Quathlamba
“A
mass of spears. Named thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came.
Today called the Drakensberg, mountains of the Dragon, a name given by the
Voortrekkers. Evocative names, both equally applicable to South Africa’s
mightiest mountain range with its spear-like peaks – reminiscent of the
saw-toothed spine of a gigantic dragon.”
Panorama April 1966This blog is all about the Drakensberg Mountains and its Wilderness area, South Africa. I have lost my heart and soul to this area and every single time I hike these mountains, I stand in awe all over again at this magnificent beauty.
"How often in the course of our travels through Kwazulu-Natal do we stop and gaze at the beauty of a distant range of mountains? The Drakensberg stands as a monument to one of the greatest cataclysms the Earth has experienced. As you approach the mountains, you realize why early Zulus called it "Quathlamba", meaning “Barrier of Up-pointed Spears". A cradle of rivers. Listen to the streams as they gurgle from their cradles and you will hear the story of the mountains. You will hear fascinating tales if only you listen! Lie next to a stream and listen to the song of the mountains. The smiling faces of the flowers, dancing in the wind. Venture into the remote valleys or stand on a peak at sunrise or sunset, after snow has fallen, and you will hear a song that you will never forget - the Song of the High Mountain". (DA Dodds)
Hiking adventures, hiking gear reviews, day walks, accommodation, books, articles and photos, all related to these magnificent mountains will feature here.
Should you want to accompany me on a hike or need some information or advice, please make contact with me. I hope you enjoy the articles.
Please visit the archive for some more interesting stories, photos and reviews.
Available in the Archive
(Do read it!)
1) Injasuthi to Lotheni
- Epic 6 Day Hike
2) Review: Hi-Tec
Altitude Pro RGS Hiking Boots
3) Drakensberg
Wilderness Hiking - 14 Day Hiking trip - Lotheni Reserve (Part 3)
4) Lotheni - 14 Day Hiking
Trip (Part 2)
5) Lotheni - 14 Day
Hiking Trip (Part 3)
6) The Bushmen of the
Drakensberg
7) Thunderstorms in the
Drakensberg Mountains
8) Before setting out on a hike………..
9) Cathkin Peak – Drakensberg
10) Why backpack and
multi-day hiking
11) Safety in the
Drakensberg
Photos please make contact with the author, Willem Pelser.
Out
of this nettle danger
We
pluck this flower, safety.
Shakespeare
“It
must be a poor life that achieves freedom from fear,” said Aldo Leopold, the
great American conservationist. To which we might add the words of Henry David
Thoreau: “But it is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.”
Perhaps
that is just it. What is needed, we suggest, is a balanced viewpoint. Let us
take all due precautions, but at the same time recognize that people need the
challenge of high and perilous adventure. You will find this in the Drakensberg
Mountains and Wilderness.
The
Drakensberg has rich gifts to offer all who come to its soaring peaks and quiet
valleys, but all too often the bright anticipation of the morning had ended in
needless sorrow and regret.
The Drakensberg continues to
increase in popularity as a place for healthy recreation, as a place of escape
from the tensions and turmoil of modern life, and as a place for spiritual
refreshment. More and more people are coming to the Berg. And of course,
because of this, more and more accidents happen.
Ninety percent of these accidents
should never happen. They are caused by sheer carelessness and negligence. The
Drakensberg is a place of matchless beauty and grandeur. It has rich gifts for
the suppliant who comes with humility and respect. But for the casual tripper
who could not care less, for the man who goes blithely but mindlessly on his
way, heedless of the advice of those who know, it can be a killer. We need to
create a greater awareness of the possible hazards, and how to cope with them.
What can we
do to avoid these totally unnecessary accidents?
First of all, plan your journey well
beforehand. Get hold of the many excellent maps that are available today. Study
your map well before your trip and plan your route carefully.
Secondly, make sure you are equipped
adequately for the trip you have planned. Clothing and food supplies are
largely a matter for personal taste, but there are certain essentials that must
never be forgotten. Remember at all times to have plenty of warm clothing with
you. Even on the hottest summer day blizzard conditions can blow up with
startling suddenness. If you are on a summit trip take two sleeping bags with
you, even in summer. Wind in cold weather can be a killer: make sure you have a
windbreaker jacket with you. There are excellent jackets on the market. You
will often get wet while on the march. Make sure you have a change of dry
clothing for when you reach your night’s camping spot. Track suits are
excellent for this purpose. Strong leather boots are better than shoes and “takkies”
(and better than high heels!). To avoid blisters wear two pairs of socks, the
inner thin, well soaped on the inside with soft shaving soap, and the outer
thick knitted, with some talc powder between the two pairs.
Food, even more than clothing, is a
matter of personal choice, but make sure that what you select is light in
weight. There are so many choices in the market that this should prove no
problem. There is no point in carrying heavy tins of meat when a few packs of
soup powder will do the job just as well.
One
very important point: always carry more food than you actually require. This
need not be anything elaborate: a few extra slabs of chocolate, extra oatmeal –
enough to keep body and soul together for a few days in an emergency.
Always
remember to fill in the Mountain Rescue Register at your point of entry into
the Drakensberg, and to sign off when you return. THIS IS ESSENTIAL. These registers
are available at all entry points. The information is essential for the rescue
team in case you have an emergency or get lost. Much valuable time and effort
can be wasted as a result of insufficient or incorrect information. The party,
for instance, who died in the Ship’s Prow Pass in 1981 had filled in their
route simply as “walk up Cathkin” which was both incorrect and meaningless. If
there is a likelihood of your deviating from your planned route, you should say
so. Even if you are going for a short walk in the Little Berg, an afternoon’s stroll;
always tell someone where you are going.
