You can drive
to the starting point at Agate Terrace or catch the ferry across
the Umzimvubu river and walk along the beach or road to the first
perennial stream, just before the A-frame house. You can also regard
it as a circular trail and start it anywhere you can drive to.
Walk up the
double concrete strip to the left of the stream to the property
boundary, then follow the fence line and the footpath that skirts
the first ridge. As Agate Terrace drops away below you, the footpath
gets to the watershed ridge and enters the scrub forest. Follow
the ridge trail into the tall trees and up the boulder-strewn screed
(very slippery when wet) until the forest floor flattens out. Veer
to the left until you arrive on the open grassland of Farm No. 1.
Notice the very degraded nature of the grazing, mostly erogrostis
with a scattering of sedges and plenty of poisonous tulips and senecios.
This is because of the local belief that burning this particular
piece of grassland will bring the spring rain.
Follow the
right forest margin to the top corner, enter the forest and pick
your own route up the forested boulder slope up to the tableland.
When you emerge onto the grassland bear left to the radar reflector
(our local no vehicle drive-in starring 'Sunset Strip') above the
small amphitheatre.
Stay on top
of the ridge, across the table mountain sandstone boulders, along
the passage between the two forests and up onto the high plateau.
The stream starts from a perennial spring that arises a few feet
lower than the beacon. This phenomenon has never been explained
adequately since the Grosvenor survivors first noticed and recorded
it in 1782. The water is delicious.
The protea
forest has been badly damaged by frequent burning. In the large
amphitheatre to the left there ore two breeding pairs of leopard
- not recommended even if you want to tackle the dense and rocky
forest.
To the right
edge of the plateau there are several small vleis that are good
for bird-watching and there are magnificent views over the Mtafufu,
Mtambalala and Manteku forests up to the Egosso forests on the edge
of
the Magwa tableland. Geographically this gap between the sandstone
plateaux is a hotch potch of formations believed by some to have
been the exit through which the Karoo lake drained in the early
Miocene.
Head for the
beacon and notice the gnarled yellowwood covered in orchids. Small
hollows in the weathered sandstone contain wonderful wind stunted
gardens. Skirt the lip of the Devil's Bite, wind around the right
of the
crossed peak and zigzag down through the protea forest to the tip
of the forest that grows up the ridge.
Inside the
forest a footpath winds down to the historic Cremorne farm. Part
of this footpath is on private land. Treat
with respect.
A
view from Mount Sullivan
