Drakensberg Wilderness Hiking South Africa - Mountain of the Dragons - Where Adventure beckons.....: CATHKIN PEAK

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 1966

“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".

DRAKENSBERG WILDERNESS PHOTOS © WILLEM PELSER

“Absorb and be absorbed by the beauty of the surroundings. Escape from the shell of your small affairs and tread for a while those mysterious paths of the spirit that lead nowhere and everywhere. Then you will know beauty. You will feel yourself to be a part of beauty, of the earth, the snow, the clouds.”

Frank S Smythe

CATHKIN PEAK DRAKENSBERG

If any individual peak has lived to see great and dramatic events in the history of KZN, it is Cathkin Peak. This free-standing, flat-topped mass of basalt has inquisitively watched the Bushman as they hunted and painted in its shadow. The Africans acknowledged the might of this great mountain as the thunder roared from the summit, and it is not surprising that they called it, according to Bryant, Mdedelele which means “make room for him” implying a bully.

The first Europeans to settle in view of Cathkin were the Voortrekkers who found the fertile grasslands and the sparkling streams a paradise. Their stay was short-lived because they were discontented with the British rule as well as with the unfair allotment of land and so they packed their meager possessions and travelled on, leaving the rolling hills and clear streams to the British Settlers.

David Grey, one of the earliest Settlers in the Cathkin Peak area was a well-to-do Lanarkshire man who came out I 1849 on the Aliwal as a British Settler to KZN. After running a hotel at Weston he moved to a farm which he bought in 18858 from a Mr. Opperman. Here he and his family lived for a while on their farm, popularly known today as the Nest Hotel. In 1863 David Gray moved to his new home which he called Cathkin after a hill near Glasgow, which bore the name Cathkin Braes. Thus Cathkin Peak got its name – a touch of Scotland added to the names of the peaks of the Drakensberg and a monument to the Byrne and British settlers who founded many towns and settlements in KZN.

Patrick Campbell Sclanders was another settler from Glasgow who arrived in KZN in 1861. He married David Gray’s daughter and lived at the Nest. The attraction of Cathkin brought from Edinburgh a great character, Robert Hope Moncrief, brother of Colonel Alexander Moncrief, who invented the guns used with great success during the siege of Sebastopol in 1855. Dobie in his Journal describes his visit to Cathkin in 1863 and how he found Robert Moncrief on the farm Culfargie living in a hut. In 1863 Moncrief was found murdered on the Sungabale Pass.

There were times of peace when the only unfamiliar noise to be heard in the valley was that made by the axes and saws of the wood—cutters whose task it was to fell beautiful old indigenous trees. All they left when they departed were ugly scars. But there were also worrying times when messengers arrived with the news of war and the noise of gunfire rang through the gullies during the Langalibalele rebellion. Rumors of the Zulu wars must have disturbed the people living in the mountains. There were times of excitement during which imaginary fortunes were made and lost when gold was discovered near Cathkin, but it was not a payable field. Rumors of the discovery of cinnabar were whispered through the valleys, but these proved to be no more than a hoax.

Fortunately there were those who realized the value of the indigenous forests and felt that something should be done to preserve the natural forests in the valleys of the Little Berg. But it was not until 1922 that the Cathkin Forest was proclaimed a reserve. A man who was instrumental in establishing and protecting the reserve was Mr. Carter Robinson, the man who started the Cathkin Park Hotel in 1929.

In 1935 Otto Zunckel bought the hotel and it was managed by his sons, Gerald and Udo in the true Zunckel style. Hendrik Maartens then decided to cater for guests on his farm, Woestyn, which today is the popular Champagne Castle Hotel, then owned by Rupert Wait, who also was the lessee of the Royal Natal National Park Hotel.

The Sterkspruit River is cradled on the eastern slopes of the Turret and Amphlett and runs down the old Dragon Peak’s Caravan Park where visitors had the rare pleasure of hearing the voices of the Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School. What finer place could have been chosen for a choir school? Here the angelic voices of the boys harmonize with the winds that blow across the grasslands and the gurgling of the streams.

Close to the Sterkspruit, on the original farm, Heartsease, which belonged to Colonel J.P Woods, the El Mirador Hotel was built by Captain H.C Whelan. The house in which the Colonel lived was used as a starting point in the early attempts to climb Cathkin Peak. The M.O.T.H.S. chose a position close to the original farm Heartsease to build a sanctuary.

Further downstream the Sterkspruit passes the Nest Hotel, built by David Gray who was the grandson of the first David Gray.

The dominant Cathkin spur consists of Champagne Castle which is part of the main escarpment, The Monk’s Cowl, Cathkin peak, Mount Memory, previously called the Sterkhorn, the Turret, and Amphlett.

Champagne Castle can boast of being the second highest peak in South Africa. It was first climbed by a Major Grantham while he was busy surveying in the Drakensberg. Many stories have been told of how this peak got its name, but the authentic one seems to be the version of R.O Pearce, author of the book Barrier of Spears. He is of the opinion that Major Grantham climbed the peak with his batman and that, during the ascent, a bottle of champagne was accidentally broken, and the peak was thus christened Champagne Peak.

In 1888 the Reverend A.H Stoker, and his brother F.R Stoker, climbed Champagne Castle via the Mhlwazine Valley and the descended down the Ship’s Prow Pass, which they called Champagne Castle Pass.

