It’s May, the weather has been
incredibly warm, the gardens need a lot of water, and we are now into the early
winter story. Now is the time to start
doing a few hikes into the berg, lovely days, grass is turning brown, there is
still plenty of water around, and the air clear enough to get wonderful views
of the distant mountains.
I was at Kamberg
this past week-end with a client, and from a
high point in the back hills of Kamberg we
could clearly see Cathkin Peak in the north, the
Giant Castle massive staring down at us, and in the far south Hodgson’s Peaks
and the Devil’s Knuckles. Then looking
east, we could see as far as one could over the hinterland of the KZN Midlands.
Grande
Traverse 2007
The Grande Traverse is now a
“Challenge of the past” –“ been there” , “done that” , “got the incredible
feeling of achievement” . Only a very
few special people have the privilege of
attempting and finishing this
endurance hike. I refer to our five
Incredible Iron Ladies of our club, Allison Gunning, Chantel
Beattie, Irene Wisdom, Teresa Whitfield and Elaine Bushell. Who would have thought in July 2004, when a
group from our club did the Amatola Trail, amongst us
some novice hikers like Chantel, Teresa and the organizer of the trip Allison, would
in such a short time have graduated to completing such an arduous trip. Also on that Amatola
Trail, was
To our Iron Ladies, we the members of the Midlands Hiking Club, Salute
you
Of course without the back up teams,
this trip would very difficult indeed to do. The 1st team went to
the start of the hike at the Sentinel, and hiked with them to the top of the
Amphitheatre to the top of the Thukela Falls. Had lunch together, and made sure that they
actually were pointed in the right direction before waving a final “good Luck
and Good Hiking” to see the hikers on their way. Thanks to Brian Henwood, Rob and Dave. Then the 2nd big journey was the actual 3 day hike to get re supplies
to the top of Bannerman Pass in the Giants Castle area. Here thanks go to Keith and Margaret Ashton,
Brian Henwood, Mark Wisdom, and his brother Andrew. Also Yvonne Engelbrecht,
Lyn Gissing, Cecil Hackney and Craig Becker. Keith was in command of the re-supply team
from MHC. Well done and congratulations
to these re-supply team members.
Keith was also involved with getting
the 2nd re-supply up to the Sani Pass
Chalet , however he experienced vehicle
problems, and had to source another vehicle and driver on the way . However the re-supply point was reached
and the rest of the food for the hike was passed on to the hikers.
It is of note that this team
actually grew in numbers as they progressed.
Having started with 16 hikers, they ended with 18, having “picked up and adopted” 2 French hikers who were
trying to do this traverse on their own, had got themselves lost, and short of
food . They met our traversers, joined them, and had
extra food etc brought up to them with the re supply team.
Moral of the story, don’t play in
the Mountains, the “Dragon’s Wrath” is no match for mere unprepared mortals.
We look forward to the Club Evening
when these “super ladies” present us s slide show on their great hike.
Watch the newsletter Fixture List, and book that evening.
As far as other Club activities were
concerned, most of the hikes were well supported. A huge event was the Karkloof
Canopy day , when 45 people attended the Slip andamp; Slide day. Probably a club record attendance for any
one event. Ages ranged from the well
matured down to an 8 year old grandson of one of our leaders. Some anxious
moments were had by some members, however
they lived to “one day tell us the tale”. To the organizer of the day, as well as the
management of the Canopy Tours who made this day possible - A big thank you to all of you.
Two poor turnouts were
experienced. The Seven Oakes Week-end turned out rather poorly
, with only 3 okes turning up . However it gave the “okes” plenty of room to spread themselves out in the hut.
Thanks to Mark and Mary for organizing the week end.
The other No Show was for Graham Cullinan’s Fern Forest day walk.
The last Club Social with the guest
speaker on Mountain Rescue was by all accounts a great hit, and well received
by all who attended.
CLUB NEWS and POINTS TO PONDER
The Club Web Site at www.mhc.co.za.
Up to now there has been a lot of
interest shown by some members of hikes,
and “The Rod” had quite a lot of news
and stories to put on the web. Please keep this up. I know how much time it
takes to put something down in writing -
but “You Feel So Good
Afterwards” , you become a “World Wide Celebrity” in no time at all.
PRIZES , PRIZES, PRIZES.
Hike Write Ups - Hike
photos
- Don’t forget the prizes that will be
up for grabs at the Annual AGM for all articles, and pics
submitted throughout the year for the web page, and our Newsletter.
We welcome new club members Clive
Holland, Nicky Leigh, Beverley Bloem and Arnold Haywood may you all enjoy many happy
hiking hours in our company.
