11 October 2008    to     12 October 2008

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This weekend we tried one of the hikes in the Magaliesberg at Foothold. Petro and Kerneels are members of the Johannesberg Hiking Club who own the place and so we could come along and see the place for ourselves. We were the only ones there, so we had a really great weekend. We all camped at Foothold and had a nice braai in the evening. This was actually the first time Silvia and myself had done a hike in the Magaliesberg. The Gullies leading up to the top of the mountains are quite scenic. It also gave us a bit of exercise in-between the backpacking hikes.

Our campsite.

The braai facilities in the background.

Kerneels hard at work practicing his needlework for his exam on Monday morning.

The evening around the fire. Notice how certain people change into Werewolves at night.

Next morning after a hearty breakfast and ready to role.

The Magaliesberg in the distance with the two gullies also visible where we would ascend and descend later on.

At this point the trail starts heading up towards the cliff face becoming steeper and steeper as one gets closer.

The split off towards the two gullies. We took the Ladder gully up and the Footloose gully down again.

Having a drink at one of the water catchment points for the camp below at the cliff face.

The route up Ladder gully is quite spectacular with large boulders wedged above one in the gully.

The last piece consists of a chain ladder leading up to the top.

Finally we made it! The view is great from the top.

The interesting rock formations near the top.

The top has a gentle downward slope to the north.

From here we decided to explore some of the small ravines and dried out streams that one finds at the top.

Lunch time.

After lunch we headed towards Footloose gully and back to the bottom again. Footloose gully is very steep downwards, but there are quite a few ropes that one can hold onto.

Ever downwards...

Nearly back at the camp again...The Magaliesberg contain many interesting and scenic spots and are close to Johannesburg, so its easy to pop off quickly on a weekend here if one wants to get away from the city stress.