MOVING MOUNTAINS

LONG HAULS, STEEP CLIMBS, EXTREME COLD AND OTHERWORLDLY LANDSCAPES IN THE CEDERBERG-OUR WRITER TAKES ON THE ELEMENTS AND UNEARTHS A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON A FIVEDAY TREK ALONG PHANTOM PATHS CUT THROUGH BEWITCHING SCENERY.

- ANDREW REEVES, KIERAN LEGG

TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS AND A RELENTLESS COLD FRONT had washed away our chances of hiking in Groot Winterhoek. We'd mapped out a precise route, but a few days before we were set to venture forth, we got a call from CapeNature warning us that the roads ramping up to the range were a no-go. In other words, the area was off-limits. But we-Matt, Hannah, Naomi and I-had set aside the week for an off-the-grid slog through wilder lands, and we weren't going to resign ourselves to hunkering down in town. It was time for a Plan B.

In a last-minute attempt to salvage our expedition, we scoped out the Cederberg as an alternative excursion. It's an expansive area, popular with hikers and climbers alike. And while it has its well-trodden routes, much of its various biomes feel quite unchartered. In most parts-especially as you scale up in altitude-paths are ghostly faint; phantoms of a bygone time when the soil used to see more regular foot traffic.

With suggestions from veterans of the area, we homogenised a series of prescribed routes to create a looping itinerary that would take us from Driehoek, in the foothills of the Cederberg, up to Spout's Cave, in the heights of Tafelberg, and back again over five or six days. Our plans were tenuous at best, and we relied on Matt's intuition to keep us on track. He's not only an experienced hiker but also a City of Cape Town firefighter who was a Springbok-level scout in his younger days. While we wished for an uptick in the weather, Mattrelishing a challenge-hoped the elements would be unforgiving. With unchartered paths, tricky terrain, steep climbs and below-freezing temps in our future, all we knew was that nothing was going to be easy.

DAY 1 12.41KM/813M