Glen Oakes - 14th June 2008 At the request of the participants of the forthcoming 3 week trip to Moz. in August, we held a closed Club weekend at Glen Oakes, near Caledon. 5 of the 8 couples eventually made the trip on a weekend when the weather appeared a bit dubious, but turned out to be generally good. They were Andy & Veronica Brown, Sandy & Shirley Rossiter, Jurgen & Sonja Dahl, Corne` & Erika Smal, and us. Glen Oakes Trail is usually a guided route, due to the difficulty of many sections, but the owners, Charlie & Julie Crowther, had accepted our booking on condition that a competent person did a recce with Charlie in advance. This was done by Andy & Veronica, who advised us that we were in for a pretty demanding drive. Andy`s description of a near roll-over was quite understandable once we had completed the route. We met on Saturday at False Bay 1-stop, and arrived at the camp mid-afternoon, to find a delightful shady and grassed area protected by large hills, with a large bouma and very adequate above-average ablution facilities. After setting up camp we had a lengthy discussion about the Moz trip, followed by a braai in the wind-protected bouma. 9.30 on Sunday Andy & Veronica led us out into the scenic hills and onto a trail that has at least 6 grade 4-5 sections, fortunately with escape routes around most of them. They very capably guided us through the trail, avoiding a few hazards where they had experienced difficulty during the recce, and encouraging everyone to decide for themselves if they wished to tackle each hard section. Three areas of note were: a Grade 4 climb without escape route, successfully conquered by the group a Grade 4-5 drop, about 1.5m vertical and tackled by 3 of us, where pictures will prove that Corne` can hold up our Pajero to prevent a roll-over and a Grade 4 climb which necessitated diff-lock. Our lasting memory of the exit to this climb was Andy stepping back hurriedly and falling backwards over a log to avoid a low-flying Pajero! We stopped for coffee at the sandpit, where we played in the sand before completing the route. Back at camp, we again braaied and chatted till late, and woke up to gentle rain on Monday morning. Breakfast at Dassiesfontein was delayed by Andy having to change a flat tyre, and eventually back to Cape Town, where the weather was far worse than we had experienced at Glen Oakes. A big `thanks` to Andy & Veronica for leading the trail, and congratulations to the Group for completing the Trail with only a few minor dents! In all a very good weekend at a great venue which is definitely a superior trail worth another visit. And now for Moz. in August ....... can`t wait! Viv & Mary