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Foothold mid winter madness ...
Trail tales
Over the weekend 25-27 June 2004 a mid winter camp was held at Foothold.
There was only a handful of the faithful on Friday night and the evening was spent huddling around the camp fire as the temperature plummeted to nil. Early Saturday morning it was -2 degrees which meant ice on the tents and a very chilly start to the day. The Friends of Foothold went about their 'chores' and maintenance as the day warmed up. Plenty of tea and lots of cake were the order of the day.
By lunch time, the filtering in of keen mid winter campers started and by late afternoon, there was a jolly good crowd. The previous cold night was the centre of conversation but a cloud covered ensured that the Saturday evening was the mildest one on record for a mid winter camp.
The ladies had been busy in the kitchen and a feast of cuisine was on the menu.
The ambience of the evening started out with Ernst, who proved very popular as he dished out glühwein to warm the cockles of everyone's hearts and set the tone for the evening.
The spread began:
- butternut soup - thanks to the efforts of Jean:
- beef and chicken stirfry with a good variety of vegetables, spices and sauces - many thanks to Milly's chopping and, to complete the dinner,
- bread and butter pudding with custard, very tastefully prepared by Inge, thank you.
The stage was set with a roaring camp fire as we were entertained mainly by Robbie and Roland with a quip or two from others. A very mild evening as the temperature hovered around the 11 degree mark. Thanks were handed out generously to all those concerned for such a wonderful evening.
Robbie announced an early morning start for a hike of 07h30 for those interested. A little more than a handful took up the offer and had a super hike to the top of Retiefs Kloof.
The Sunday hikers arrived and were split into their groups and from all accounts had wonderful hikes.
To conclude a fantastic weekend, a braai was enjoyed by all. A swarm of bees decided to descend on Foothold which made things a little unpleasant.
Thanks Jim, Foothold administrator, Inge and her social team for all their efforts to make the mid winter camp a weekend to be remembered and to Sean and Shirley for cleaning up the kitchen.
