What's inside?
* Winter weather
* Trips & Tours
* Swartberg Tour - Day 2
* Not all heroes wear capes
* Pass of the week
Winter weather
Several cold fronts swept in from the west during August sending temperatures plummeting with lots of rain and snow. It would appear that August was on average a colder and wetter month than July for most of the southern parts of the country as far as north as the Gariep River.
Despite some decent rain falling in the Port Elizabeth area, dam levels remain a concern. The Kouga Dam near Patensie was at 4,5% this time last year and is currently on 16,4% - and that with spring around the corner and a long hot summer to get through.
Tours & Training
The Garden Route Tour is coming up during September. This is our first version of this tour, which is fully booked. We will be reporting in detail once the tour is completed.
During October, we have the Seven Sisters Tour (also fully booked) and our novice 4x4 training day scheduled for October 30th. There are two spots available. Click here for more details and online bookings.
The Kouga-Baviaans Tour in November remains fully booked.
The Ben 10 Eco Challenge V6 Tour will open for bookings next week. It is scheduled for 10th to 15th December.
Swartberg Tour- Day 2
Our convoy departed the tar in Calitzdorp for the more enjoyable gravel roads. Our routing took us northwards following the eastern flank of the Nelsrivier valley. The road soon develops into a small mountain pass as the dam wall of the Calitzdorp Dam comes into view.
Tucked behind Besemkop in the Nel’s River valley, about 5 km north of Calitzdorp in the Little Karoo lies the Calitzdorp Dam or, more correctly, Nel’s River Dam. Completed in 1918 it is South Africa’s first and oldest concrete gravity dam that was built for irrigation purposes and that is still in working condition – a living pioneering engineering achievement.
Nel’s River Dam, which took about five years to build, comprises approximately 110 000 cubic tons of concrete. The dam wall has a height of 18 m and length of 213 m. The spillway consists of a low concrete overflow with a drainage canal that was blasted into the side rock and left unlined. The permissible height of the overflow is 1.8 m. The dam provides water to 70 irrigation users of the Calitzdorp Irrigation Board with their 520 ha of scheduled irrigation lands, as well as the approximately 4700 residents of the town.
Calitzdorp or Nelsrivier Dam constructed 1918
Beyond the dam the road swings into the east as it follows the Kruisrivier valley. This is one of the gems of the Little Karoo. This well hidden valley has its own micro-climate in complete contrast to the much drier areas to the north and south. The P1706 route offers far superior scenery to the well known R62 tourist route - especially the straight and often boring section between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn. This back road offers multiple options and several small passes, each distinctly different to the other. The Kruisrivierpoort is the first of these passes when driving from west to east.
The road is very narrow in places, which makes things a bit exciting when a vehicle approaches from the opposite direction. Many sections of this road have dry-packed stone walls supporting the drop-side which provides an indication of the age of the road, which probably dates back to the early 1900's.
Farming in the fertile valley is extensive and is complimented by several guest houses, farm stays and art galleries. An entire day should be spent exploring this fascinating part of the Little Karoo. The drive is slow and visually stimulating with the ever present Swartberg range dominating the view to the north.
Rent a cottage like this in the valley / River View Cottages
After 27 km an intersection appears adjacent to the Kruisrivier Gallery (another point of interest along this route worth spending some time). Here we turned left climbing up the first foothills of the Swartberg range up a small pass called Huis se Hoogte. Once over this pass, the road bisects the Swartberg Game Reserve. Invariably there is game to be seen including giraffe, which are the most easily spotted.
The next pass beckons which is the Doringkloof Pass. This relatively unknown pass is located on the farm road designated MR00363 between the Swartberg Pass and Calitzdorp, just to the east of the Kruisrivier settlement. It offers marvellous scenery with the mighty Swartberg Range looming ever present to the north. With a moderate length of 4.7 km and an equally modest altitude gain of 156m it produces an easy average gradient of 1:30 but there are a few sections that do ramp up 1:8.
Once over the summit point, the road width decreases and the number of tight corners increases as it descends down the side of a ravine. The views here are beautiful with a well wooded farm lying at the foot of the pass, the blue waters of the dams making for a postcard like photograph.
After a short distance the road crosses the Wynandsrivier where the gravel gives way to tar. The tar is in good condition and offers a nice smooth ride for a short while as the road meanders along the southern side of the Matjiesrivier. There are several farm stays and guest houses along this section, including the lovely Swartberg Country Manor, which would be our overnight destination two days later.
Looking to the left at the Swartberg range, a distinctive low point marks the summit point of the Swartberg Pass (the highlight of the tour). Once you have your eyes locked on that point, the pass itself can be traced descending down the mountain from left to right at a steady gradient. To think that Thomas Bain built the pass in 1888 using only his natural talent for calculating gradient. No wonder they called him "The man with the theodolite eye"
Next week: Kobus se Gat to De Rust
Not all heroes wear capes.
One of our social media followers (who prefers remaining anonymous) contacted us with an offer to replace the sticker ravaged summit sign at the Swartberg Pass with a new one. We sprung into action and arranged for a local businessman to measure the sign for us.
The new sign erected above the old sticker plastered and bullet riddled sign
We relayed the information to our benefactor and within 3 weeks the brand new sign was in place. He left the old sign below it, in the hope that sticker-people will add their mark to the old sign and not the new sign. It was wonderful that there are still people like this around that simply get stuck in and get the job done. Our kind of people!
We gifted the gentleman with an honorary lifetime membership of MPSA.
PASS OF THE WEEK
* * D O R I N G K L O O F P A S S * *
Trygve Roberts
Editor
"Don't bother about genius. Don't worry about being clever. Trust in hard work, perseverance, and determination" ~ Frederick Treves.
