The Impressive Groot Winterhoek
So impressive is the towering Groot Winterhoek peak that, until 1892 when the Hex River's Matroosberg was measured at 2 249 metres, it was believed to be the highest peak in the Western Cape.
In 1961, a party led by Jeff Goy set off from Saron up the Vier en Twintig Riviere valley, which forms the mouth of Die Hel. The first part up to the point where the river forks around the main Groot-Winterhoek massif - was reasonably easy. From here, the party followed the right-hand stream, away from Die Hel (by far the easier of the two routes) and on towards Sneeugat.
It was a heavy one-day slog up to the first junction at Vier en Twintig Riviere, but the next section proved to be an epic.
It included large pools that had to be swum, boulders and waterfalls blocking the gorge that had to be negotiated and steep-sided kloofs that had to be overcome to reach the Sneeugat Valley. The entire circumnavigation of the Groot-Winterhoek took the party a week.
The Groot Winterhoek Mountains stretch north, towering above the villages of Gouda, Saron and Porterville, rising up to 2,000 metres above s...