Caracal Cave, Highmoor, 13 March, 2022
HIGHMOOR – CARACAL CAVE DAY HIKE – SUN 13 MARCH 2022 – LEADER KEITH ASHTON
Highmoor is one of my favourite areas as there are so many beautiful & lonely spots to discover besides the two caves (Aasvoelkrans & Caracal) but it takes a long time to know this area well, as it’s easy to get lost when off the beaten track.
There are remote valleys, hidden other caves, bushmans paintings, hidden ruins, lovely waterfalls & caves under waterfalls etc. But today our hike was to Caracal Cave.
Unfortunately the road after Rosetta towards Highmoor is riddled with potholes & is about 86 km from Howick but it takes about an hour & a half to get there.
After completing the formalities at Highmoor office, it was a quite warm but beautiful morning as our group of 16 hikers left our shady parking spot under the trees & headed off towards Caracal Cave.
Our participants were Debbie, Alex, Kostya, Alan & Sandra, Daryll, David & Sharon, Peter, Diana, Monique, Margaret & Keith.
We also enthusiastically welcomed three new members, namely, Carrie-Anne Stegen, Bongiwe Khumalo & Gavin Myburgh (Gavin having officially joining the club the day before the hike).
Soon we were crossing the small & narrow timber bridge over our fast flowing first stream (this stream eventually feeds into the Little Mooi River) before climbing up & out of the valley towards & eventually past Kamloops Dam.
Beautiful views of Giants Castle impressed us at this point including the reflection in the dam; the views being recorded mainly on our cell phones nowadays.
Our next stream crossing was just below & adjacent to Salma Dam where we took more photos of the beautiful view over the dam towards Giant’s Castle as lovely clouds formed, being careful not to point at the Giant to cause a rain storm & not on our hike please.
Before long we were passing Shasta Dam, another lovely spot where various species of water fowl were enjoying this peaceful area.
Further on we came to the sign to Foulton Rock, which tempts hikers to take this route which is now overgrown & could contribute to inexperienced hikers getting lost & there should not be sign to the rock as it has plenty of Bushmans paintings & should only be visited with a Rock Art Custodian. I am thinking of taking this longer & rougher route to Caracal Cave as a variation for our 3rd quarter hike fixtures as I am one of the leaders who is a Certified Rock Art Custodian.
After another kilometre or two of gentle climbing we had a short break to take in the magnificent views. Then soon we were on the steep route down towards Caracal Cave, but I decided to make a detour past the extensive old kraal, which is quite interesting to see as it must have taken a lot of hard work & skill to build many years ago. The area around the kraal is now covered in brambles so a bit of caution is needed not to get too scratched. From the kraal we headed down towards a small stream, having to find a route through the scrub & bush to cross the stream to a known water spot to fill our water bottles.
I pointed out the importance of this spot if backpacking & sleeping in the cave, as water is very scarce in winter near Caracal Cave.
From the stream we continued upwards towards the cave, but you traverse over the top of the cave before a bit of scrambling down through a gap in the rocks & descending into the quite large cave with lovely views into the valley below. Also due to the amount of rain we have had recently there was plenty of cascading water at the far end of the cave creating a perfect setting for beautiful photos & videos.
Strangely, except for Margaret & myself, no one else had been to Caracal Cave before & everyone was overwhelmed with such a beautiful spot to relax for quite a while enjoying lunch on this perfect day. In fact, very few of our group had even been to Highmoor previously. They will certainly come again.
After our restful lunch we were on our way for the long climb out of the cave on a perfect sunny day, although the clouds were building up & covering Giants Castle, it was hot long ascent with plenty of heavy breathing. But I encouraged our younger members (those under 80) to test their fitness on the ascent whilst 3 of us over 80 years joined & looked after tailenders.
We took our time on our return route back to our vehicles with several stops just to admire the fantastic scenery & take in the fresh air, admiring the wildflowers & tranquillity with no other humans in sight.
After arrival back at our vehicles we had a rest & some of us enjoying snacks in a social atmosphere before heading home
Thanks to everyone for sharing these precious moments with us, see you again on the next hike.