Hiking Regards
OOPS -
calamity
Our
Secretary, Keith, has experienced a major problem with his computer, hence no
Hiking Schedule for the moment. As soon
as he has disposed of the gremlin the Hiking Schedule will be
e-mailed
to all those on the ether and hard copies will be available at the June Social
evening. In the meantime consult last month’s schedule
for hikes up to the end of June.
SOCIAL
EVENINGS
Those of
our members who have been unable to attend our last two Social Evenings, really
missed excellent presentations. At the
March Social Mark Brown gave a most interesting and informative talk and slide
presentation on the birds of the Drakensberg. We all gleaned an amazing amount of
information about our feathered friends.
At the
April evening we were given a talk and slide presentation on mountain rescue in
the Drakensberg.
The speaker managed to make a topic which could have been rather dull,
both informative and at times amusing.
For our
members the number to enter into your cell phones for mountain rescue or any
medical emergency is PHOC 0800005133.
Keep this number handy you never know when you may need it.
MARYS COTTAGE Jenny Sleed
3 - 5 November 2006
Leader Keith, Margaret, Lisa, Casper,
Liz, Hettie, Anitha, Jenny.
Mary’s Cottage is definitely one of
the best venues on the fixture list. The rocky road that leads to the cottage
demands that one travels in a 4 x 4. Thanks
to Casper’s expert driving skills we arrived safe and sound at 4pm on Friday
afternoon.
Lisa, Margaret and Keith arrived
Friday morning and had already done a hike past Makhulumane
Rock and the Makhulumane valley, past the largest
mountain cabbage tree in S.A. and a lovely waterfall.
It was my first visit, and I
certainly was not disappointed. The view
is outstanding, and there is a variation of accommodation to suit everybody,
from regular bedrooms, an attic, to the ‘open air’ bedroom, all with
magnificent views
Friday evening was spent getting to
know each other and sharing hiking experiences over a candlelight dinner.
Saturday we were all up bright and
early to prepare for the days hike to Stable Cave. We separated into two parties – Keith,
Margaret, Hettie and myself were the team that were
keen to go to the Cave, while the others were happy to go at a slower pace and
to turn around when they felt they had had enough.
The paths part way along our route
have had a tremendous amount of maintenance done to them, they have been
widened and cleared and it certainly made walking along them far more pleasant.
One can liken a hike to an
abbreviated version of our lives. There is always a beginning and an end. Those are set. The
part in between is totally up to the individual as to what they get out of it. As with life, there are always rocky paths,
up hills, down hills, beauty, warmth, cold, gentleness, harshness. Sometimes the going is easy and we have time
to hear the birds sing and notice the exquisite beauty of our surroundings. Then
we hit a rough patch, and we have to withdraw and concentrate on our strength
to pull us through.
As we experience more trying and
difficult hikes, the easier they become, as we get stronger. So that is why we need to go through trying
times in our lives, so that we can find our true strength.
The role of a leader is extremely
important. He has to be in control and
we have to put our trust in him. Keith fills his part as a leader without a
doubt. To hike with him as leader is a pleasure. He is a very confident, experienced and
knowledgeable man who commands my respect.
The hike to Stable Cave was very
scenic and we tested our knowledge on identifying some of the numerous wild
flowers that carpeted the hills. Margaret
told me the name of a fragile white flower that was scattered all over the
bright green grass – Rhodohypoxis baurii. I said
to her that it looked as if they were stars that had fallen from the sky, and
she told me that they are commonly known as ‘white star’.
It is a fairly easy hike, except for Jacobs
Ladder that is a bit of a pull as it zigzags its way to the top. We climbed around 600m and the distance from
the cottage to Stable Cave is 10km. Keith,
always on the look out for an interesting subject took a photo of a bright
orange butterfly on a stem of blue Scilla natalensis flowers.
Our route, after an uphill section
from the cottage, contoured just below Makhulumane
Rock and later below Steilberg. We
then turned leftish to Van Damm’s
Cascades (A route downhill to the right leads to the Blue Grotto) and after a
gentle rising section, climbed up Jacob’s Ladder (a zig-zag
route). The last section to Stable Cave
passes near the top of Verkykerskop (not to be
confused with the other Verkykerskop above The
Sphinx).
The views from the Cave make the 10km
worth every step.
On the way home, Hettie’s
nerves of steel were very impressive as she stopped in the path and called out
“snake”. I was behind her, and saw a black snake
wriggling past her feet and into the grass.
