Location:
Cathedral Peak Wilderness Area, lower northern Drakensberg.
Forest Shelter can be reached from the Cathedral Peak office via Solar Cliffs, or via Mike’s Pass and Phillip’s Folly. Unlike Leopard Cave, Poachers Cave and Gravel Cave, Forest Shelter is less well know and less accessible, which means that it is probably more secure than these neighbouring caves.
GPS Coordinates: WGS84
S29 00.124 E29 16.484 at 1653 metres (Landlubbers)
Description:
Of all the habitable overhangs in the Ndedema Gorge area, Forest Shelter is by far the largest and deepest. However, because of the relatively narrow ledge behind the waterfall, there is very little flat ground for sleeping on and at best it can accommodate just 5 hikers. The four flattish sleeping areas are also a good distance apart, so it is not a very sociable cave for overnighting in. Because it is not a well-known cave, there are no obvious paths to it. Access is via a short but steep descent through a break in the rock band about 350 metres further along the gorge from its actual location, followed by a slightly awkward traverse of a steep, grassy slope back along the base of the rock band. There are two small overhangs about 50 metres either side of the main cave, each of which could accommodate another 2 people.
Comfort: 2/5
Depending on which flattish area you end up with, you could find yourself sleeping on a less-than-comfortable slope. The floor of the cave is also quite pebbled and dusty.
Water: 2/5
A small stream falls over the lip of the cave onto some bedrock below it. There are only very shallow hollows to collect water from, and nowhere to take a dip, although you can take a good shower once water has been collected. The water is there, but frustrating to collect if you don’t have something like a large bucket to do this with!
Pools: 3/5
The more energetic can venture down to the Ndedema River which passes well below. It looks like a daunting expedition but turns out to be relatively straight forward except for the effort involved in getting back up to the cave!
Shelter: 5/5
Because of its depth and the grove of trees in front of the cave beyond the waterfall, Forest Shelter is very sheltered and therefore quite dusty.
Outlook: 4/5
The trees and bushes hide any direct view outside the cave, but a short trip back along the approach route quickly exposes the gorge below and a section of the escarpment beyond the head of the valley.
Overall Rating: 16/25
History:
Unknown