It had been almost three long months since I had been in the Berg and I really needed to get back and reconnect again. Richard planned a low key hike to an area that was unknown to us and fairly easy to gain access to. The weather forecast looked to be fine but cold, but as we were seasoned hikers and had the right gear, we weren’t too worried about this. Mother Nature had other ideas!
We set off from a local farm and walked up Settlers Pass which gives you access to the Kamberg area. The day was crystal clear and we could see the escarpment clearly. A real blue bird day. We arrived at Sinclairs Cave about midday and put the tent up a little distance away. We were quite sheltered and there were pools of water nearby. Due to the late Spring rains we noticed an abundance of water in the Berg. The afternoon was spent walking in the vicinity taking photographs of the weird rock formations and looking down into the valley we would be walking the following day. The sun went down early along with an instant lowering of the temperature and we settled down for an early night. We both felt the cold in the early hours despite our technical sleeping bags and decided to make use of the emergency blanket as an added insulator the following night.
We waited for the sun to reach the tent before packing up the next morning and making our way down into the valley. There are a myriad of old cattle paths to choose and we found ourselves switching from one to another and not really getting very far in the bushy grass. It made walking very difficult and tiring and as a result, we got to the river a lot later than we had expected. From here it was a long walk northwards to the end of the valley where we wanted to camp for the night. There are so many hidden valleys in this area and we found a lovely spot. We sat and enjoyed our coffee outside in the remaining sunlight before the cold drove us indoors. Despite the space blanket, this night turned out to be even colder than the previous one. We think the temperatures must have been in the region of minus 7 degrees C as our bags go down to this temperature and we were both uncomfortably cold. The first time I have ever felt this cold in many years of hiking, even on the escarpment, and this was the lower Berg! As we were in a valley the sun would not reach us for hours and we had to pack up in the bitter cold. We had an immediate slog up to the plateau which warmed us a little, but once there, we were hit by an icy wind, which stayed for the rest of the day. A unanimous decision was made to cut our trip short and head home as the next night was forecast to be even colder! We could see the signs of veld fires further to the north of us and I think there are going to be many of these in the coming months as Parks Board may not have the financial means to burn fire breaks this Winter. Upon reaching the car at midday, we were told that all the water pipes had burst in the cottages the night before, something which had not been seen in years. This is definitely the coldest Winter for some time. In spite of the cold, it was wonderful to be back!
