What's in a name? A great deal, believes Dave George, and he may be right. Vergezient, Wingswept, Razor's Edge, New Beginnings - these four carefully chosen names - for his newly opened mountain retreat and its three major trails - are at the heart of a journey in which mountains are environment, companion and catalyst.
The retreat, Vergezient, rests in the Drakensberg foothills near Bergville and offers an unimpeded view of our most likely next World Heritage site, the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park.
From every lookout there is a different panorama, with the magnificent sweep of the nearby Northern and Central Drakensberg ranging right across the southern horizon.
Located inside KwaZulu-Natal on the Free State border, Vergezient overlooks both provinces, with the high spur of Razor's Edge jutting far out into KwaZulu-Natal.
On a clear day you can see Qudeni Mountain at Jameson's Drift, 170 km away to the east.
In the same direction, but much closer, the famous Anglo-Boer War battlefield of Spioenkop is frequently visible, and just below the cliffs lie well-grassed valleys dotted with acacia trees.
To the north lie the buttes and mesas of Eastern Free State sandstone country, stretching from the mountains south of Witsieshoek in the west to Rensburg's Kop near Swinburne at the opposite end.
Vergezient embraces a series of terraces with natural staircases between Highveld and Lowveld leading through enchanting scarp forests.
The upper level has an almost ethereal charm. The vegetation combines open short grassland with small patches of protea and forest. This is the home of mountain reedbuck.
About 150 km lower down lies the second level.
Grasses are taller, acacia species occur and the range of bird species increases. Forested kloofs and scree slopes are topped by cliffs of up to 70 km high.
Some 170 km farther down is the third, and warmest, level. The bird life there is most prolific, particularly in the kloof below the bottom waterfall, where Vergezient's only wild fig occurs. An abundance of water - waterfalls, cataracts, pools and streams - especially in summer, add to the magic of this place.
An expertly designed trails system leading from the retreat and totalling about 70 km offers three sets of options: circular full-day and half-day hikes, as well as short strolls to lookout points.
Wingswept is a truly inspired name. The demanding 13,5 km trail satisfies every expectation that the name evokes: altitude, big skies, panoramic views, a sense of lightness, cooling wind and big birds.
Not anticipated by the name are the physical and sensual contrasts of deep-forest moments, which add a fairytale dimension to the experience.
Starting from the Zonderntwyfel Barnhouse, the trail rises quickly along contour paths to the highest point on Vergezient, from which there are unimpeded mountain landscape views in every direction. This is also the best vantage for a quick landscape and geographic orientation.
From there a dragon-spine dolerite ridge leads to Protea Pavement, with closer views of two landmarks: the Kerkenberg and Mpokelana, whose striking silhouettes resemble a large raptor poised for flight.
Lower down, a gigantic, solitary egg-shaped rock marks the Place of the Hyena. The rock, against the backdrop of the Malutis and Northern Berg, is one of Wingswept's many photographic delights.
The descent into Oom Pieter se Bos - a Podocarpus mistbelt forest typical of this region - instantly changes both environment and mood.
Gone are the big sky and the grasslands studded with protea. The forest is a sheltering, deeply silent, mysterious place, the domain of ancient trees with great, gnarled stems and bearded canopies.
The next sandstone ridge, with its seasonal abundance of wild flowers, offers another panoramic snapshot of the Berg straight ahead, and then the trail dips back into forest.
Western Pass Kloof is easy going, as is the cliff's edge section of Folly Ridge. From here the trail continues to Abseil Kranz, over which plummets the 30m-high Vergezient Falls, before ascending past the Old Klipdip to Lotherien's Gate.
The Gate, whose name is borrowed from Lord of the Rings, is a narrow, winding passage between solid sandstone walls. It leads you back, for a while, into the spirit world of deep forest.
New Beginnings descends to the very bottom end of the resort, marked by the spectacular Scheepersrust Cave.
Nearby, there are the ruins of Mahon Mission, which had once sought in its own way to guide people towards a new beginning. The trail name also refers to the creation of the present-day retreat.
Like Wingswept, it starts and ends at the Barnhouse. But instead of ascending quickly along a ridge to a high vantage point, it follows the cliff edge westwards to Yellowwood Kloof, where the trail drops to the second terrace and to Folly Ridge Falls.
A steep zig-zagging kloofing section leads to the Old Opstal, where an arboretum of bluegums and swamp cypresses provide an ideal rest stop.
Lit by the slanting afternoon sun, the ruins of the old house, built over a century ago, is an appealing photographic subject. The trail picks up on an old road and it's an easy walk to The Ford, where the Heldersig Stream is crossed. Few natural splash pools can have the view of those at The Ford: a 100-km sweep of the northern and central Berg, with the Amphitheatre no more than 40 km away as the crow flies.
A short but narrow, steep natural passage between rocks reinforces the sense of arrival at the spectacular Scheepersrust overhang cave. The cave edges frame the Berg panorama seen from every high point on Vergezient. Panels of San art testify to Stone Age use and a culture in which spirituality and nature were indivisible.
Dedicated photographers should descend from the cave for the best angles on the fall.
From the cave starts the long ascent back to the Barnhouse. The trail passes the New Beginnings overnight hut and the ruins of the mission, whose walls are a fine example of the stonemason's craft.
The natural staircase to the top takes in two kloofs - the first, at Vergezient Falls, offers the most rewarding experience, the 30-m high Abseil Cliff, with the Vergezient Falls to one side plunging into the retreat's largest natural pool.
Beyond the pool, the trail tunnels along the base of the cliffs emerging near the top of the falls. The final kloof demands a steep yet more or less straightforward bouldering ascent, delivering ramblers on a grassy ridge only minutes away from the Barnhouse.
Razor's Edge (8,5 km) owes its name to a high, narrowing, prow-like ridge which protrudes into the plunging Tugela valley and focuses on the Drakensberg.
The shortest and least demanding of the three main trails, Razor's Edge nonetheless requires the better part of a day to be enjoyed fully. It drops down immediately from the Barnhouse into Vergezient Kloof. From there it traverses across the steep slopes, arriving back on the top near Razor's Edge.
Visual highlights along this section are The Wall, a smooth sheer cliff with a seasonal bridal fall over the cliff edge into the scarp forest below, and Cussonia Quad, where both Highveld and Lowveld kiepersol species thrive.
High above the morning mists, and thrusting directly towards the Escarpment wall, Razor's Edge resembles the prow of a ship journeying into the unknown.
Turning north, the trail follows the edge of the escarpment, where the eye is drawn eastward deep into KwaZulu-Natal. From Old Trail's View, the wagon route pioneered by Retief's Voortrekkers in 1838, can be seen. From Old Trail's View the trail cuts across Lightfoot Ridge, another point where ramblers feel as if they are on top of the world and could simply soar away. From here it's an easy walk to the Barnhouse.