Defending the Caveman
Preamble by Capedoc
Men hunt and women gather. When
you hunt, you have to focus on one thing. When you gather you must
divide your attention between many things. When you hunt, you must
be quiet. When you gather, you must share as much information as
you can. That's the view of Tim Plewman, in his play Defending the
Caveman. If you want to understand the modern man and woman; they
way they work and why the way they work can cause conflicts, you
must look back to the caveman. The cache site is an place to
reflect on the caveman. A place to introspect, understand and… to
move beyond the Caveman.
Route description by the pooks
Defending the Caveman: S33°59.268 E18°24.174
This route is a combination of the Caveman's Overhang and Hole
in the Wall routes popular with hikers. We have not managed to
positively identify the hole of Hole in the Wall but we must have
been very close. Maybe someone else can help us here.
There are a number of ways to get to the start of the route - we
came up from Cecelia Forest (park at C1:S33°59.926 E18°25.573) and
past Southern Suburbs Panorama cache. The route starts at the water
tap near the Hoerikwaggo Hut (C2:S33°59.474 E18°24.854). Follow the
path on the northern side of DeVilliers dam. You pass a path coming
up from the dam wall (C3:S33°59.475 E18°24.582). Proceed on a clear
path through restios and grass. In the vicinity of C4:S33°59.390
E18°24.421 there are several tracks branching off to the right. You
will return along these paths, so for now keep to the left (Orange
kloof side). The path can be faint in places, but generally well
marked with cairns. Carry on all along the edge past old yellowwood
trees, under and over rocks and through cracks until you get to the
cache site - which is a mandatory lunch and admire-the-view stop.
This is Caveman's Overhang.
The cache is hidden
roughly in the middle of the overhang. Two massive boulders
are separated by a crack that leads slightly diagonally into
the overhang. If you follow the line of the crack to the back
of the overhang, it will point to the cache. The cache is
hidden in a crack at the back of a rock with a flat top, at
ground level, right at the back of the overhang. There is a
squarish loose rock on top of the flat topped rock. A spoiler
is provided.
The path continues straight on. I do not know where it
finally goes (I suspect it leads to the cement path again). Today
you only walk a short distance along this path and at around
(C5:S33°59.202 E18°24.102) you must look out for a route taking you
straight up the steep slope/cliff-side on your right (look out for
cairns). There are lovely examples of Old Mans Beard growing on the
trees here. At C6:S33°59.190 E18°24.129 look out for a hole in the
ground.
The path
to the left also takes you over the ridge, but far more
exciting is to drop down the hole and slither through the back
of a cave to pop out on the other side. You are now
overlooking a deep valley full of trees with Victoria
reservoir in the distance. You need to drop down a little and
work your way forward more or less at the same level keeping
the valley on your left. The path is pretty vague with lots of
rocks, but keep the lookout for cairns and generally keep
close to the left side of the ridge. Around (C7:S33°59.305
E18°24.304) you must drop down into a crack in the rocks that
leads into a mini-forest. At C8 S33°59.326 E18°24.336 we saw a
rock formation that reminded us of a prow of a ship. At
C9:S33°59.342 E18°24.363 there is another drop down into a
foresty bouldery area.
Notice
the arum growing out of the tree stump (if you see this you
are on the right path). From what I understand from the
description in Karen Watkins' book this must be very close to
the Hole in the Wall, although in the book it is described
approaching from the other side*. Now one is very close to the
path you came along but is was pretty much a trial and error
affair to get back on the original path. Return to the cement
track the way you came.
*Note from Karen via email: As you descend from the tree with
the arum lily (glad it's still there) the hole is on the
right.
Note: The route after C6 is a little unclear and probably adds
an extra star to the terrain rating. If you are feeling less
adventurous you have 3 options:
1) Return back from Caveman's Overhang the way you came
2) Continue along the path at C5 in a NW direction and you will
eventually get to the cement road near the top of Alexandria
Reservoir (I think)
3) At C6 you could probably also continue in a NW direction to meet
up with the path to cement road near the top of Alexandra reservoir
(I do recommend going through the cave first though)
Enjoy