Beginners hike to Aasvoel Krantz Cave – 18 to 19 May 2024
Hikers seem to be a different breed of person – we seem to forget how bad things can be and instead only remember the good. This was absolutely true in regards to the road to Highmoor. After an excruciating 30km from Rosetta to the Highmoor turn off, and another 30 minutes on a dirt road, we all arrived at Highmoor. Our group was made up of Deon, the leader, Richard, Vanessa, Ingrid and Celest and some old acquaintances, Katy and Charlie, and Maya, at 4 years old my youngest newbie on a hiking trip. After a quick introduction of all in the group, payment made, register filled in, gear checked and a last toilet break we all set off.
The pace was steady with little Maya walking all smiles as we made our way down to the river crossing and up to the contour path. The path to Aasvoel Krantz is a relatively easy walk and was ideally suited for all the beginner hikers in the group. The spirit of the group was high and energy levels at an all-time high, mainly due to Vanessa feeding every one that travelled with her all her food, as she had already decided she’s not going to carry heavy.
Aasvoel Krantz is only 4,5km from the Highmoor office, and a popular cave with day visitors, and we met quite a few of them on route. Luckily, I booked the cave in advance and was sure that we would not have to share it with any other overnight groups. On route we had a lovely rest at the waterfall, and Celest made use of the opportunity to make a quick cup of tea while the rest of us filled our bottles with fresh mountain water and topped up our energy levels a bit.
From there the path follows the contour and is relatively easy and on a brisk walk you will reach the cave in 45 minutes, but we took our time matching Maya’s pace and just taking the time to soak in the beauty and awe of the Drakensberg. The weather was warm and sunny with a slight breeze making for ideal hiking conditions and with no rain being forecasted.
Arriving at the cave, we found it nice and clean and with everyone finding their little spot for the night we started to set up camp.
It is the waterfall that makes Aasvoel Krantz so popular, and we made our way down to the pool at the bottom of it and although none of us was brave enough to swim in the frigid water, Charlie did test it out by wading in. It was warm in the sun, however we could feel the chill of winter approaching, as the sun slowly disappeared, we all had to reach for a warmer jacket as the temperature started to drop.
Supper was quite an interesting affair with a variety of meals on offer, from bacon and eggs to salads were on offer, but in the end a as long as you are going to bed on a full stomach, any good meal will do.
As the sun was setting it got quite cold quickly, we were all getting into our warm sleeping bags trying to fall asleep with the noise of the waterfall drowning out all the other noise around us.
We were all up relatively early, eager to watch the sun rise while sipping on a cup of coffee and chatting away reminiscing on the amazing beauty we had experienced the previous day. After our breakfast we started to slowly pack up and I got the feeling that everyone was prolonging the inevitable, the walk back, not because it’s a difficult walk, instead because we have to leave the beauty and tranquility behind to return to our rushed lives in the city.
Our walk back was at a very leisurely pace, visiting the top cave, before heading towards the waterfall and then on to the Kamloops Dam and then back to our vehicles. It must be said that it was a bit of a bitter sweet return, part of us wanted to stay behind in the beauty and part of us knew we had to return. Luckily it’s never a “goodbye” but rather an “until we see each other again”.

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