Ga-Ma "trail" on Klein Pella, Northern Cape for the adventurous

[Bex]

Yesterday when I was getting ready to finish I changed a to a new pair of gloves, that made it 14 pairs of leather gloves worn through on the trail.

[Bex]

Time to open a new chapter, called Ga-ma trail C.
Ehlers had been scouting and have discovered remnants of an old road that we could not figure out.

It is very old, we haven't found anyone local with any knowledge of it and a lot of work had obviously gone into it but it doesn't really serve any purpose that we could work out.

Also some parts of it could only have been done with a 4x4, so It could not be that old.

Then the last riddle, it connects 2 areas that is connected by roads that go around the hill, that would always have been an easier route, so why would some e go to all the trouble to make this road?

Anyway, Pedro and me investigated the possibility of incorporating this road into trail C.
While we were out there we encountered some critters.

[grips]

I think this obstacle could have been driven by choosing the right lines. Moet dit nie te maklik maak nie

[Bex]

The angle of the picture is deceiving you grips, you could not have crossed that without some damage. I suggest you come have a look for yourself.

Another angle.

Anyway I am working on your earlier suggestion
Hierdie kloof lyk belowend vir 'n graad 5 roete.

[grips]

The angle of the picture is deceiving you grips, you could not have crossed that without some damage. I suggest you come have a look yourself

Your trail and Amam is on my list. Think this is the only two trails left in NC that I have not done.

[grips]

We have a dune on the farm that we have given up trying to climb a long time ago, it is just not possible.
Then after the Amam excursion I started to think about it again and this morning I played on it a bit. The Dune is only about 60m high, and I managed to climb a full 12m with the 2.4 .
Attachment 509861
Attachment 509862

So I started to climb it from the side and driving it from the top down with tyres at 0.7 bar to make a track. There is no compaction happening, but at least I can make it more smooth for those with bigger engines who might want to attempt to climb it.

Attachment 509863
Starting at the top.

Attachment 509864
It is not much, but it is all we have

It is not far from the trail and can easily be included if you want to.

I think we have the weapons to conquer that dune Would like to try it with Little Patrol or the Yank Ranger

[Bex]

Ek kan nie wag om te sien wat jy met die duin maak nie grips. Die aanloop is noodgedwonge maar kort soos jy in die fotos sal sien, en die voertuie wat ons hier het kan nie op spoed kom in die beskikbare deel nie.

[grips]

Ek kan nie wag om te sien wat jy met die duin maak nie grips. Die aanloop is noodgedwonge maar kort soos jy in die fotos sal sien, en die voertuie wat ons hier het kan nie op spoed kom in die beskikbare deel nie.

Petrol V8 se tipe duin.

[Bex]

Late yesterday afternoon we discovered another possible climb up a mountain.

We may even have made it up with the bikes, but it is better to do it on foot and work out how to go about it.


On top we discovered that it was a plateau with minimal work required to make a trail.

The different views as you move across the plateau is stunning. I couldnt get good pictures because of the contrast thrown by the low sun.

Getting down the other side is going to be a big job, the only way is down this gully.


The path to reach the mountain will have some interesting climbs.

[Bogaards]

You have a great trail in the Making! Looking forward to the Final product.

How will with this trail take to drive?

Thanks,

[Bex]

Time to drive through depends on how many vehicles in the group, size of the vehicle, the bigger vehicle is more dificult to thread through some parts, and time spent looking at the views.
I can tell you how long it took us to drive through, and then estimate.

Part A of the trail is 18 Km and took 3 hrs with my Pathfinder and 4 hrs with the Ranger. I think with the sightseeing, walk through and guiding that will be required at some of the obstacles it could be 4 - 6 hrs with 2 - 4 vehicles.

Part B is 5 km and took 1 hr with the Hardbody and 1.5 hrs with the Hardbody and Ranger together. I think 1.5 - 3 hrs is about right with 2 - 4 vehicles.

Part D, the dune will take about 20 minutes for 3 vehicles to take the escape route and slide down the number 3 climb. If you start playing on it it is anybody's gues at to how long it will take.

But, and this will make a big difference, we spent more than a year building the road and planned the line of each obstacle as we were breaking and moving the rocks, so it might take longer.
In the next 4 weeks there are 3 groups of members planning to drive the trail, so I may be able to give better estimates after that and maybe get some more informed feedback from experienced 4x4 drivers.

[Bex]

And dont forget the views, they could derail a well planned schedule completely. The idea of the trail was to give access to unspoilt areas, and some of the dry river beds can be further explored. After rains, which does not happen often, some dry river beds can have big water pools above the solid granite banks in them.




Then there is also the Lelikpad route, it circles from the farm to Pella along the phone line, through Pella, down through Charlies pass and then back to the farm along the river. That is about 40 km and can be done in 4 - 5 hours, if you dont linger.

[Bex]

The angle of the picture is deceiving you grips, you could not have crossed that without some damage.

I have to swallow my words here grips, I read your Ranger build thread and I think I understand now. That thing is a beast and I would love to see it on the dune.
The problem is just that if I build a trail that will be a challenge for your Ranger no one else would be able to do it.

[Bex]

I have a general idea now of where part C of the trail is going to go. It will be approximately 12km of which Ehlers have already scouted the second half.
Actually he scouted the whole thing, but I want the first half over the mountain where he wants it around the mountain. We will probably do both as each offers it own unique views and points of interest.

So today I started planning my route through a labyrinth of gullies.

It involves a lot of walking, and often a promising route ends up at a gully with no way through.

There are more than one way through, the trick is to work out which one will be the least amount of work, be the most fun to drive through, get you the best views and be just enough of a challenge.

So far I maped out 4 options.

[Francois Theron]

Hi Bex. I've been away for a couple of days, so catching up now. Do you know what snake it was in the rock crevice?

[Bex]

I am not 100% sure, but I believe it is a "berg adder" i have seen them in the past and only on plateau's on the mountains.

[Bex]

II was going to take things slow a bit with part C, but this bit is looking interesting and less work than the first 2 parts.
So I got Pedro to join me and we started the hardbody onto the route that I have chosen.

At the first fork we go up the nose in the middle. It is an easy climb and only one rock to move.

Then we had to drop of to the right to get around a ridge.
We had Tom make some room for the wheels on the left and fill a hole on the right, it only took about 5 minutes.

Going down I slid a bit and got worried about the return trip.
Then there was another nose in a fork to go up, a few ups and downs.

Next came a big drop down and a big climb out the other end.
If you looks closely in the top right,

You wil see where the rear wheel of the bike was dragging all the way down. I know it doesn't look like much, but I was going max on the front brake as well and still picking up speed.

[Bex]

From the bottom up you get a better idea of the drop down.

That said, the drop down is not too bad, the climb is where the fun is goig to start.

But that is for another day.

[Bex]

Am I going too far with the amount of pictures I am posting? ,how much is too much?
Should I give a warning that this thread is Pic Heavy?

[Francois Theron]

Please carry on the way you are at the moment. I for one would love to visit your trail and appreciate the amount of effort you put into it. It is clearly a labour of love and passion. Doe so voort!