The Easter weekend stumbled upon us and it was a tough decision of
'where to go' or 'what to do'.
My advice, if you want to visit this
area, book
Cederberg Accommodation or
Citrusdal Accommodation far in advance.
Citrusdal info
takes you to 22 km away and further from all the main attactions of the
Cederberg. Cederberg Accommodation puts you in the heart of all the
action... its up to you.
This time around, we found
self catering cottage at Keurbos
about 50km from where we wanted to stay. The advantage of this was, we
were forced to enjoy the majority of the cederberg valley from
Clanwilliam, pass Algeria, right up to the heart of the Cederberg. The
cost was R350 per night for a cottage that sleeps 5, with electricity.
You need a permit to hike this route, and on the permit is the code to get into the gate. I take no responsibility for information shared on this blog, but I do hope it will help you to enjoy this hike as much as we have always done.
Take plenty of water and always something warm for the unpredictable cold wind at the top.
Once you have parked your car (see the carpark below), the clearly marked path will take you to the top. This massive square rock is your halfway landmark to the top.
Once you start to reach the rockface at the top, aim for the gap in the centre of this image. Here you will find a sign to point you to your next stop. At the sign is a 2m scramble onto a ledge where most people give each other a hand to get onto the ledge. The ledge will then take you to the right of this image, where you need to immediately climb upward (easy walk) again back in the direction of the middle of this image.
This is me ontop of the ledge heading in the direction of the photographer. If you look carefully far into the crack by the fallen rocks (of this image), you will see there is a person standing ontop of the rocks. These people have already completed the route and are heading down already.
While walking along this ledge there is one section (the size of A4) of rock that is very narrow, where you need to cross the path to continue your way up. views are spectacular all the way...
After surviving the narrow A4 size ledge, continue to head up the mountian in the direction of this big hole in the rock. Here you have to again scramble over the rocks as seen in front of me.
Thankfully, as seen above, I managed to get over those rocks and into a section that resembles a rockfall and an amphitheatre.
Aim for left side of the rock in the middle of the image. Look carefully and you will notice Zita sitting there enjoying her lunch and even more carefully and you will see the white arrow painted on the rock behind her.
Some clever hikers before us painted a white arrow in the direction that you need to follow. Best you put your torch on in here, the very narrow passage has about 5 meters of complete darkness and many boulders to negotiate.
Once you have got yourself through that dark narrow passage, you will reach a sandy patch. This is where you will find the beautiful wolfberg cracks.
Dont make the mistake that everyone makes when they get here - and just rush through. Stop and enjoy!
When you are ready to move on, follow the loooong passage on the left behind me.
This passage continues up the mountain and gets narrower to the end. There comes a point where you need to again scramble over a 2m high rock, so its best you go with someone to give each other a hand.
The final obstacle of this walk is where you need to reverse your body into a hole and wiggle your way under a fallen rock, to get back onto the now very walkable path.
Once you reach the top, again, stop and enjoy the view.
The way back down is to head about 50m outside of the cracks and then turn left. Follow the path back down.
From here, give yourself about 1h30min to get back down.
A romantic full moon greeted us as we drove out of the Sandrift area...
Route co-ordinates can be obtained if you
contact me.
Alternative Route to get to the Cederberg (and much easier than the other one which I wrote about in my other posts) is the following:
Take the N7 to Citrusdal.
Pass Citrusdal about 25km and then turn right onto the Algeria road.
This road will take you through the Nieuwoudts pass... stunning and easy driving.
At the bottom of the pass you will see a sign that shows you the direction of the Cederberg.
This is where you will also pass the Algeria resort, but continue with the road in the direction of the Uitkykpas.
Once you have reached the top of the Uitkykpass, you will be about 20km from the Wolfberg Cracks.
Keep your eyes open for a view of the Wolfberg Cracks in the mountain on your left, which is about in the middle of the image of the sheep above.
Remember to stop at the
Sandrift Farm to get your permits during office hours.
Enjoy!
