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
12) In the Shadow of
Cathedral Peak
13) Injasuthi – ‘well
fed dog’
14) Lotheni Reserve
15) Garmin eTrex 10
& 20 Specs and Review
16) The birth of the
Drakensberg – The Ancient Rocks
17) Drakensberg
Mountains – Rock Art
18) Drakensberg
Mountain Reserve Accommodation
19)
Drakensberg – Mkhomazi Area – Hikers Paradise
20)
Drakensberg – Hiking Kamberg – Highmoor - Kamberg, Exploring the Mooi
River Valleys
21)
Chelmsford Nature Reserve
22)
Bushmen Art – Deep in a Mooi River Valley
23)
Missing in the Drakensberg Mountains – Dragon’s Wrath
24)
Hiking Food and Clothes
Photos please make contact with the author, Willem Pelser.
“i am convinced that the wilderness
with her beauty and severe laws is one of the best schools of character.”
W Pelser
HIKING FOOD AND
CLOTHES
Eland Carcass in the Mooi River - Drakensberg
FOOD
Everyone’s favorite
subject and the hardest to agree on is food. It is enormously amusing to hike
with people and watch the various foods produced from their packs – everything
from smoked oysters to hard, fish-meal squares, commonly referred to as “dog biscuits.” Many factors govern what food to take: the length of the trip,
number of people, distance to be travelled, and demands of the terrain, time of
year and nature of overnight facilities – quite apart from personal preference.
In general,
hiking food should be nutritious, lightweight, low in bulk, and prepared with a
minimum of fuss. I food can be divided into five categories: fresh, tinned,
dried, dehydrated and freeze dried.
Fresh foods such as apples, oranges, cold meats, tomatoes, bread
and eggs, spoil easily with exposure to the sun, and are heavy and bulky. They
are great for day walks, but for serious hiking only the strongest members of
the party will feast on them. However, the enjoyment of one item of fresh fruit
a day on any type of hike is worth the extra muscle strain.
Part of the Mooi River Valley leading to the Escarpment - Drakensberg
Tinned
foods should generally be avoided as the tins and the opener add extra mass,
and once the contents have been eaten you must put the smelly tin with its
rough edges back in your pack and carry dead weight. No, you cannot bury the
tin! Exceptions to carrying tins can be made on canoeing or kloofing trips when
waterproofing is essential and space for waterproofed items is dear.
Dried foods
(sweets, nuts, energy bars, figs, raisins) will form your diet’s bulk, make
great trail snacks and are usually packed with energy giving kilojoules.
Dehydrated
foods such as soup mixes, isotonic drinks, milk powders, instant potatoes,
cereals and certain meats and soya, or ready-made meals, are important hiking
foods. They need little space, have a long storage life and a higher long-term
nutritive value than any other type of food. Their only disadvantage is that
preparation takes a little longer. Dehydrated foods are usually less costly
than dried or off-season fresh foods, and are certainly less expensive than
those which are freeze dried.
Freeze-dried foods are sliced or processed,
immersed or sprayed with a preserving agent, and frozen. The moisture content
in the food turns to ice. The food is then placed in a vacuum chamber and
subjected to microwaves. The ice is evaporated, leaving the cellular structure
of the food essentially the same. The food is lightweight and porous and, when
immersed in water, rapidly soaks it up to become reconstituted and ready to use.
The convenient and extremely lightweight nature of freeze-dried foods makes
them indispensable for strenuous hiking trips. They are very expensive and
within six months their nutritional value is lower and deteriorates faster than
dehydrated products. Two favorites are freeze-dried pizza and ice-cream!
When
planning meals remember the following:
1) Energy:
Kilojoules required by the average hiker walking with a moderate load during a
cool summer’s day vary between 14 700 and 16 800 a day. Hard, mountain walking
in winter, such as in the Drakensberg, can increase needs to between 25 000 and
33 600 kilojoules per day.
2) Properly
planned meals, including snacks, need not exceed I kg per person per day.
3) Seasonings
are important and give a necessary sparkle to the trail traveler’s meal.
