DIE HEL

16 – 17 March 2024

 A sunny autumn overnight hike to Die Hel, with a lovely mixed bag of friends and wilderness enthusiasts. Local members, Cape Town members, and a handful of guests made up the unforgettable team for the weekend; only of members of which had been to Die Hel before.

From pushing through the heat at the promise of a beautiful pool (with nothing but trust in me that this pool actually exists), to bounding from shade pocket to shade pocket, the hike in was rather jarring for a semi-flat descent; but the sun was determined to make our experience that much more exhausting. I kept interpreting it as delayed gratification; “The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph“, with some cool crystal-clear waters awaiting us at the end of the trail.

Reaching Die Hel, the overjoyed team wasted no time in getting in the water and diving into their lunch rations (I kept telling them to hold out on lunch until we got to the pools – “it would be worth it“). Elation all around, we made for a massive cave at the water’s

edge (left side, facing waterfall), equipped with headtorches and improvised face masks. Bats! Bats everywhere! There were thousands, in swarms above our heads and even between our legs at times. We climbed a steep mountain of guano within the main cavern of the cave, only to reach the end about 100 m in.

After a peaceful evening of socialising and game- playing, we all hit the hay one after the other, and awoke the next morning with determination to get up and out of there before the heat struck. One last swim and off we went.

The day out of Die Hel and back to the cars was far easier, with a slight upwards ascent engaging more familiar muscles, and a return route removing the uncertainty and doubt of time and distance, keeping morale high. Plenty of laughs, swims and good vibes on the hike back, this was definitely one for the books.

Wade Basson