Highmoor - Day 2

With Ann & Tom leaving really early for Kruger Park, we sat waiting patiently pondering when we would start this next stage of our journey & how long to reach our destination. Soon Arthur arrives & we set out to beat time & get our base camp set up.

The weather is definately not on our side this weekend & on arrival, we get busy but alas the damn rain & here we were setting up camp in the pouring rain. Once we finished setting up, it all cleared up!!!!!!!!!! I wonder if this is karma getting me back, I don't know.
Even the tent we used (very old one) was leaking & proved to be quite useless throughout the weekend.

Once we were comfortable & out of my irritable state, the fire got started & chillaxing began.
As night crept in, so did the clouds & the cold. You could see them rising between the valley straight for us & eventually we were in a cloud. You could not see further than 10m , its like fog I guess. It was quite something being here & as usual there is always something that happens to us.

For some reason amongst the 4 layers of socks, my feet just would not keep warm & eventually they went numb resulting in uncomfortable sleep...

HighMoor - Day 1

Around about 11am on friday our journey began to the highest campsite in Kzn,we were so eager & really happy that we were finally on our way. We decided That we would stop at spar in Notties for some supplies because we just wanted to get on the road & avoid all the delays which became inevitable as the roads were filled with idiotic speeding drivers (who nearly caused me 2 accidents) all rushing as this was the long weekend for many to get away from city life.

We approached the Cedara off ramp where cars & trucks are starting to jam up & everyone trying to get on the R103 to avoid all of this! We did the same & not even 500m on this road, my car decided it was time for a break, so we broke down with a huge 18 wheeler truck & many many cars behind us!!! We were fortunate that I managed to get off the road which started my "mechanic skills". You would think that people would stop & try see if we needed any assistance but alas we only had 1 taker! I'm not really that shocked about this though, with all the trouble that could happen & does happen. Without any supplies from spar & little food we had, we just sat waiting until we got help .

We were very lucky that our awesome friends parents had not left for Kruger Park yet & after being stuck for 2.5 hrs, eventually got a helping hand & got to their place in Howick where we ended up staying the night while my car was left at their mechanics house, Arthur the 84yr old mechanic.

The weather for this long weekend had been really against us weeks before this journey had began,with miserable rain predictions & we were hoping that the weather would hold up for us. As my fiance always says "maybe it was a blessing & that this was not meant to be". Well maybe this was the case & we ended up 1 more night in comfort but 1 day lost of a holiday.

Drakensberg - Injisuthi day 3 & 4

Day 3 - had me all puffy eyed from the lack of sleep. All I wanted to do was relax in my sleeping bag & try remain comfy which was a mission with all the straw around. If you ever plan to do an overnight stay anywhere, I suggest you take a ground sheet with you. Not only will this stop the straw from irritating you, it will also help provide as an insulator away from the cold ground floor.

Eventually everyone was awake & coffee was being enjoyed by all, the other happy hikers were preparing for their next stage of hiking to MARBLE BATHS. Before we knew it, they were all packed & ready to go. We all said our goodbye's & nice to meet ya's & poof they were gone. They were a very nice bunch of people who are very passionate about hiking.

After breakfast, we headed down to our "kitchen" which was also our "swimming pool" to wash the dishes & got ourselves all cleaned up & then the adventure began...
We went to this overhang near the pool which has some rock paintings on it. Its very hard to see but if you just give it some time & patience you'll soon see it. The rocks are very old & crumbly so I was very careful. We also discovered an old rusted tin which we left hidden as we thought it was left by someone who used it for cooking.

Further up the river, bouncing from rock to rock, just seeing where the river would take us & what else we would find, we stumbled upon a bone quite deep in a pool of water. We managed to get this bone out & it was quite a big bone which had a few cracks on it & yes, it stank. We ended up tossing it back in & continued further up. With the sun shining so gracefully, it just gave us the perfect photo for this incredible view but alas NO CAMERA!!!!!!!
On the way back down, we searched for agates which I collected for my lady who was waiting back at base camp. Although the water was super cold, it never stopped us from jumping in & feeling the cold to the bone literally & very awakening.

