My mate, Andrew Gray belongs to Voetsak, the Mountain Club, and of course our little club ZS2FUN! Andrew and Mandy had the Cockscomb climb on the Voetsak calendar noted and slipped me an invite.
Cockscomb – our destination for Sunday morning!
It was the weekend of 9/10 July – and the Knysna marathon – another thing on my bucket list, but a chance like this I could not miss. Treffor Lloyd held the pre-hike meeting at the German Club and then we were all set. Saturday early morning saw a bunch of crazy people meeting up at the parking lot of the local ULTRA bottle store and heading out to climb Cockscomb. I went with them because it seemed like the right thing to do 😉
One thing no one tells you about the climb is that it is miles away! Pass Uitenhage and then onto the gravel. Something like 70Km of gravel, dust, and anticipation.
The next thing they don’t really make sure you understand (it was mentioned at the pre-hike meeting) is that you have to carry the firewood up from the bottom! We were each given some wood to carry. A big group means many carriers and so this was not a big problem. Go in a small group and I’m sure you feel the pain!
Treffor “I’m scared of heights” Lloyd.
We climbed up onto the top of the ridge by lunchtime. This was a great view and with most of the work done, a pleasant walk from there to the cave. Don’t get me wrong – you are climbing all the way, but the climb is more gradual from here and often you are basically contouring.
Afternoon tea in a cave – where I took the pic to the left of Treffor Lloyd. As we head up the ridge, across the valley we can see the other cave – perhaps the more famous cave – with build-in cabin.
Up onto the saddle and a quick look at the climb to the summit – work for tomorrow morning, but an intimidating view to be sure! A 5 minute walk from the saddle to the cave and we pass the “drip tank” system everyone talks about. I had been told there was water at the cave and then when we arrive they say “hope there’s water there” and I start to panic. There was water there -and pretty much plenty of it too.
If you ever stuck here without water, the other cave is about an hour away and has water.
The fire in the cave that evening was pleasant and informative too. My plans for a “big trek” in “the berg” next year took a big step forward thanks to Serge and his idea for power!
Sunday morning started off with a trip to the “loo with a view”. On the hillside is an all-but flushing loo! From there the day just got better!
We made our way back to the saddle where we stashed our
gear and started up the seemingly impossible trail to the top of the summit.
There is a ‘ledge’ you need to look out for! I was worried about it – and nearly did not go on the hike because of the dreaded ledge. I had heard so much about it and never actually saw it! By the time we were about half way up I asked Treffor where the ledge was (secretly hoping we had passed it) and he told me well, that we had passed it. (His choice of vernacular being unsuitable for a family blog like this one lol)
Arriving at the top of the summit is always a moment to be cherished. You can stop for a moment and reflect on your accomplishment before the fear of “how the hell do I get down again” kicks in.
There is something about the summit of a mountain – something almost distinctly common to summits: They have rocks on top – but this one has a rock taller than me! I know the entire mountain was taller than me! But when you get to the top of the climb and look for the trig beacon only to find it “one more story up” on a large rock that is something else!
Andrew, Serge, Mandy, and I eventually got everything needed up to the top and set the mast up against the trig beacon in a style that is becoming predictable. Andrew played around and we found some contacts.
Now, just because I like the Zulu so much, I feel I must put this piece in…
When you need to break into a QSO to make a contact one normally does it between overs – hoping not to offend the parties concerned.
However, when ZA is talking you actually have time to leave him a voice mail message saying that you are trying to break in and could he please STFU 🙂 ‘nuf said. We made our contacts and 4 more points in the bag! Yay for us.
Back down the mountain was not nearly as daunting a task as I had imagined it was going to be. Lifting yourself up vertical “cliffs” of 2m to 3m at a time takes effort. Fortunately on the way down, gravity has its way with you and you get down a lot easier than you get up. Of course if you miss your footing then … OK – I can’t resist: A quote from Space Quest 3 – “gravity has it’s way with you and you assume the dimensions of a manhole cover” If you don’t know Space Quest then you won’t get it.
The saddle was a welcome break and one where we gathered up again before starting off on the trek back to the cars. The path back was via the “other” cave and the ridge next to the one we had followed up. We could have gone back the way we came up, but this was different and different was good.
We followed the ridge for most of the afternoon until finally dropping down a steep path into the river bed below. From here it was a few minutes and we were back at the cars.
I’d have to say the climb was not nearly as bad as I had been lead to believe. I’m not saying it was a walk in the park – but I’ll do it again.
