Category Cape Trip 2021

December 2021 Cape Trip day 7: Seweweekspoort

I checked out of El Yolo fairly early – I wanted to explore the area a bit. Leaving El Yolo was an interesting experience – from one perspective it had been a really great place to stay, but from another, I can’t see why I’d ever go back there. There was one thing I wanted […]

December 2021 Cape Trip day 5: Blesberg

I woke up to a beautiful morning in the Kammanassie Mountains. Looking back up the mountain I had climbed the day before, I could clearly see that my route choice had been the right one. Sometimes a quick look at a mountain from below can answer a lot of questions – which is why the […]

December 2021 Cape Trip day 2: Day Off/Desolation Peak

After an epic start to my trip, I decided to take the second day as a rest/exploration day. The goals were simple: visit a few places around Graaff Reinet, buy some items and then drive to Uniondale. My brother had suggested I visit the fossil museum in Graaff Reinet. I looked it up on google, […]

December 2021 Cape Trip day 1 part 2: Murch Point

The line between a really good day and a really bad day can be remarkably thin. As I descended off Compassberg, knowing it wasn’t even 11AM yet, and knowing the drive to get back to this region again tomorrow would be long- and would mean I miss out on what I want to do around […]

December 2021 Cape Trip day 1 part 1: Compassberg

In December 2020 I had planned to do a road trip to climb Compassberg and Murch Point – but when lockdown restrictions were increased to exclude inter-provincial travel, I had to put the plans on hold. For December 2021, I had hoped to make a similar trip, with looping around to Cockscombe, Groot Winterberg and […]

Cape Trip day 12: Simonsberg

When I booked my Cape trip, I had considered flying home on the Monday. When I saw the price of tickets for that day, I opted to stay an additional day and have a go at one of the easiest peaks on the 1km prominence list – Simonsberg. I first noticed Simonsberg as I came […]

Cape Trip days 9 to 11: Hex Mountains

I have found comparisons between mountains in the Cape and the Drakensberg to be unfair. The appeal of both is very different – the Drakensberg is always going to win on scale and altitude, while the Cape has better quality rock for climbing, as well as the peaks being more separate and thus generally more […]

Cape Trip day 7: Sneeukop (Skurweberge)

The Skurweberg is a small mountain range north of Ceres and south of the Koue-Bokkeveld – or, more specifically, in the middle of nowhere. At 2070m, Sneeukop is the highest summit in the range. With the Leeurivier (Lions River) separating the Skurweberge from the Koue-Bokkeveld at an altitude below 1000m, the range is effectively separate […]

Cape Trip days 5 and 6: Tulbagh and Saronsberg

When I decided to attempt to climb all 24 mountains with at least 1000m topographic prominence in South Africa, the main objective was to come up with a way of ensuring I get to visit some obscure mountains that are rarely climbed. Some won’t be particularly interesting, but some will be real gems – this […]

Cape Trip day 4: Tafelberg (Cederberg)

Sunday had been the reserve day for Sneeuberg, but with the summit completed on Saturday, my first bonus peak of the trip would be Tafelberg. At 1969m, it is generally listed as the second highest summit of the Cederberg – a statistic that my data is in consensus with. And with approximately 950m topographic prominence, […]