Hennops Pride 12 June 2010

[davejones]

Hi members

Been a bit quiet of late.... year end at 30 June so work has been keeping me occupied.

I missed the Nissan day at kallie se gat which was really unfortunate, so i was determined to get out on a trail as soon as possible.

Ended up going to what i thought was the hennops 4x4 trail, although after a brutally energy sapping afternoon of trail driving it was confirmed that we (swmabo's brother and I) had actually been at the wrong place! I wonder how many people get it wrong and then go an wreck their 4x4 and what i must say imho is a nasty trail. Fortunately after my costly mistake at groenkloof earlier this year i stuck to my entrenched motto.... slow, slow SLOW!

Fortunately I came out with only a few bush scratches and a rock scrape on the side of my rock slider. I guess on the patrol4x4 forum i dont really need to warn anyone as your patrol will get you through on the nissan4x4 website you'll find plenty on interesting reading and recoveries that have taken place there.

http://www.nissan4x4.co.za/forum/forum_ ... PN=1&TPN=1

Despite the bitching, i did insist on completing all the obstacles, except for no11 w(hich had completely collapsed), and is the one before van Zyls Pass. the Pics attached are from van Zyls Pass. I'm just glad to be alive!!

Top of VZ's Pass

HP2.jpg (306.9 KiB) Viewed 2705 times

Descent starts

HP1.jpg (186.65 KiB) Viewed 2705 times

HP3.jpg (189.11 KiB) Viewed 2705 times

View from behind

HP4.jpg (290.09 KiB) Viewed 2705 times

[Sias]

Van Zylspas lyk nie te moeilik op die foto nie?

[JohnBoyZA]

Nice pics Dave

[Stefan]

I don't think pictures can ever do justice to a trail.

[davejones]

Pictures don't do it justice at all !! In the end, the patrol handled the obstacle very well... but we were fortunate to take the right line... it entering the obstacle that gave the white knuckles

[Stefan]

The camera is the only thing that made the obstacles look easier than the Patrol

[davejones]

[marakasmalan]

Hello Everybody,

We went to Hennops Pride to camp for the weekend, according to the website it should be a great campsite - in retrospect it was horribly overpriced and the website was a "slight misrepresentation", to put it mildly. Nice sites, awfull and derelict ablutions, no put-put. Swimmingpools were nice though.

We did the Hennops trail and did not struggle, at worst it was low range idle stuff but never required a diff-lock.

Sunday after we packed up, four adults and a loaded Patrol we headed for the Hennops pride eco trail. Whahh, mistake All went ok, but it is clear the routes are not maintained. No 11 is still impossible and even though we managed all obsticles without damage (thanks in part for not raising the tow-bar plate) I would not describe it as too much fun. the obsticle where you pass through the river (with the low branch above) has also been warn out badly and it was not straight forward getting out of there especially towards the end. there were a few place where low range and low revs did not see one through and some gentle momentum were required.

The camp-site and the 4x4 trail has a lot of potential and there is a lot to enjoy, but it is spoiled by a lack of maintainence - which has been reported here more than one year ago and nothing has changed, indication that most likey it won't change. We travelled alone, we were lucky but in retrospect this was not a good idea. 4x4 vehicles with standard suspension and at tyres may want to think twice about doing this course. For me, the route is somewhat on the short side and the technical challenges arise from a lack of maintainance rather that a well thought-through cleverly laid out route and there is not that much to enjoy. No comparison to something like Leeuwenboschfontein or the trails of Tussen-die-Riviere reserve, and both place outclass Hennops pride in value for maney and quality of faciclities.

Regards

Marakamalan

[David]

Thanks Marakamalan - Great feedback

[marakasmalan]

Hello Eeverybody,

Saturday we revisited the Hennop's pride route, Just after the Gerotek day. Tthe Gerotek day was excellent and it was great to see all the faces - Thanks for arranging Jorrie! - but due to the numbers and time constraints (also the mud-hole that bowled most of us) no real technical challenges were presented. So to show my friends what the patrol can do we went up Van Zyl's pass.

This did provide a fairly serious challenge but we managed without too much difficulty and, to my surprise, no damage or body contact to terra firma.

See the video:



Regards

Marakasmalan