I had not been to Lakes Cave in many years so when this hike came up, I was keen to revisit. The cave itself is not the most comfortable and is often wet in Summer but a plus is that there are some beautiful tarns situated on top of it. When Dave suggested that we bring tents I was a bit apprehensive as its been years since I have carried a tent by myself, but the opportunity to tent in this scenic area was too good to miss out on.
There were six of us on this hike, Dave, Thinus, Chris, Stephen ,Tish and myself and we left Cobham on a warm sunny morning, a real bluebird day! We could however, already see clouds building up on the escarpment so knew the chances of a thundershower later on were good. The Berg is looking amazingly green with all the abundant rain that we have had and the Pholela river was full. By the time we stopped for lunch, it was stiflingly hot and I was feeling rather lightheaded. I never do well in hot conditions. We still had about 7 or so kms to go and energy levels were dropping. The skies were darkening dramatically and the clouds looked heavy and ominous. The rain came as a relief as it cooled things down quickly and I felt revived. We arrived at the cave and it was as we thought, very wet with only one or two spots that were relatively dry. Chris and Stephen elected to stay in the cave whilst the rest of us climbed the short distance to the area on top of the cave and put up our tents. Luckily the rain had stopped and it was not long before we were all settled and admiring the magical view of the tarns around us. It rained again later on and we also experienced strong winds in the night, which didn't make for the best nights sleep, but the bonus was no wet tents to pack up in the morning!
We enjoyed a beautiful sunrise the next morning, and after packing up Dave took us on a different return route. We explored areas that are new to me and one can see why its called the Lakes area as it abounds in many little tarns and beautiful rock formations. We also saw a cave that Dave calls ‘Outlook Cave’ - a tiny little stronghold perfect for two people and very sheltered. From here we walked towards the Siphongweni Rock shelter and then back to Cobham on another new route - a smugglers path that I had not known existed. Another first for me was discovering Baboon Cave which is just off the Giants Cup Trail path and quite close to the camp site.
A great weekend - thanks to everybody for a most enjoyable hike!
