28 March 2009    to      29 March 2009

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At this time of the year the Cosmos flowers are in full bloom, and the sides of the road leading to the Sphinx hiking trail were full of them.

About 5km from Langesnek base camp we came across this large snake, which judging by its relatively short body (about 1.2 meters) and thick girth as well as large head could have been an Adder.

The big dog was still there, and this time round had a small friend, both waiting for the chicken to finish on the braai.

Next morning and ready to go...

Kerneels Mutant Ninja Turtle with machinate trying to clear a path for us.

My Mercedes needed new tires, so I decide to preach a bit of hellfire and damnation onto my stingy flock to convince them to increase their contributions. In the end I just got enough for a bicycle tire out of them.

Some horses along the first part of the trail.

There is a very nice lookout point after the Blue gum forest looking down onto a plain with great herds of antelope.

The place also caters for horse riding enthusiasts, and here a group was coming towards us across one of the plains.

One eventually gets to a short tire ladder leading into a stone gully.

There is a very nice pool with freezing water a bit further up which we went to have a look at.

The place also lends itself as a good place for a break.

Eventually one reaches the saddle between the mountains which makes for another good stopping point.

From here on the trail contours around the mountains.

The last kilometer or so one descends into a gully and follows a small stream.

There were some lovely pools in the gully.

Finally we reached the overnight hut which we had all to ourselves.

The second days route had been relayed a bit, possibly because the old one would have been very slippery with all the rain.

In the distance some dark clouds were building, but we made it back to base camp dry.