This started as these things usually do, with a throw away comment over a beer, a typical...why don't we... moment.
Then it kind of grew and grew until 9Peaks9Weeks was born.
A friend and I have decided to try and climb the highest peak in every province in SA, sort of like a mini 7-Summits, just without the extreme cost and life-threatening danger that that involves. To make it a bit more of a mission we will also try to do it within 9 weeks.
In itself it's not the most difficult thing to do, but with two middle aged chaps juggling family and job responsibilities it is a bit of a challenge.
We'll be starting our challenge with climbing Iron Crown in Limpopo Province on Friday the 4th of October, and hopefully ending with Seweweekspoort Peak in Western Cape on Friday 29th of November. Below is a full list of the Peaks and their respective heights.
The Peaks – in the order we hope to climb.
Iron Crown 2126 m Limpopo Province
Die Berg 2331 m Mpumalanga
Nooitgedacht West 1806 m North West Province
Toringkop 1913 m Gauteng Province
Namahadi 3275 m Free State
Mafadi 3451 m Kwazulu Natal (and highest point in SA)
Kwa Duma 3019 m Eastern Cape
Murch Point 2156 m Northern Cape
Seweweekspoort 2325 m Western Cape
We climbed the Peak on the last weekend on November 2013 as planned. The path was fairly overgrown, and the temperature at the bottom topped out at about 38 deg, but by the time we reached the cave in the evening it was a chilly 10 deg and the following morning we summited in thick mist, freezing rain and no view. Great to have reached the top of our final Peak, and good luck to all who follow these caches. Have fun and stay safe in the mountains.
For info on this climb - https://sites.google.com/site/towerkopinfo/nearby-hiking-routes/seweweekspoort-peak