This meet knitted together two – and for some of us, three – seldom-traveled traverses. We were a group of nine that set off from Theresa Avenue at 7.30am. The weather was mild, with softly clouded skies.
We quickly made our way up Blinkwater Ravine, and stopped for a tea-break on top of the chain section. With the area connecting Blinkwater Ravine and Blinkwater Needle in plain view, we discussed the two potential traverse lines leading to the other side. We opted for the upper faint path, which has become considerably more visible in recent time as more people seem to be walking it. However, we still had to bundu-bash and dive deep into vegetation for much of the section, which we really enjoyed.
We arrived at the Needle after roughly 40 minutes, where we quickly climbed up to its top, and enjoyed the views during our second short break.
From there, we walked down the first third of Blind Gully, before then traversing across to Porcupine Ravine. As it is such a classic and beautiful spot, we stopped again for a third stop in the overhang half way. Shortly before entering Porcupine Ravine, we lost the trail for some meters, and by accident came across some stunning cracks which we explored.
In Porcupine Ravine, most of us walked down, while two of us continued to explore the third traverse — the Jackson Traverse — which leads out of Porcupine Ravine at an altitude of 840 metres and up to the top of Jubilee Buttress.
Seven of us reached the cars at around 13:50pm, while the other two who completed the final part of a proper triple traverse hike, arrived shortly before 15:00pm.
Pictures by Carla Marais, Luke Stevens, Matthew Collier-Reed, Ruth Knoblich