I take my hat off to her in
remaining so calm. We all took a wild
guess as to what it could have been – it could have been a black mamba, berg
adder, night adder, we will never be any the wiser. As
far as I’m concerned anything without legs is deadly. 20km
in one day is a fair walk and we were grateful for a relaxing hot shower, cup
of tea and crunchie.
Sunday was a coolish
day and we set off for Nandi’s Falls – again it was
Keith, Margaret, Hettie and myself that were the keen
beans for a long walk.
The route via Hlatikulu
Loop led us through forests of huge trees that made canopies of shade for moss
and toadstools. Ferns grew in abundance
in the coolness. A stream gently winding through provided the
moisture that they thrive on. It is truly a magical place where elves,
fairies and gnomes were definitely watching us pass by. The
smells from the forest was pungent and mellow, and the nostrils twitched
excitedly as they were exposed to whiffs from the undergrowth, warm and mature
smells.
At the end of Hlatikulu
Loop we crossed the Sterkspruit (iMpofane)
stream and then climbed towards the falls.
After arrival at Nandi's Falls we climbed up
onto a ledge behind the curtain of cascading water. This
was our lunch spot, and as usual, we had walked up an appetite so our sarmies went down well.
Sitting there with the water
tumbling over in front of us made us feel as if we were sheltering from a
summer storm.
Our return route was on the far side
of the Sterkspruit, eventually having to cross it
before our steep climb up to the beginning of Hlatikulu
Loop.
It was a 12km hike in total and as we
approached the cottage on the last stretch of our walk, we spotted a very
unusual dragonfly. Keith managed to get a couple of close ups of
it – it had two completely different sets of wings. The top set was yellow with markings and the
lower set was black/gray. It was very delicate and beautiful.
We finished the weekend off with a
last cup of coffee and it was with regret that we had to leave the little
paradise that had been home for the weekend.
A special thanks to Mary and Mark for
allowing us to stay in their cottage, and to Keith and Margaret for being such
good hosts, to Casper and Liz for transporting us and to Lisa and Anitha and Hettie for your
company
We left with the mountains in our
hearts. And we were happy.
UMGENI
VALLEY Jack Long
19 November 2006
It was a little disappointing when we
pitched up for this walk to find that there would be only five of us. Perhaps it would be fair to say, however,
that it had been raining heavily and the morning had started misty and
drizzling. People who would otherwise
have come, were no doubt put off by the prospect of slipping and sliding on
rain sodden paths. They needn’t have
worried as the paths in the Reserve are well maintained and are not badly
affected by rain.
The group consisted of Margaret as
leader – substituting for Keith who was suffering from the effects of flu – Libby, Sally, Aris
and myself. We started off from the office
and after a companionable walk along the road, were soon at the path going
steeply down to the river. I was quite
enjoying the downhill and was hoping we would carry on to the bottom, but this
was not to be. We shortly took a path
to the left (the Sunset Trail) to meet up with the Inkonka
path at the saddle. We had not been on
this long when Libby announced that she wanted to stop “to take her pants
off”. I waited in anticipation, but it
proved to be not as interesting as it sounded – she merely wanted to unzip the
lower part of her pants as the day was starting to get warm! In fact it turned out to be a beautiful day for hiking – blue, blue sky
with billowing white clouds and a gentle cool breeze. I have hiked in this valley for many years
and I thought I knew every path, but Aris ushered us
along a path I didn’t know existed and we ended up after a short walk at a
lovely spot overlooking the valley with a concrete table and benches where we
had our first drink. This is at a dead
end and we had to retrace our steps to get back to the Inkonka
Trail.
In anticipation of a hot day,
Margaret had decided on the Black Eagle Trail in the upper part of the Reserve
rather than in the heat of the lower valley.
Although the weather was cool, Margaret wisely chose to stick to this
plan, much to my delight as I think the Black Eagle Trail is decidedly the most
beautiful walk in the Reserve. We thus
proceeded along this trail at a relaxed pace, stopping whenever to look at a
pretty flower or an interesting tree or feature. This is one advantage of having a small
group. We eventually reached the two
cottages where we proposed to have tea, but both were surprisingly occupied. We bypassed these and carried on to the Mhlangeni cottage where we stopped for tea.
After tea we proceeded along the
trail above the Dwarfs Dawdle, stopping on the way to look at some giraffe in
the valley below until we came to the picnic site where we had lunch. We had hardly finished lunch and were
settling down to have a kip when we were visited by two large Hartebeest who
were not aware that lunch was by invitation only! After clattering through our lunch area they
ran off.
