New Rock Kestrel Trail

ROCK KESTREL TRAIL

Well folks, I have finally finished cutting the Rock kestrel hiking trail and it is quite challenging but boasts spectacular views of our beautiful piece of heaven. The trail itself is just 200m short of 10 kilometers and traverses from a new parking spot about half way up South Valley to a new parking spot just after the first corner on the access road to Rod's Rest (Unit 7), close to K9. The trail allows Finsbury members and visitors to explore some high altitude grasslands without a guide and without the chance of getting lost.

I have designed the trail along existing game paths so as to reduce the impact on the environment and have only cut virgin paths to join these animal paths together. I have also not removed the grass tufts from the path surface to combat erosion, although small mitre drains will be added to the steeper slopes.

The first leg of the trail is quite tough as you gain 350 odd meters of altitude within the first 2,5 kilometers of the trail. This section provides beautiful views of Olinia Gorge, a gorge hidden from the roads. The gorge is named after the Mountain Hard-Pear tree, Olinia emarginata, which dominates here and has been particularly notable this season as they have flowered more copiously than usual (see previous blog) - spectacular! Once the gorge is crested, your altitude will be the highest on the trail at around 2080 meters above sea level as you traverse the base of Mount Anderson. After just over 4 kms, the trail reaches River Lily Crossing, a perennial mountain stream that flows from Mount Anderson's artesian aquifer into Solitude Valley past Unit 5.

This small portion of the trail cuts through Emoyeni property so the path has not been cut here but, because it is a natural drinking place for animals, the path is well defined and cannot be lost. Another kilometer or so sees the trail pass by Chironia Spring arising from Mount Prospect's artesian aquifer. The spring is marked, in summer, by the presence of beautiful Chironia purpurascens flowers. This stream also flows into Solitude valley. Keep an eye out for ROCK KESTRELS during the trail between these two water points as I have seen a pair almost every time I have been there - giving rise to the trail's name. There are many rocky areas around the Chironia Spring and I have also regularly seen a family of three Klipspringers in the area.

The next few kilometers takes one through the vast, high altitude grasslands at the base of Mount Prospect where, one morning, I saw a breeding herd of more than 50 Eland! The trail then descends into the Kliprots Valley along a series of old mining paths.

To do the trail as mentioned above, one would need to get a lift to the parking at the start because the trail is not circular. The red track on the above picture map is the trail done in a circular route from the Central area, north up along the Kliprots, down the little path that runs from Unit 1 to South Valley, and then along South valley to the trail's starting point, then the trail and onto Central area again. This route was just short of 16kms, a really beautiful 16 kilometers! The trail, of course, can be traversed in any direction but starting from the South Valley side will keep the morning sun in your favour.

Finally, the trail meets up with Emoyeni's two-track close to River Lily Crossing. This is the two-track used by Emoyeni management and traverses the entire property all the way to the Hops Hollow Brewery on the Long Tom Pass. All of it traversable by mountain bike. Please remember, though, that permission is required from Emoyeni management to use these two-tracks.

The Kestrel Trail has already been completed by Roger Nicholson, from Kliprots Creek, on a mountain bike! So if you think you can...