World’s View & Dorpspruit
Hike Leader: Kevin Stoffberg
Report: Pat Jennings
Photos: Ali Engelbrect, Kevin Stoffberg, Ian Kerr, Penny Purchase
Saturday morning dawned overcast and gloomy after several days of rain, but thankfully the rain held off until our group reached its final destination. Given the slippery conditions and steep terrain this was a great blessing
Once our vehicles had been parked in the relative safety of the One Life Church grounds, 18 hikers and one dog started from World’s View following the old railway line route, down through the forest and old railway tunnel to the Dorpspruit. Kevin shared some of the interesting history of the early development of the transport routes down the hill from World’s View to Pietermaritzburg from ox wagons to railways.
After tea in the enchanted forest on the banks of the Dorpspruit we walked across to the current railway line and tunnels, where Transnet duly provided physical evidence that the line is still operational by sending a long train through just as we left the area. These tunnels are each some 6 km long and extend as far as Cedara.
What goes down must go up, and from the current railway tunnels the return hike to Hilton via Winterskloof was all uphill. This was pretty steep going and put a new spin on the term “tree hugger” as we slithered and scrambled our way uphill. From the evidence it would appear that this is also a favoured route for crazy downhill cyclists and/or motorcyclists, wonder how many have wrapped themselves around gum trees?
The density of alien invasive plants in the plantations along our route was quite mind boggling, with yellow ginger, bugweed and lantana crowding almost the entire understory. Nevertheless, Alli, the mushroom hunter, managed to find a variety of fungi with which to pique our interest.
We all completed the hike safely and in good spirits, but I’m sure many of us joined Willow in a post-hike nap.