A serious case of cabin fever motivated us to get out into the Berg again after an absence of almost three months! Despite this it almost didn't happen as up until Friday morning, the weather forecast was not good at all. But then the weather gods decided to take pity on us and it started looking more promising, so we decided to take a chance and go for it. Chibini Tarn is situated between Highmoor and Lotheni on a high plateau. Its a longish walk to get there from either point and not many hikers see it. We thought it would be good to revisit and left from the Highmoor offices in bright sunny weather. Its about 14km to the contour path and the clouds had started to gather around the Giant, promising a rain shower or two later on. We then headed south towards Lotheni and Chibini which is about another 2km further on and very visible. It had a lot more water than on our previous visit and everything was looking very lush and green. Our tent had been up for half an hour before the rain arrived, so it was good timing! We enjoyed some coffee followed by an afternoon siesta before venturing out once the rain had stopped. We spent some time taking photographs of the beautiful cloud formations and dramatic skies before settling in for the night. The temperatures dropped to a chilly 6 degrees and we had a constant wind all night. We packed up the following morning in bright sunshine although the wind was still present and headed down the ridge that leads to the Mooi River Valley. We came across several strange round circles in the grass and later on saw what we thought was a Hartebeest antelope lying in the centre. He moved off very quickly and we saw that this must be a place where they sleep at night as there were droppings and the grass was very fine and flat, almost like a golf green. Hartebeest were introduced at Highmoor many years ago and seem to have survived which does not seem to be the case in other Parks Board areas. We enjoyed sweeping views of the Giant and surrounds for the remainder of our hike and were back at the carpark by midday. Good to be back in the Berg and just what the Dr ordered!
