Thumbs Up Adventures: bouldering

South Africa has a lot of rock...and we haven't even travelled beyond the Western Cape. We finished our last post in Clanwilliam and left you with a sampling of photos of Rocklands. Lets start there.

First off, its impossible to sum up Rocklands if you only spend 6 days exploring the area. The plateaus and outcroppings of boulders extend for miles and a solid 3-month season will only scratch the surface of what's possible. Nonetheless, each day is special in this place, even the rest days. Arun and I stayed at De Pakhuys campground, an international dirtbag climber's paradise. Tucked between a farm and the boulder fields, laptops around the fire are as common as boerewors (South African sausage) on the braai (bbq). We were greeted by a friendly host of climbers from South Africa, England, Australia, US, Canada, Germany, and Norway.

There are a few different bouldering crags within a 10 minute walk from camp and the Roadcrew area is higher up at Pakhuys Pass in the Cederburg Wilderness, a World Heritage site. We spent our time exploring these two main areas. Running from boulder to boulder reminded me of days spent bouldering in Castle Hills, New Zealand, fully overwhelmed by the maze of boulders. Overall, Rocklands is 10 times more extensive, yet clusters of well-featured boulders are more spread out. And of course, this is sandstone, not limestone. The boulders present more features, especially in the overhangs, and chickenheads of every shape cap the tops. Just as the mountains energize my spirits, the emotions from climbing these boulders flood my body. With Arun at my side and the lovely company of new friends, I climbed.

A quick word on access. Permits are required at all crags whether public or private land. Climbing at De Pakhuys is free if you are staying on the farm. Permission is always required on other farms. As for the Cederberg, you must pick up your permit from Cape Nature in Clanwilliam. Arun and I picked ours up for the remainder of the week, since it was free with our Wild Card pass. However, the system does not work seemlessly. Driving to Clanwilliam is out of the way, rangers do not regularly patrol, and some climbers feel like the primary purpose was to generate revenue from international climbers and not to improve trails or mitigate impacts. In South Africa, public recreation is not a given assumption.

To sum up, go to Rocklands. And let me know if you are planning a trip. In fact, there is so much rock in South Africa, plan to boulder, trad climb, and clip bolts. Wolfberg is around the corner (but cold in the winter) and crags dot the entire country. We left the rack at home but may hook up with some partners for sport at Waterval Bovin outside Nelspruit in a week.

From Rocklands, we travelled back into World Cup mayhem, resupplied in the Cape Town mall, and arrived in Hout Bay at our self-catered cottage tucked up behind Table Mountain. We enjoyed a great day circling the Peninsula and driving to the southwestern-most point of the African Continent: the Cape of Good Hope. But we will save these stories and photos for our next post. I hope you all enjoyed the US-England match last night. Italy vs. Paraguay tomorrow!

Enjoy the photos:

Campground at De Pakhuys