Summit
trips to the inexperienced are particularly hazardous. It is wise to embark on
these gradually. Don’t make your first trip to the summit a ten-day hike! Make your
first trip a single-day one and learn what the summit is like. At Thendele,
Cathedral Peak and Giant’s Castle it is possible to reach the summit and return
in a day. Then go up and spend one night on the summit. See how you like
sleeping out at 3050m. It may not be your cup of tea! After that is the time to
plan for longer trips.
It
is wise to familiarize yourself with the various passes up to, and down from,
the summit. The main escarpment is nothing but a gigantic sheer wall of rock,
sometimes 305m high. There are only 12 to 15 well-known passes breaching this
rock wall, and it is wise to know where they are. If you are caught in heavy
snow on the summit you may want to go down quickly, and your only hope will be
one of these passes.
This brings us to the next point. If
you are on the summit and the weather does show signs of breaking, it is best
to get down as quickly as possible, especially if you have little experience of
snow conditions. Sometimes, after days of snow, the passes become choked with snow
and ice and it is impossible to get down.
You are in the Drakensberg, the mist comes down, and you
are lost. What do you do?
On no account start stumbling around blindly in the
mist. You will soon lose all sense of direction and could easily be lost for
days. It is best to stay put until the mist rises. Sometimes however, the mist
can last for days. Your food is running out: what do you do? If you are in the
Little Berg, there should be no problem, especially if you are on a path. Keep
to this path. But if you are really caught out, away from a path, and the mist
persists, simply follow the nearest stream downwards. All streams in the Little
Berg flow roughly from west to east, and will lead eventually either below the
mist belt or to a habitation of some sort.
If
you are caught on the summit in the mist, it is a little more difficult, for
here there are no paths and the mist can persist for days, especially in
summer. It is still best to stay put, to sit it out, for it can be dangerous to
start walking about in mist near the edge of the escarpment.
But, if the mist last too long, your
food is giving out, and you must seek help, the answer is this. Lesotho streams
rising on the escarpment flow west into either the Khubedu or the Orange, both
of which flow roughly south. If you follow any of the westerly streams you
will, almost certainly, reach help within a day or so. Remember that human beings
must have water, and that the Basotho’s always built their huts near streams.
The mist will disperse at lower altitudes.
A hiking party should ideally consist of three, one to remain
with the victim if an accident occurs, and one to go for help.
Too many people can ruin a party. The pace is always that
of the slowest, but more important, there have been many cases of one man being
missed in a large group, and his disappearance only noted on the return home that
night. If you must hike in a large group, insist on the most experienced person
being the last man, and the next most experienced person taking the lead. He
must never let anyone get ahead of him, and he must also ensure that he is
always within hailing distance of the last man. It is a wise precaution for
both leaders to be equipped with whistles.
Never stand on a rock (on the edge of a declivity, or
crossing a stream) until you are quite sure it is firm. In climbing, never put
your whole body weight on a rock until you have first tested it thoroughly. Be particularly
careful in climbing not to dislodge a rock if there are others below you.
Remember, Drakensberg basalt is friable.
Make a special study of Drakensberg
weather. Learn to interpret the cloud formations, the winds, and the signs that
accompany a change in weather. Remember that the Drakensberg weather can change
dramatically within a few minutes.
Carry your passport with you if you
venture on to the summit. One further word of warning: there have been a number
of cases of hikers losing equipment to Basotho thieves. They will filch your
boots from your tent while you are asleep! Worse still, there have also been
confrontations between hikers and Basotho herdsman. On summit trips always have
at least one man in your party, which should never consist of fewer than 3
members.
Never camp for the night in a stream bed. Flash floods can
and will be killers.
Hypothermia is another killer.
Remember that it is not so much the cold that kills, but cold plus wind plus
wetness plus fatigue. Cold alone is seldom the cause of hypothermia. Warmly clad,
a person can be quite comfortable at an outside temperature of 0 degree Celsius
on a windless day. But let the wind speed rise to only 10 km/h and the result
would be the same as if the temperature had dropped to minus 40 degree Celsius
without the wind. The same applies to wetness. Water conducts heat away 240
times faster than air!
It is, therefore, essential to stay warm, dry and out of
the wind. Stress the importance of carrying plenty of warm clothing on a trip.
In addition to warm woollies, a windproof, waterproof outer garment is
absolutely essential.
Remember, too, that body heat is lost must
more rapidly from the head than any other part of the body. There is a hikers
saying: “If your feet are cold, cover your head.”
To treat hypothermia the patient must be moved out of
the wind, all wet clothing stripped from him and replaced with warm, dry
clothing. He must then be placed if possible in a pre-warmed double sleeping
bag. Putting him in a sleeping bag with someone else is an excellent idea. Hot
drinks (no alcohol) should be given. Extreme cases may need skilled medical
attention.
Know the precautions against snake bites.
We have stressed the necessity for caution and
experience in tackling the wonder-world of the Drakensberg. Bu we would not
like to be misunderstood. There is another side to the coin.
Man has a deep-seated, built-in urge to test himself
against the hazards of life, to pit himself against the elements, and we
believe it would be a sad day if the Drakensberg were ever made totally safe.
It is the very element of danger that gives mountaineering and hiking its
peculiar mystique. Man needs to know that deep satisfaction of discovering the
limits of his abilities, of being able to stare, unblinking, into the face of
danger, and to know that it was good. There is a risk that overemphasis of the
hazards may become counter-productive, and may frighten people off who would
become better men and women through having had to face danger and still remain
unshaken.
The
End
Acknowledgements:
From the
book – Dragon’s Wrath – J Byrom & RO Pearce
Photos – Willem Pelser
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