4)) Always carry
extra high-energy and quickly digestible food, some of which can be eaten cold,
in a separate re-sealable plastic bag. Suggestions include glucose-tablets,
nuts, dried fruits, chocolate, soup and energy bars. Always carry more tea than
you think you will need; not coffee or alcohol, both of which if drunk in
excess can cause hypothermia.
Mooi River Valley - Drakensberg
CLOTHES
High,
exposed windy summits; warm sun-heated valleys; hot midday sun and cold nights
– these may all be experience in a 24 hour hiking day. Always be prepared for a
wide range of temperatures, as well as humidity and rain. Two important
principles to keep in mind are that several light layers are more adaptable
than a single, heavy garment, and that wool is the only fabric that retains its
warmth even when wet. Wearing wet cotton clothing actually makes you feel
colder than walking naked!
Warm clothing: Adopt the layered look and be as
warm or cool as you like. Here are suggestions, starting with extremities:
light wool or synthetic socks under heavy woolen ones (avoid cotton inside
boots as cotton holds moisture next to the skin, promoting soft skin and
blisters); thin leather glove liners and wool or fiberfill insulated mittens; a
brimmed cotton hat for sunshine and a woolen hat for or balaclava for the cold;
cotton shorts or long pants for winter or high altitudes; water repellent,
breathable nylon, wind-resistant pants: a thin, cotton, long sleeved shirt for
summer, a woolen one for cold weather or high altitudes; a woolen jersey or a
down or fiberfill sleeveless jacket; a down or fibrefilled hooded parka; and a
waterproof/breathable hooded parka and long pants for rain. Do not take denim
jeans on a hike; lightweight tracksuit pants are more comfortable and not as
bulky or heavy.
Choose
versatile clothes. For example, a long sleeved cotton shirt can be worn
buttoned or unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up or down, and it has pockets for all
sorts of stuff. T-shirts has none of these.
A small but
useful hint for day hikers, leave a change of warm clothing at your base camp.
It is a most encouraging prospect to look forward to if you become cold and wet
in the course of an outing.
Mooi River Valley – Route to Highmoor – Drakensberg
Rainwear: The biggest clothing dilemma hiker’s
face is choosing between waterproof and water repellent outer-wear. If, when
trailing, you walk wearing a waterproof jackets and pants, you keep out the
rain but keep in body moisture. Water repellent clothes allow body moisture to
escape but, as the waterproof coating wears off, will eventually prove useless
in keeping out the rain. Waterproof rain gear has the advantage, however, of
keeping out wind associated with rain and thereby allowing your body to warm
its trapped moisture. In this way the waterproof jacket and pants work like a
diving wet-suit.
Some people
have expressed dissatisfaction with Gortex or Ventex and similar fabrics that
claim to be windproof and waterproof while allowing condensation to escape.
This is because these fabrics work well only if the rate of perspiration is
low, there are significant temperature and humidity differences between the
inside and outside of the material, and the outer surface is not coated with a
layer of water, such as during a torrential downpour. These are also the
reasons why the large dome Goretex tents have failed while the tiny one-man
Goretex tents work very well. In pouring rain you will get damp no matter what
you wear. How wet you get will depend on how ingeniously you arrange your
clothing layers.
Underwear and pajamas: Select your underwear by taking into
consideration the weather conditions you are likely to encounter. The coolest
type of underwear are those made from pure cotton or cotton and nylon combinations.
Cold weather underclothing requires more thought. Long johns made of cotton in
a conventional weave or net construction are warm, but woven wool or silk
combinations are even warmer. In really cold conditions wear 2- or 3- ply
thermals – which usually consist of a wool outer layer, with silk or cotton
next to the skin. For winter night wear, long wool underwear inside a tent is
good. In the summer, a cotton track suit or clean, light underwear is all that
is needed.
Never wear
your walking clothes in your sleeping bag. Apart from reasons of hygiene, the
fibers of your walking clothes compress and fill with dirt and moisture so that
they are no longer able to trap and hold warm air.
Happy
hiking!
The End.
Willem
Pelser – The Mountain Man
