Friday, March 30, 2012

Swartberg Pass





We had another google map moment. The road after Cango Caves goes through mountains and is shown as the Swartberg Pass. What we didn't realize from Google or Garmin was that it would be 30 km of narrow switchbacks on a dirt road with some pretty frightening drop offs. It is the scariest version of a public highway that I've been on. Very close to the road going up to Pandora basin in Telluride, but we were driving a tiny Ford, not a 4-wheel-drive Jeep.

The Road was built in 1888 using dry fit stone walls: no cement, no guard rails. Other than some grading upkeep after washouts I don't think it has been improved since then. They did manage a couple warning signs such as "No trailers or heavy vehicles" and "Use low gear" .

When we got to our lovely B&B in the town of Prince Albert we found out that the owners offer mountain bike tours: they take you up to the top of the pass and leave you and a friend with mountain bikes and think that it will be fun for you to ride down. Eva and I think not.

Oh, and guess what the sign says at the summit, "Die Top"!

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