Our return was along the same route
although there was a toss up whether we should go via the Black Eagle Trail or
the road. The lure of the Eagle Trail
won, but Aris decided to take the road. As we approached the Indulo
car park, Sally and Libby were surprised by a large Bushbuck which suddenly
appeared out of the grass where it had been resting and then bounded away. We met up with Aris
at the Inkonka car park and thence back to our
cars. A lovely day – thank you,
Margaret.
BUSHMAN’S
NEK – WHITE’S CAVE HIKE
Petro Mostert
9-11 Feb
2007 (Emotional thoughts)
Before you begin your reading,
please note that I start and end my story, as I did the hike, with a smile
hoping the grinding and groaning on route were not that obvious. A big thank you towards a great hike leader
and his patient team for dragging me along this weekend and applause to my
husband for his ever lingering concern and care (sorry ladies, I saw him
first!)
The story from the horse’s mouth
that is, if the donkey thinks it is a zebra or a hiker from Gangster’s Paradise
innocently joining the Banana Boys in
the mountains you know where we come from,
we think a weekend backpack hike, means following the white footprints
on Saturday and the yellow footprints on Sunday, mean, that now, anybody can do.
Look, all was familiar to hiking for
me up to where the decision was made to step off the path into the great unknown with 50/50 difficult options that now, as far as the Drakensberg
inexperienced (read : I am ) is concerned as to which interesting “ little”
challenge shall we take today?
Straight up this little hill or crab-wise contouring around that little
bend until only the “little” inexperienced is a “little” tired!
Amazing how all these similar
looking hills all around me, can have different names and more amazing how
these people just follow their noses or so it seemed to me… And whoops! there we’re having lunch in the shade of an
overhang full of age old rock paintings as easy to them as if we were strolling
through their back gardens and all that went through my mind is
how did we get there and how are we going to get where we’re supposed to
be going?
Slept in caves before, yes, but
surely not in one with the hospitality of the shower running non stop just in
case the visitors feel like a quick freshening up in the heat of the
night. Must say I’d donate my half of the Salami to anyone
tough enough to brave that waterfall straight from a warm sleeping bag in the
middle of the night - my fresh, clean sleeping bag versus a day’s sweat, the
only motivation for me to enter! Only
afterwards we were informed that we really are spoilt to have our first
overnight in a Drakensberg cave, being in Whyte’s cave.
Private rooms and even the beds were made when we arrived !
Yours truly had to create some
excitement on day 2, doing a quick off road summersault, head over heels
backpack and all but graciously overruled by the fastest jump any fully loaded
hiker could ever perform, and then so tenderly nursed back on the feet that
only a husband’s loving care can do!
Yip ! that’s what hiking is all
about, a good hike leader, a friendly bunch of people, a good sweat for
spectacular views, a good lunch spot and something nice to eat, sweet mountain
streams to drink from and a good place to drop your weary body for the night.
And if you are in the top margin of
blessed people to be able to have all of this you could call yourself a very very happy person.
Thank you Midlands Hiking Club !
BANNERMAN RE-SUPPLY Margaret Ashton
It was a wait for the leader at
Giant’s Castle Reserve on Friday, 6 April – he’s late. Select a re-supply pack from the huge pile
and hope that I’ve for a light one.
Across the river and up the valley to the contour path – very hot – all
sweating. A herd of Eland pass by and
at last the contour path. A sign shows
4,5 km to Bannerman Hut – lunch time at last – weather now cooler, clouds
building up - quickly along the path to Bannerman Hut. Some of us cram into hut, the rest pitch
tents to shelter from the rain. Some
play cards in the hut – others attempt to rest on the lumpy terrain – stiff
limbs. Morning dawns fine with clear
views – packs on and now for the steep assent up Bannerman Pass. Snake skin on the path reminds us to be
vigilant in case of live ones. What was
it? Steep, steep, steeper with large
boulders to scramble over. Hard work –
mist coming down and the rain starts.
How much further? Near the top,
hurray! Pitch tents as the rain starts. Much mist, no views. Wait anxiously for the traverse team – late
– at last here they come looming out of the mist and rain – much hugging – everyone
in good spirits. All pitch in to help
to erect the tents - a Tent City of 52 people.
Unfortunately steady rain so not much socializing. By morning the rain has stopped presenting
lovely clear views and glorious sunshine.
Group photos before Traverse Team sets off amidst much cheering. Re-supply team start off down – seems
steeper going down – very slippery after yesterday’s rain. Mist comes swirling up the pass to meet us
accompanied by heavy drizzle which continued to Giant’s Castle Reserve – cars –
dry clothes – all safe and happy. What
an experience!