The Monk’s Cowl was a different story. From the time that this peak was first discovered, hiding behind the mighty Cathkin, a certain mystery seemed to surround it. There are stories of early climbers, Father Kelly among them, gazing at the Cowl, searching for a route to the summit. George Lundt, who in his day was termed the greatest crags man in South Africa and who seldom believed a route was impossible, had his doubts about the Cowl.

The first serious attempt was made by Dick Barry and Colin Gebhardt on the 29^th January 1938. Dick had made a name for himself in mountaineering circles in South Africa and overseas in his younger days. His academic career was also exceptional. Having obtained a first-class matriculation with honors at St. Andrew’s College, Grahamstown, he went on to further honors at Birmingham University and top of his year in mining engineering.

These two climbers attempted to scale the north-west face. The climb ended tragically. Less than 150 meters from the summit, just as Gebhardt reached Dick Barry’s stance after “ a sensational pitch with tremendous exposure”, his hand hold came away and he fell the full length of the pitch, pulling Dick with him. Both climbers fell 188 meters, then rolled down a grass slope and fell another 6 meters, rolled again and fell 9 meters where they came to a rest. Shaken, bruised, and shocked though they were, they suffered no serious injury.

Dick had a cut on his head and was unconscious for two hours. To continue the climb was out of the question. Their only hope lay in a descent. Dick tried to climb down, belayed by Gebhardt, but because of his condition found it impossible. After the fifth attempt Colin decided to show him how it might be done.

He had reached the bottom of the pitch when Dick decided to find another route down. Dick constantly answered Gebhardt’s calls while he searched for a new route down, but suddenly his answering calls ceased.

Dick Barry had fallen to his death.

Gebhardt spent the night in a little cave and in the morning he found his friend’s body. Near the Grotto close to Cathkin Peak Hotel is Dick Barry’s grave within sight of the Monk’s Cowl and the mountains which he dearly loved.

In 1939 John Longmore and Harry Barker made another attempt, but this time bad weather with icy conditions forced them to abandon the Cowl. In May 1942, the Monk’s Cowl was eventually climbed, via the south face, by Emile Ruhle, Tony Hooper, Jack Botha, and Hans Wongtschowski. Twenty years later Mat Makowski, Malcolm Moor, and Martin Winter climbed the route Barry had taken and found some of his equipment.

To the north-east of the Monk’s Cowl is the Cathkin Peak with its precipitous sides. At a glance it appears impregnable but as early as 1888 the Stocker brothers found the key to the summit via the South Gully, though they failed to climb the final pitches. Other attempts were made by well-known climbers and eventually in 1912 G.T Amphlett, accompanied by his porter Tobias. Tom Casement, who brought along his well-known Basotho guide Melatu, Father Kelly the climbing priest from Bloemfontein and W.C West, finally stood on the flat-topped summit. Describing the methods of the impetuous Tom Casement West had this to say about the final section of the climb:

“He made for the first pitch which he thought would go, dragging Kelly and Melatu with him. Before long they were in difficulties and I can still see the very deaf padre at one end of the rope in a position suggesting prayer and appeals for Divine assistance, and Tom at the other end, the rocks apparently trembling under the barrage of his Irish volubility. In the meantime Amphlett, I and Tobias had commenced what we considered the most promising approach and were making good headway in spite of the troublesome and dangerous ice on the narrow ledges and in the main gully. The other party ultimately extricated themselves by a difficult traverse and joined up with us. We eventually reached the flat, triangular summit, built a beacon, and recorded our names and the date”.

Mdedelele had fallen.

On the 20^th September 1955 a new route on the north face of Cathkin was climbed by A. Leeb du Toit, Keith Bush, and N.D Harte. When the successful party stood on the summit, little did they know that the climb would eventually end in tragedy. As Keith Bush was abseiling, the sling broke, and he fell to his death.

Keith was the son of Professor Bush of the University of Natal. In 1963 a hut was completed on the site of the old Base Camp and named the Keith Bush Hut.

In August 1970 Tony Dick and Roger Fuggle, who was killed in an avalanche in the Alps in 1974, opened a difficult route on the east face.

Mount Memory, previously known as the Sterkhorn, consists of a north and south peak and was first climbed by the Stocker brothers in 18888.

The Turret, originally named Tamas Tower and often referred to in maps as the Tower, was first ascended by F.E Ellis and O.B. Godbold and party in 1933.

The most northern section of the spur is the Amphlett which was named after G.T Amphlett, a popular Cape climber who spent some time climbing in the Cathkin area. The first recorded climb on this peak was in 1933 by F.E Ellis, O.B Godbold and party.

From the Champagne Castle Hotel and the old Monk’s Cowl forest station a well-known path leads up to the top of the Little Berg, round Hlatikulu Neck, skirting the Amphlett and up the Mhlwazine Valley to the Keith Bush Hut. The path climbs steeply up to Gray’s Pass which leads to the top of the escarpment, and an easy walk takes one to the summit of Champagne Castle.

From the top of Gray’s Pass, a stroll to the top of the Nkosazana Waterfall is worthwhile, and from the edge the Dragon’s back extends as a spur, flanking the northern aspect of the Upper Mhlwazine Valley, and ends in a peak called Ntunja or Gatberg. The latter name springs from the fact that there is an enormous hole through the basalt near its summit.

Ntunja was first climbed by Carter Robinson and M.E Robinson in 1910.

The End.

Safe Hiking.