February 2022

A random hike in extreme heat

In our previous post we told about our great camping weekend at Cederberg Park Kromrivier (read here). However, the main reason for our camp was to explore some of the magnificent sights in the Cederberg Mountains.

There were two very specific places we were looking forward to see:

  • Stadsaal Caves (“City Hall” Caves)
  • Maltese Cross

During our first morning, we decided to only went for a random hike in the mountains. We however, realised very soon that we started way too late with our excursion … by 9:00 the temperature already reached a high of 33 degrees Celsius. And the route we had chosen to walk, were a long and hard climb – not ideal in the hot weather!

The start of our hike – the route was leading to the top of that highest mountain

We met a couple of hikers, who turned around due to the hot weather and after about an hour and a half, we also decided it’s wiser to rather go back down the mountain.

Our first obstacle was to get over this first mountain

There are not a lot of shade on this route … maybe a few big rocks every now and then (under which we rested for a while to get out of the sun).

This rock didn’t provide much shade
It was great to see that the mountain was so beautifully green – even in the middle of a hot summer

It was not just us who sweated in the hot sun … even the little animals sought some shade. While we were resting, we saw a lizard sitting in the sun for a while and then scurrying back to the shade – he ran in and out of his sunny spot a few times!

In the sun … no, too hot … in the shade

After we crossed a small stream, the uphill started! And we were not even between the rocks yet, but only walking through the nice smelling fynbos bushes.

Fynbos bushes with the mountainous area in the background
The colours of nature
We were now getting to the steeper part of the route
There were huge rocks to climb over to get to the top
Amazing rock formations
It’s still a long way to the top of the mountain

As we were nearing the top of the (first) mountain, we realised that the route continues onwards (and upwards) to yet another mountain behind this one! It was here that we met some hikers who returned – exhausted and red faced … the heat was just too much!

When we looked back, we could see the car park in the distance (in the far-left hand corner of the photo)
Beautiful scenery
Up and up and up …

We still walked on for another 10 minutes, until we decided we should turn around … dehydration was definitely not on our list for this weekend!

Going down

I’m glad we listened to our bodies (and sixth sense) … it was definitely not hiking weather – and especially not in this extreme weather conditions! On our way down, we had to rest several times in the few shady spots we could find – temperatures were now close to 40 degrees Celsius!

During one of our rest stops, I noticed this tree that must have burned during a wildfire

We were more than happy when we reached our car. The Cederberg Mountains are a beautiful place for hiking, but you need to respect it. We drank our last bit of water and could not wait to get back to our camp site at Cederberg Park Kromrivier for a dip in the cold river!

On our way back (in our aircon car 😉), we stopped to take more photo’s of a stunning sight of rocks. These mountains are truly spectacular and we will discover more of them during the next few days (early in the morning)!

Just look at those rocks!
How amazing is nature
They look like (big rocky) needles

As promised, in our next post, we are taking you to an unbelievable place – the “Stadsaal Caves” (meaning City Hall Caves) … it’s quite impressive!