Drakensberg Wilderness Hiking South Africa - Mountain of the Dragons - Where Adventure beckons.....: Drakensberg - Walking in Injasuthi

Quathlamba

“A mass of Spears. Named thus by the Zulu warriors before the white man came. Today called the Drakensberg, Mountains of the Dragon. 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.”

“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

“It is remarkable that one can walk all alone in the wilderness and not feel lonely at all, while within the human antheap of a modern city you can become totally isolated and lonely – reduced to a mere number……..”

Unknown

Drakensberg

Walking in Injasuthi

Grindstone Caves and Marble Baths

It’s amazing sometimes how wrong things can seem to be for so long and how suddenly they can then come right. For years and years conservationists and mountaineers bemoaned the fragmented land control of the Drakensberg and its lack of an overall conservation plan. Then it seemed that one day, overnight, we had a new government, and then we had the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park stretching for some 300 kilometers from Royal National Park to Bushman’s Neck. And now, not only that, but this park is a World Heritage Site. One of the prime pieces of the Berg that for many years lay in private hands was a small chalet resort called Solitude, close to a yellowwood forest on the southern bank of the Injasuthi River where it tumbles out from a red-shouldered gorge. The valley, whose Zulu name, Injasuthi, ‘the well fed dog’ suggests it was a rich hunting area. However, the uppermost reaches of the valley were among the last areas of the Drakensberg to be explored by mountaineers and hikers.

Grindstone Caves and Marble Baths

Route: From the camp to Grindstone Caves then up to the Contour Path, heading generally to the south to the Injasuthi Valley and back to the rest camp.

Distance: 19 km

Duration: 2 Days

Grade: Strenuous

General: This is a great 2 day hike, which can be increased to three days by linking it to Wonder Valley Cave. If you do that, spend the first night at Wonder Valley or your second day will be an epic. There’s no other sensible way between the 2 caves except vie the camp, so just accept it and enjoy the cold water on your way through.

From the camp make your way up to Grindstone Caves. At the caves take the path between the 2 caves to climb Old Women Valley and on to Gibisila Ridge, which is a pleat in the skirt of the Old Women Grinding Corn. After 1 km of steady uphill work the path splits around the ridge. From there the path heads up the inner, right-hand flank of thirst the Injasuthi and then of a northern tributary below the Old women. After a further 3 km of climbing, gaining about 250 m along this stretch, you finally reach the Contour Path, where you take a breather and then turn left (south-east).

Very soon you start your descent. Eland are plentiful in this area, and you’d be unlucky not to see them between here and the cave at Marble Baths. After 500 m, where the path veers sharp right to descend a long, steep valley going upstream. The stream is unnamed on maps; the path crosses the stream and heads down the right-hand bank. This is still the official Contour Path, hard as it may seem in certain places.

Soon after you cross a tributary from the right, a path heads off around the spur to the right and makes its way into Buttress Fork Valley, reaching this stream at Marble Baths. The baths – a polished chute through the soft, cream-colored rock – the brave among you will strip down and take a plunge. In summer this chute makes a wonderful ‘bum slide’. This by the way is the base of Leslie’s Pass, leading up to the escarpment. If you are going to sleep in the cave, remember to book it at the camp.

From Marble Baths go down the right-hand bank, which takes you past Junction Cave after 750 m. Although it was popular in days past as a shelter, the cave is close to the river and its roof has partly collapsed and flooding has made it unusable. Where the streams converge and the forest begins, the path seems to go all over the place, crossing the river here and there, and then finding its way onto the steep, heavily eroded right-hand bank for the last 1.2 km to the confluence with the Injasuthi. The first part of this section is pleasant, along the forest edge of the left—hand bank, but the latter section decidedly uncomfortable, crumbling in places.

Cross the Injasuthi where you come to it and join the Battle Cave/Lower Injasuthi Cave path. From here on it’s an easy 5 km walk along a good, wide, well-maintained path back to camp.

We as hikers, explorers, and adventurers have the absolute duty to respect and protect our Wildernesses. Nobody else will do it for us. Take ownership!

The End.

Safe Hiking.