How to get there:
From Cape Town, first drive to the town of Worchester. From here, there are two options.
If you want to drive the shortest way to the trailhead, take N-1 east then...
If you need a place to stay/sleep before the ascent, then the small place called
Waterval Eco Farmstay
Take a small (a bit rough) side road that serves a nearby house, ask permission
to park here. This location is S33.36861. 021.35565, elevation around 1165 meter.
Route description:
Head more or less directly uphill while keeping the small gorge with a creek on your left side.
Ascend until you reach more gentle ground extending towards the peak. Head towards a broad ridge
that comes down from the main horizon ridge to the right of the summit. Do an ascending traverse
from here towards what looks like the peak.
You will have to ascend between smaller cliffs when
feasible. The route stays at YDS class 2. Eventually, you will reach the main crest, continue left
to locate the highest summit.
Comments:
We drove from Cape Town to a small, but highly recommended lodging option called Waterval Eco Farmstay.
This is located right off the dirt Hwy. that connects north-south directly east of the peak.
Note that there is another Waterval Farmstay located in a different location, make certain that you
reserve at the right place.
The host is Desmond, cooked us dinner at his outdoor fireplace in the early evening. He also asked to
join us on the climb the next morning.
We left Desmond's place around 0700 after being served a nice breakfast. Ready to hike around 0800.
The weather was good and it was nice having Desmond around describing various plants and other local
information. We decided to check out the main ridge, thus ascended a bit right and gained the ridge
quite some distance west of the summit. Large boulders made for some scrambling. Overall, Desmond
enjoyed this route, but it is easier to do an ascending traverse more directly towards the summit.
We arrived at the top
at 1100, so 3 hours up. Nice views all around, we rested and enjoyed the good
weather about 30 minutes before descending. We took the somewhat easier route back and arrived at
the car after 2:30 hours at 1400.
Many thanks to Desmond for great hospitality and company on the peak.
