoped-for pool presented itself, crystal-clear, significantly cold and deeply persuasive, and several of us took a refreshing mid-morning plunge, followed by coffee and first or second breakfasts.
After our break a splinter group struck off to ascend Wegwaai Peak while the main group continued along Duiwelsgat at a more leisurely pace with further stops at pools along the way. Both groups rejoined at the Uitkyk Pass exit to say our goodbyes and congratulate each other on a fantastic weekend spent exploring.
A special thanks to Torben from all of us for the route and campsite suggestions. Photographs from Jonathan Ray, Cecelia Scholtz, Cilnette Pienaar, Chris Spies, Chris Vynbos, and Mogamat Londt.