As we tried to make dinner we had an ufortunate problem,the Mathias's primus burner decided to pack up which did them proud as it was their grandfathers. We also had another type of pot cooker thingy (we didn't know how to use it) so it got us creative, trying to regulate gas flow which quite didn't work.The wind just made matters worse but we eventually got dinner cooked.
The wind created a kak updraft in the cave & gees we were getting dusted. The wind ended up swirling & it ended up coming from both sides of the cave!
Eventually after full bellies & desert in our hands, we crawled into our sleeping bags to keep warm & just chilled, chatting about future hikes & I hope in the distant future of doing the "GRAND TRAVERSE".

Day 4 - I managed to get some sleep, much better than the previous night but my bags under my eyes showed all that.I had a cold nights sleep & when I got up to go to the toilet, everything just fell into place & explained everything.It was unbelievably snowing, the very first time I have seen snow fall even though I have played in it.I woke everyone up, got the coffee going & then the packing started. We didn't want to get trapped here in the snow so our journey back began. With some strong winds & lots of snowfall we managed to get a few photos & we got to our base camp rather quickly which always seems to be the case.


At base camp, everyone welcomed us back & they were already packing. A very nice hot shower was in my agenda & some left over breakfast. Once we were all packed, we were on the road back to Durbs. But just before we left, I had to take one last photo of this beautiful place & created an awesome panoramic landscape picture.

I hope that I will be hiking here again someday as I have luckily done this hike before in February of which I'll post up soon.

  

  

Snowy Drakensberg - Injisuthi Day 2

Early friday morning I woke up with a slight hangover. A quick shower helped get rid of that & a good cup of coffee. Once everyone got up,we started to sort out what we were going to take with & shared the load equally.

Eventually we were all ready, had our "photo shoot" & our 5 hour hike began. This hike is not difficult but it does prove to be quite hard in the beginning stages as its mainly inclined which tends to take your breath away, as does the scenery. There was not much snow around us,mainly on the higher hills & mountain tops. We did however come across a few patches of snow along our path where we took the opportunity to build our little snowman "SNOWY  THE SNOWMAN"(original I know). Damn our hands got numb, the snow was just too cold.

The few rivers that we crossed were very low which I found quite surprising because one would've thought they would have been flowing due to the snow melting.

En route to the cave, we were LUCKY to spot 5 Eland & 3 Reedbuck. They were quite amusing in the way that they all looked in the same direction at the same time. These animals are so majestic, its mind boggling to think that they date back to the days of the bushman.

Close by on another path, there were 3 other hikers who ended up staying with us on our first night in the cave.

They had been heading towards another part of the berg but unfortunately the snow was too thick so they had to make a detour to our cave. They were very nice folks. With a good sense of humour & good knowledge of the berg, it made conversation very easy.

 

Soon night crept in & dinner was being cooked while we drank "berg coffee".

Our menu was boerewors & smash with tomato & onion gravy, super delicious.

Simple food becomes luxury when you are far away from civilisation.

The Drakensberg & probably every other place similar makes one appreciate such simple things.

As its pitch black, you become very aware of the sounds of the night & one of the ladies thought she heard a Civit or a genet nearby by when she ducked off to the toilet.

 

Now I'm not quite used to sleeping in caves & hearing of this news made me a little bit paranoid so for the first 3 hours I got some solid sleep,but after the whiskey wore off it was touch & go.

My mind was busy keeping me awake so all in all I got about 5 hours sleep...

 



Snowed Drakensberg - Injisuthi

Two weeks ago just before the long weekend, South africa encountered alot of snow for a week.
Here in Durban, it came down in buckets.
First it HAILED like crazy,the size of golf balls in some suburbs while others looked like snow had fallen.

For us it was a planned trip (of which many bailed) to the Injisuthi valley where we (3 of us boys) were to hike to the lower injisuthi cave for 2 nights while the others enjoyed base camp.
This opportunity to hike when the Drakensberg was snowing is quite a worry & we took all that was warm.

Thursday morning after getting some more food supplies we left & were hoping we would miss all the traffic & the possibility that the N3 would be reopened,but that was not to happen.
The traffic was quite full as everyone headed to the Midlands to play in the snow & we were very fortunate that once we got stuck in the road block near Escourt,it was only an hour before the wheels started rolling again. Unfortunate to the truck drivers who were stuck for days due to icy roads.They were really angry which caused a huge delay as they were tossing rocks at other cars that were moving.

Once on the road,we noticed that Where we were headed, there was no snow around.
That was lucky as setting up base camp became an easy task.
As that was sorted,the fire got started & the drinks came out & an awesome evening was had by all.

Night fell quick & so did the cold.