Many people have driven
the breath-taking Meiringspoort through the Swartberg Mountains;
either as scenic destination, or part of their journey from
Oudtshoorn to Beaufort West along the N12. Few people, however, have
seen Meiringspoort from above.
It was Anja's birthday
and time to do something memorable again; the benchmark set with our
ascent of Mannetjiesberg last year.
At 2066 masl Bloupunt
is the first >2000 m Swartberg Mountain peak to the west of
Meiringspoort.
On showing Anja the
photo of this peak, impressive from the northern side, she was a bit
dubious as apart from the Besemfontein hike a month ago, she'd been
doing a lot of laptop time.
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| Bloupunt from the north-east |
But our base would be
the luxury-rustic Stone House at Meijersrust,
a special place in and of itself, and Anja's birthday treat. I'd
camped at Meijersrust a couple of times before, and its a really
beautiful property with great hostess and host in Vivian and Barry
Meijer.
Our first challenge was
to get to the Stone House in Anja's Mazda Etude, as a high clearance
vehicle is needed to ascend the farm track. The Jimney battery needed
replacing, but with nowhere open on a Sunday we were unable to use
our little 4x4. Despite Anja's white knuckles, a few under-carriage
scrapes and grinds, we made it. We got there early enough in the
afternoon to wonder around the farm tracks to admire the eland, cute
calves and many bird species in the mosaic landscape of dams, Acacia
filled drainage lines and dams.
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| Mazda with Bloupunt from the south side in the distance |
Our attempt on Bloupunt
started the following day: Monday 21st. Our original plan
was to drive to the campsite higher up in the mountains to shorten
the distance and to gain some elevation for the hike, but that was
out since a 4x4 is needed to get there. So we started off from the
Stone House, which is 700 masl, early enough to be pleasantly
distracted by Apalis, Duiker and Sugarbirds in the crisp morning air.
By the time we reached the viewpoint over Meiringspoort (1200 masl)
it was touch and go as to whether we'd make Bloupunt. We thought we'd
give it a shot anyway, and headed off-trail and upwards.
By just before midday
we'd walked 10 km and climbed 1000 meters, but we'd reached our turn
around time. Our compromise was thus Bloupunt 'Junior' at just over
1700m, with great views north beyond Klaarstroom; south to the
Kammanassie and Outeniquas; of Meiringspoort below us to the east,
with Blesberg beyond; and Bloupunt so near and yet so far to our
west. Starting from the campsite the ascent would be possible as a
day hike.
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| Meiringspoort from above |
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| On Bloupunt 'Junior' with Bloupunt behind |
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| Anja proving that most mountain accidents happen on the way down. |
Our descent was fairly
quick as we b-lined our way straight down the mountain, cutting out
the zig-zag of the Meiringspoort viewpoint and saving 3km on the way.
This meant we had plenty of light time and were able to enjoy the
huge outdoor bath to the max before having to escape indoors to
escape the chill mountain breeze.
Overall, lovely time
out (although I did sneak in a buttonquail survey and birdwatching)
and a great escape from the Christmas mayhem.
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