Pinnacle Rock is a huge pointed rock situated on the plateau at the head of Emerald Stream in the Cobham area. Its really impressive and one can only imagine the forces that sent it tumbling to the floor many hundreds if not thousands of years ago. You feel entirely dwarfed when standing next to it. I have bypassed it many times, usually on route to Gxalingwenya Cave and when I learnt that there were caves in the cliff face overlooking it, I simply had to see them.
We left Howick in thick mist which endured all the way to Cobham, making driving difficult, especially with the road being more potholes than tar in quite a few places. However, by the time we set off, the clouds had dissipated and we were rewarded with beautiful blue skies. We were 6 in our group and it was good to catch up with friends and meet new ones. We needed to take boots off for the first river crossing, but thereafter kept our feet dry, making our way up Emerald Stream which has a beautiful little stream that winds back and forth amongst lush grasslands. The day had warmed up substantially and we were happy to stop for lunch at the streams edge for a while. Dave elected to approach the caves from behind the ridge, and this meant us taking a detour up a side valley. A lot of rough off path hiking, but for those that know Dave, not surprising and all part of the journey of exploration! The clouds were gathering again and when we stopped at the stream to pick up water for the cave, the skies were looking threatening and the rumble of thunder was close by. We had a rather large hill to climb to reach a saddle, and we set off slowly with the extra weight of the water. It was not as bad as we feared though, and we soon reached the top, but not before the rain and thick mist rolled in. We traversed along, finding the going slow as the mist was pretty thick. At one point we needed to wait until the entire party was in sight of each other. We came across the first cave which had reasonable shelter and even a grotto of sorts that was a bit dark but would provide good shelter. Graham and I elected to go on further to see if we could find the next cave that was further along. The mist made it a bit harder to find, but we eventually did – I was all for making this cave our stop for the night, (mostly because I had lugged my pack with the heavy load of water there) but we then decided to make the best of the first cave and returned to where the others were still waiting. I was pretty tired by now and Graham very kindly carried my pack for me. Tish and Dave elected to stay in the more open section of the cave whilst Dave , Graham, Ashleigh and myself squeezed into the ‘grotto’ section and made our selves comfortable. It was certainly cosy! Porcupines have made their home here judging by the amount of droppings – this was perceived with horror by some!……….. The mist came and went n the late afternoon light affording beautiful but fleeting views of the area in front of us.
When we awoke the mist was still very thick. We packed up and showed everyone the other cave before making our way down the spur to Pinnacle Rock and the rock art nearby. From here it was a long 15km walk back to camp via Ngwenya Pools and the Giants Cup Trail.
Thanks to everyone for a really enjoyable hike!
( Thanks to Ashleigh, Graham, Tish and Dave L for the use of some of their photos)
