Mountain Passes News

: By Trygve Roberts

What's inside?

* Pass of the week

* Garden Route Tour - Day 4

* Seven Sisters Tour - Day 1 B

* Grabouw 4x4 Novice Training

* Ben 10 calling...

* Podcast

Pass of the Week

It's been the culmination of many weeks of hard work, but we are proud to present a brand new 4 part video series on the recently refurbished Bain's Kloof Pass. The video footage was filmed post refurbishment and features the newest footage of the pass. In the voice narration we dig back into Andrew Bain's life and the culmination of his life's work in this timeless masterpiece.

* * Bains Kloof Pass * *

Garden Route Tour - Day 4

We bade the beautiful gardens at Belvidere Manor adieu after a sunny breakfast on the veranda of the old Manor House, heading back to the N2. Close to Knysna, we turned north onto the Old Cape Road, which was once the main road in and out of Knysna.

This was the biggest day of the tour in terms of distance to be covered. The very first point of interest was the Simola Hill Climb - scene of fast cars, skilful drivers and breakneck speeds. The hill climb is fairly short, but it has several bends and climbs very steeply, especially towards the upper half. As we were driving at a fairly sedate 40 kph we had time to admire the manicured grounds of the Simola Golf Estate.

At the summit, we immediately entered the Gouna forest and with it the beginning of a very long stretch of gravel driving. The Gouna Pass is a gravel road connecting the Gouna Forestry village in the north with the Old Cape Road close to the Simola Golf Estate. It is a spectacular drive through dense indigenous forests and amber, tumbling rivers. The hustle and bustle of Knysna was quickly forgotten as we wound our way steeply down to the crossing of the Gouna River. A small pump station and weir serves as a supplementary water resource for Knysna.

Despite the easy numbers of the average gradient at 1:30, many parts of this pass, especially on the eastern side of the Gouna river valley, range between 1:5 and 1:8. Some of these steeper sections have been concreted to aid traction. The Gouna Pass leads to the Gouna Forestry Station and also joins Kom se Pad traverse at that point, allowing a complete circular drive starting and ending in Knysna.

Once up on the mountain ridges, the views are gorgeous with ridge upon ridge of green clad hills ranging away on both sides of the road. Before long the road splits and the condition deteriorates somewhat as we climbed up to the Gouna Forestry Station. Giant Yellowwoods and resonating birdsong, mark the western start of Kom se Pad. This beautiful drive through the lush indigenous forests of the mountains north of Knysna, takes about an hour, as it winds its way between Gouna in the west and Diepwalle in the east. This is one of the best publicly accessible roads in deep indigenous forests where one doesn't require to be in a 4WD vehicle.

The road generally follows the contour lines, providing a pleasant drive mostly completely immersed under the forest canopy. Hiking trails wander off the road into the thick bush and many streams trickling down from the fern clad slopes onto the roadway. We ask guests to drive with their windows rolled down to properly enjoy this drive - smelling the forest and listening to the sounds within - frogs, birds and crickets.

Kom se Pad - arguably the best forest drive in SA

The road eventually forms a T-junction with the R339 and Prince Alfred's Pass at the Diepwalle Forestry Station. The roads were damped down nicely from the recent rains, so dust wasn't too much of a problem, but the road surface is invariably potholed, which limits speeds considerably as there is just no way of avoiding some of them. The potholed sections occur more frequently inside the forest canopy and where gradients are flatter.

Soon we arrived at the turnoff to the Spitskop view site and lead our big convoy up to the summit for a break and some photo opportunities, including a group photo. The views are exceptional as the view point is on top of a conical peak, which allows a full 360 degrees. The weather was great with the ocean being clearly visible to the south.

Happy guests, great weather, special place / MPSA GRT GROUP

All in good time we made it to De Vlugt, where Thomas Bain built a small cottage for his family for the duration of the construction phase of the pass. A tragedy played out on the front stoep when a turkey frightened his little daughter. She tripped and hit her head against the bricks, which killed her. Imagine the anguish for Thomas Bain and his family? For the record Bain was a teetaller and very religious. There's not much going on in the Keurbooms River Valley, but the farm stall and Angie's seem to eke a living out of the passing trade, which is slowly returning to normal post-Covid.

Our route then traversed the narrow winding poort known as the Langkloof, where Bain used his ingenuity and skills to force the river to share his new road through the narrow cliffs.

