Western Cape, South Africa
Introduction | King of Kloofs | Baviaanskloof | Die Hel | Suicide| Kloofing safely
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Kloofing is a uniquely Western Cape sport. The Cape mountains, warm climate, cold mountain water and hard quartz sandstone have come together to form the unique river gorges and valleys which make great kloofing possible.
Kloofing involves getting yourself down a river gorge - one that is fast-flowing, but with too little water for kayaking or any other boating. Sometimes you just boulder-hop, sometimes you wade, or swim, sometimes you have to climb, and many kloofs have "compulsory jumps" from an insane height.
Some things set kloofing apart from ordinary hiking: there is no path, so you have some freedom to choose your own route and challenge yourself with the obstacles along the way. You're always constrained by the sides of the gorge, so it's hard to get lost in a kloof, but there is an enormous freedom to explore: tributaries, waterfalls, potholes, jumps, or just to stop at a perfect pool for a three-hour lunch break.
This
is the king of the Cape kloofs: the ultimate 3- to 5-day kloofing experience.
It's not really called "King of Kloofs", but that's the name I've decided
to use on this web page to keep the area secret.
The trip begins with a tough ascent and descent into the river, which will take most of a day to complete, and has some charming names like Hagga's Hill and Big and Little Agony. Because of the heat, the ascent is often done at night.
In the course of the river there are more than a dozen "compulsory swims" and many kilometres of the best kloofing in the Cape. Landmarks include Barrier Falls, Emerald Pool, Boulder Pool, the Supertube, and Bumslide Rock. There are many beautiful camping spots beside the river. The waterfall in the picture is called Disa Falls, it's huge, freezing, and the best thing in the world after the 900m ascent and descent into the kloof.
Since you'll be swimming and carrying a full pack, you'll have to do some serious waterproofing, and think about carrying a lilo.
The landowner in this area once officially warned me not to include their contact information on this page, so you'll have to track them down yourself. I don't blame them - if you had a secret like this one, you'd want to keep it. And frankly, it's a very tough hike putting parties very much at the mercy of the elements, so I don't want to take the blame for the next kloofing accident.
Baviaanskloof or Bobbejaans River is a tributary of Bains Kloof. You start with a steady uphill hike of an hour or two parallel to the river. At the top is a waterfall which you can see for some distance, and just before this is a pool which can only be reached by a swim and a scramble - at least, that's what they say, because we didn't manage to complete the scramble. If you want to shorten your trip, you can also cut down into the kloof from an earlier point on the path.
Since Baviaanskloof is fairly steep kloof, in a few places you need a definite head for heights and an ability to scramble down the steep rock sides of the gorge. There are no compulsory jumps, but a few optional ones, and lots of scope for exploring. Baviaanskloof ends up in Bains Kloof, at which point you turn upstream and return to your starting point.
Above the Eerste Tol village, Bain's Kloof (Wit River) also makes a pleasant kloofing trip. You can walk up a gravel road and path as far as Junction Pool, and come back down the river. Halfway down is an unusual aqueduct dug through the rock, ending at the site of an old mountain mansion, now demolished, overlooking the pass.
Die Hel is a famous pool in the Groot
Winterhoek mountains - the biggest and best rock pool in the Western Cape,
surrounded by cliffs and a large waterfall. It's about a 15km hike to this point,
so you should plan to camp out or spend the night in De Tronk or another hut
in the area.
Although many people hike to Die Hel, few go down the Twenty-four Rivers kloof which ends in this pool. The kloofing trip begins at the road bridge which you cross just before you get to De Tronk. (Above the bridge is the Klein Kliphuis River, also a pleasant half-day kloofing trip.) In many places you can clamber between and under the boulders of the kloof, wading and swimming through caverns and tunnels between the boulders. Your trip ends spectacularly at Die Hel, where the only way you can get down to the pool is a jump of about 5m.
After the jump there is a steep climb out of the gorge , but the view and sense of achievement are well worth it.
Suicide Gorge is without doubt the most infamous of the Cape kloofs, and it's name is quite appropriate. It's a very steep kloof and in a short distance, it has a sequence of notorious compulsory jumps: several are over 13m, although some insane kloofers add to this by climbing even higher up the sides of the gorge before jumping.
A few words about jumping safely. Remember that Cape mountain water is very dark due to the natural tannins in the water, and the rocks underneath can be invisible, especially in shadows. Before you jump, be sure that someone has tested the depth of the water below you. Never dive: it's just not worth it. Land feet first, legs together, with your arms at your sides. Spinal surgeons will tell you that anything over 5m is risky, and anything over 10m is inherently unsafe. Believe them. And remember, you can't go back up a compulsory jump: once you've done the first one, you're committed to the rest of the river.
Another warning about jumping. Some people seem to think that jumps are the only worthwhile part of kloofing, that higher is better, and so on. These adrenaline junkies have very little relationship with the kloof they are "doing". For them, I suggest a trip down Suicide gorge (but only if they are sure they can live up to their own big talk) and then sticking to sensible adrenaline sports like bungee and skydiving. Real mountain experiences probably aren't for them.
Another general rule about kloofing safely is that kloofing after rainfall can be extremely dangerous. The power of a kloof in flood, the speed at which the water level can rise, and the height it can reach, will exceed anything you can imagine. If you can't escape from the kloof, retreat as far up the bank as you can go, and sit it out. Pushing on in these conditions can be fatal.
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Ian Webb, Cape Town, South Africa