Leader: Dave Sclanders Scribe: Andrew Loots Hikers:8

Highmoor, climbing out of the car I find it surprisingly warm, first layer immediately comes off.

A quick view of 3 horses, fat but healthy, the office block and a majestic 360 degree panoramic view, stretching from Mount Lebanon anticlockwise to monks cowl in the distance tracing the escarpment around to the giants head, tucking Lotheni behind it. We see Felicity waiting as we approach, who braved the cold, wind and camped last night and again tonight “ stock seel aleen”. I can only imagine the butternut soup went down well for dinner. Big well done and respect for going it alone.

Paying our dues and signing the Mountain rescue register we were off, passing the dams directional signs we headed in the opposite direction, the first few hours were rather easy walking, recent fires allowed for easy pathfinding.
Before you know it we stood in front of the valley that drops between us and the Giant, spectacular views, a little hazy but vivid enough the see the giant in a lot of detail, the flat wall running from his chin sparked a story told by Dave Sclanders of the a aeroplane that had to refuel in Ladysmith and head over the berg, but could make it and crashed into the wall, (I forget the name of the wall). 

Dave Sclanders a man with many stories, many miles and a wealth of knowledge under the belt, a man we should all soak in his wisdom and knowledge to pass down to generations to come

On the move again back to the main path we head in search of the waterfall, the green shoots inspired by the fire has drawn in a herd of Blesbok, a few Wildebeest and Rhebok. We noticed Rhebok have a unique etiquette to them, they use specific toilet spots which leave random dropping circles amongst the burnt area, mini crop circles , sort of. 
Sue has her binoculars glued to her forehead watching the blesbok, spotting a Black Backed Jackal and pointing out the beautiful site of a bearded vulture soaring in front of us.
The entire walk we seem to play this game with the wildlife, dancing around the plateau as we circumnavigate it, they remain on the opposite side, with the lush new shoots in between us. 

Blesbok

Wildbeest

Rhebok

Onward and upward, 
We climbed the hill not too, steep but trekking across burnt grass made it sound like we were all eating cornflakes. We abandoned the quest for the waterfall and settled for lunch on the a little rocky out crop. 
 Lunch time, A much needed stop, we sat in silence for 5min while everyone tucked in, after eating I sat and stared at the giant, no matter which position you view it from, the allure to conquer it draws my thoughts. I scoured the land between myself and the giant for possible routes to the top, tying to identify landmarks so I can plot it in my mind for the next adventure. 
Last sip of water, pack away and we’re off. 
Approximately halfway back we head up and over the next hill, coming to the top we get to spot the path we’ve walked and get to see all the wildlife spread out in front of us, on the opposite side. 
A wrong left turn, (a few more steps never killed anyone) , the various firebreaks and burnt area made finding the correct left turn difficult, non the less left we went, until meeting up with the road, a last few moments watching the wildlife and the ground we’ve covered. 
Homeward bound, following the road back to the car park.
All in all a wonderful day out, fresh air, good company and beautiful wildlife and scenery. 
 Thank you Hettie and Dave.