Next week - Langkloof, Avontuur, Potjiesberg, Paardekop, Plettenberg Bay.

Seven Sisters Tour - Part 2

We routed up the Old Du Toitskloof Pass after our visit to the service tunnel, stopping at the summit for photos and a leg stretch, whilst Kuba went ahead to unlock the security gates. On arrival there he was 'greeted' by a large puff-adder, which delayed the unlocking of the gate by a few minutes!

Once through the gates, our convoy wound up the pass, which was the third highlight of the day. This interesting pass was built by the military in the 1980's and provides a safe all-weather pass for technicians to service the microwave and other towers at the summit point, where seven distinct peaks are known as the Seven Sisters. The quality of the road, although narrow, is very good with cuttings, good drainage and camber included in the construction. The views are spectacular for want of a better superlative and as there is to all intents and purposes no traffic, the area is wild and remote, despite its proximity to nearby Wellington and Paarl. Wildlife abounds with antelope and leopards being seen fairly often.

View from 1370m over Wellington and Riebeeck Kasteel with Kasteelberg in the distance / Photo: MPSA

On arrival at the Suzie Tower (Telkom) we came across a Ford EcoSport with a flat wheel. As we had Deon Rossouw (Cape Nature) with us in the front vehicle, the occupants (hikers) had some explaining to do for being in a restricted area. Some of our group, including Deon got stuck in and helped them change their wheel. They departed post haste - fingers in the coookie jar!

It was cold and blustery at the 1370m high summit, so our time there was reduced somewhat by Mother Nature. We descended to the De Poort farm, which is still in the reserve, where we enjoyed a very tasty lunch and a good hour to socialize. Deon gave the group a most interesting talk on the scope of Cape Nature's work.

After lunch, we rejoined the old DuToitskloof Pass at the summit, and turned left descending down through the old tunnel (1948) and then along the N1 for an easy drive through to Rawsonville. There we diverted past Goudini and along the Slanghoek valley. This gently meandering tar road along the valley between the impressive Slanghoek Mountains and the smaller Badsberg mountain showcases a restfully pastoral landscape of vineyards and fruit farms. Food for the body and soul.

Our goal and final highlight of the day was the Bain's Kloof Pass, which is our featured pass of this week. The rain had settled in so it was a wet drive over the pass and down to our overnight destination - Diemersfontein Wine Estate, where wine tasting and dinner awaited. Dress code for the night was denim with a dash of sparkle. One of our guests Rupert Worsdale, arrived dressed in a space blanket. Winner!

Rupert & Lizzie Worsdale - such good sports!

Next week: The two spoor drive from Eerste Tol to Gawie se Water.

Grabouw 4x4 Novice Training Day

These training days are always popular and get booked out quickly. This one was no exception with a long list of prospective clients wanting a ticket. Managing 12 novice drivers in mountainous terrain on confined tracks is not for the faint hearted. We enlisted some assistance in the form of Philip Wantling who ran the sweep function, Sean Rees who did all the one on one obstacle guidance and Tyler Wantling who filmed the action.

An interesting array of vehicles made up the 14 vehicle convoy of which two stood out - a Porsche Cayenne and a Renault Duster. A 30 minute theoretical talk, preceded by tyre deflation and radio fitment, set the tone for the day as our large convoy rolled through Grabouw and on to the Elgin Country Club, which is in a beautiful setting on the banks of the Eikenhof Dam under the foothills of the Hottentots Hollands Mountains.

The first set of axle twisters saw plenty of action. Our students learned fast! / Photo: MPSA TRG GROUP

Philip and I had been out three weeks prior to recce a suitable route which we wanted to keep at no higher than Grade 2. The object of the exercise was to teach the basics of offroad driving, without scaring the drivers and leave them with the self confidence to venture off on their own to enjoy what their vehicles were actually designed to do.

Next week: Axle twisters in abundance.

Ben 10 Calling...

We've had a cancellation for the Ben 10 come in today, so if you own a 4x4 with low range and you're looking for some fun and adventure before Christmas, come and join us. One of our guests, Barrie Barnardt will be doing his 4th Ben 10. Hooked on a feeling!

The aim of the challenge is to drive ten specific high altitude gravel passes within a time frame of seven days, whilst enjoying the beautiful Eastern Cape highlands scenery. In the process you will be supporting eco-tourism in this remote part of the Eastern Cape, thereby uplifting the local population.

Carlisleshoekspruit Pass - one of the steepest on the Ben 10.