Cathedral Peak Hotel and condition of road.

Hi All.

I am new to the whole hiking thing and currently on day two of wearing in my new hiking shoes (so very very new).

My wife and I (we both mid 20's) want to go down to Cathedral peak hotel from JHB for my birthday and would like to know the following:

1. Can I get to cathedral peak hotel with a 2 month old BMW. Its a sportspack so she is dropped to the floor, low profile tyres and and and? Is the road fine there or is this just gonne make me turn around before we even get there?

2. What type of hiking (1 day) can we do while staying there. I had a look on the site and a whole bunch of names are coming up but at this stage you could be talking German.

3. How cold does it get in June and what should my packing list include. P.s Wife is always cold for some reason. How good should be be prepared?

4. Security. See there is talks of problems but will we be fine on a guided 1 day walk. Places to avoid and precations to take?

5. Is Cathedral peak hotel a nice place to stay? The wife enjoys the luxuries in life.

Thanks for all the info and sorry for all the newbie questions.

Havoc

alright heres my contribution, Im sure others will help with other details:

1. Can the car handle speed bumps ? the road is tarred the whole way, its just avoiding potholes - but i was there a year or so ago, so depends on current conditions - Cathedral peak hotel is a top rated hotel and so they cant really afford to miss out on premium paying clients if you get my meaning

2. plenty of day hikes, the hotel ha sguided hikes, hiking route maps - there are many day hikes (eg Mushroom rock, Didima/rainbow gorge etc), no worries there - depends how fit and how far you want to go , but i doubt you will be going into the high berg - its possible to climb Cathedral peak in a day i believe from the hotel, paying for a guide, but i think its a very early start and late return at a fast pace.

3. Prepare for sub-zero night time and early morning temp - daytime should be sunny and nice - again this is one of the best hotels in the berg so you should be well warm while indoors, but pack warm hiking clothes, take gloves, beanies, scarfs etc

4. Dont see you having any issues with security as if you doing day hikes you probably wont be anywhere near the passes/smugglers

I have heard the campsite has been targetted by localls stealing from tents, but that was a while ago - again premium hotel, wants to keep guests happy and returning, so security will be a priority for them

5. Yip cathedral peak hotell has won awards and is top rated in my opinion, the luxuries will be there, may just be at a price

Cathedral peak area really is quite stunning a berg experience and also there are plenty of other tourist type places and restuarants within driving distance in the cathkin Valley towards Monks Cowl, eg Thokozisa, there is even a falconry place that does a daily show with various raptors.

Have a great holiday!

Morning Kliktrak and others.

Thank you for your very nice mail. It is always nice when people are willing to help a newbie.

To aswer your question about my car , yes speed bumps are fine so I should be ok. I heard there is major road works on the R74 past sterkfontein dam and on the Oliviershoek pass. I will go through Winterton then.

What do you think the chances are for snow in Mid June? I have never seen snow so that would be really cool.

One of my friends reccomended Champagne Castle Hotel over Cathedral peak. Apparentley all round better? Any views on that? The again road conditions?


Thanks again for all the help.

Cool

Ya I would avoid R74 and oliviershoek pass, there are stop/go's and the road is in a very bad condition, you are most likely going to have problems with the low rider on that section - best is to go the slightly longer way and go Van Reenens and then take the Bergville/Winterton off ramp from the N3.

Ya Champagne Castle the road is great and might even be quicker to get there than to Cathedral peak hotel - also the valley/route has so much to do, so many restuarants/tourist places so could make the journey more interesting, cathedral peak hotel is quite isolated - so depends on what experience you are looking for.

closest hiking is about 5min drive to Monks Cowl and ya plenty of great day hikes there, they are organised and can assist and or do guided hikes as well.

June is not main snow season, thats usually spring (sept/Oct/Nov), but anything can happen in the berg you never know hope there is some luck