Giants Castle, Beacon Hill, 2 April
Hike Leader: Luis Esteves
Report by Luis Esteves
Thirteen lively hikers (the youngest being 20-something; the oldest 80) set off at 9am under clear blue skies from Giants Castle car park.
The first section of our hike was back along the tarred road we had earlier driven on to come into the camp. Behind us the main berg was exposed in its full magnificence from the sleeping Giant to Monk’s Cowl. As we made our way along the road, we passed the sandstone cave which had been the temporary “home” of Sydney Barnes who had arrived in 1903 as the first warden of Giant’s Castle.
A kilometre or so onwards, we turned off the tarred road onto the jeep track which winds its way towards Meander Hut and the Pines Outpost.
The jeep track took us up hill and down dale before levelling off as we neared Meander Hut. At the hut (thanks to Alex for organizing the use of the hut, especially the ablution facilities) we stopped for an early lunch.
The hut sits on the edge of Meander Valley affording beautiful views of the valley and meandering river below, and the main berg off in the distance.
Having been rejuvenated and in good spirits it was time to tackle Beacon Hill. From Meander Hut thepath heads steeply upwards with Meander Valley falling off steeply and the main berg stretched out spectacularly further off to the left. By this time ominous-looking clouds were gathering and we pushed on, concerned that at any moment we might be caught in a typical afternoon berg storm.
At roughly 2000 metres in altitude, Beacon Hill provided amazing 360-degree views of the main berg to the west as well the vulture hide, Chimney Pot and Sugarloaf to the east.
Fortunately, as we walked on the clouds began to disperse and the threatening storm did not materialize. Further on we again saw the eland herd off in the distance grazing peacefully.
The last leg of the hike was downhill back to the car park. Before the final short steep section, we stopped for a “ruskansie” next to the stream which runs past Sydney Barnes’ cave. We then made our way past the cave and then the short steep downhill to the car park. It was 3pm and our hike had taken us six hours.
Thank you to all the hikers for helping make this a most enjoyable and memorable day.
