Eastmans Ridge sits between the Cathedral Peak and Monks Cowl areas and is a little remote. We decided to spend some time hiking here and take in some rock art at the same time. Our route would start at Cambalala Hut at the top of Mikes Pass , head south down Phillips Folly, and then traverse along the contour path under Eastmans Ridge itself before heading down a ridge towards Leopards Cave. We would complete the circle by returning back along Didima Gorge.
Cambalala Hut is owned by the Mountain Club of SA and we spent Friday night there. The drive up Mikes Pass is a slow and torturous one as the road is pretty rough. Having said that though, the road is in pretty good condition at the moment. The hut has wonderful views of the escarpment and it’s a lovely place to spend some time. We were off to an early start the following morning and made steady progress along the contour path and then down Phillips Folly before crossing the Didima River and onwards towards Eastmans Ridge. This is an area that is unknown to me and I was surprised at the steep climb to the contour path and how it winds in and out of the valleys for a long while. We had hoped to tent at the first river crossing, but found it to be dry which forced us onwards. We eventually found water after a long tiring walk down the ridge towards the river. We must have done a good 20kms that day.
The next morning we made our way the short distance to a cave where there is a large collection of rock art. This cave is not on the map as the public are not encouraged to go there. As it is we noticed signs of vandalisim with people scratching names on the walls, and even worse, some of the paintings showed signs of the stone being chipped off. It may be that the locals are selling the chipped off pieces to sangomas as San rock art is regarded as powerful medicine. Like elsewhere in the Berg, the paintings are much faded and it just makes one wonder how magnificent and vibrant in colour they must have been many years ago. The highlight for me was spotting the ‘moth’ painting, something I have not seen before. It was painted under a rock alcove which was quite intriguing and there also appeared to be what looks like a beehive next to it.
From here we made our way across to Leopard Cave, which is situated at the top of a steep gully that runs down into Didima Gorge. Although it has a very low roof, this is a lovely cave with a beautiful outlook. We spent the remainder of the day going for short walks nearby and relaxing. Later that night the wind increased in intensity and there was thunder, lightning and some rain. When we woke up we could see fresh snow on the southern slopes of Cleft Peak – by mid morning it had all melted. We descended the path down through the forest from the cave and then on to the path that runs alongside the gorge. This is really a very scenic walk as you have the forested gorge below you and the escarpment in front of you. There are many rock art shelters within the gorge itself which are all protected. We visited Gravel Cave which is higher than the path and found it to be a lovely cave with a waterfall flowing over the edge and a good place to overnight in. We had planned to stay the night in Schoongezicht Cave which is about a km up from the bottom of Philips Folly but found it much changed. This is probably due to the heavy rains and flooding the Berg experienced earlier this year and the riverbed has changed significantly with a huge boulder field now being very evident. One can still stay in the cave but the sleeping area seems smaller, and it was not that inviting. We opted to tent in the dry river bed close by - with hind sight this was not a good move as although it was flat and smooth the sand was more like dirt which made for unpleasant tenting conditions.
We made our way back up Philips folly the next morning -its a steady climb but not as bad as we feared . We also visited the Vulture Hide which is near Cambalala and a new discovery for me. It was rather a macabre sight to see the bones and carcasses spread out over a huge area under the hopeful gaze of several Cape Vultures nearby.
And so ended 4 glorious days - as ever I was sad to leave the mountains. The time spent there is never enough!
