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

“MANY A TIME I HAVE SAT ON A ROCK AFTER A DIFFICULT HIKE, RAVENOUS, TIRED, MY STRENGTH EXHAUSTED, BUT BLISSFULLY HAPPY. IT IS THAT FEELING WHICH DRIVES US HIKERS EVER AND AGAIN FORWARD INTO THE WILDERNESS, REMOTE FROM ALL LIFE; WHICH IMPELS US TO UNDERTAKE THE MOST FEARFUL EXERTIONS, AND WHICH DRIVES US FAR BEYOND THE NARROW CONFINES OF THE WORLD.”

INJASUTHI

‘_{the well fed dog’}

It’s amazing sometimes, how wrong things can seem for so long, and how suddenly they can come right. For years and years conservationists and mountaineers bemoan the fragmented land control of the Drakensberg and its subsequent lack of an overall conservation plan; ‘efforts have been made in the past to consolidate the area under one authority, but it has been a story of half-hearted measures and government procrastination’, wrote one author. Then it seemed that one day, overnight, we had a new government, and then we had uKkhalamba-Drakensberg Park stretching for some 300 kilometers from Royal Natal Park to Bushmen’s Neck. And now, not only that, but this park are a World Heritage Site and the core of a trans-frontier ‘peace park’.

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 yellow-wood forest on the southern bank of the Injasuthi River where it tumbles out from a red shouldered gorge. In 1838 Voortrekker leader Gerrit Maritz made a laager next to what they called the Little TUGELA towards Escourt, and they would almost certainly have explored up 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 in the Drakensberg to be explored by mountaineers, and it was only in July 1937 that some of the peaks were climbed and named. The most outstanding of them is the Old Women Grinding Corn, which, like Giant’s Castle to the south and Cathkin peak to the north, stands out from the Escarpment connected by a narrow neck. Looking at it from the north you can imagine the scene of the old women kneeling over her grindstone.

But you have to walk up, up the Injasuthi Valley, to the lower Injasuthi Cave and even higher, to where the river races over large boulders where there is no path and the massive red shoulders of the Little Berg give way to the softer green slopes of the sub-Alpine belt, before you can gaze upon the great giants that guard the valley. Early descriptions spoke of the Twins, and only in 1937 after closer inspection was it realized there were in fact three great pillars of rock standing free from the main Escarpment wall. The Eastern and Western Triplets are massive towers, more vertical and fortress-like than any other in the Drakensberg. The Middle Triplet is a mere flake of basalt so barely separated from the main wall that it is hard to see until you get really close. Then you also see it is not ‘mere’ in any sense and that each is a huge formation.

That anyone would contemplate climbing them is a thought that will befuddle most people, but mountaineers are not like most people; I suspect one of the reasons they climb peaks like these is just to astound the lesser mortals they refer to as ‘gapers’ (those who stand with gaping mouths watching them). The sheer, sometimes crumbling, faces of the Triplets were first climbed in 1950 and 1951 and they remain, along with the likes of Devil’s Tooth, among the longest and hardest rock routes in the Drakensberg. Just north of the EKZNW chalets, there is also a camp site, the route up the Little Berg is called Van Heynigen’s Pass. It was named after J van Heynigen who was chief forester at Monk’s Cowl in the 1930’s (and proprietor of Champagne Castle Hotel from 1943, buying it from Hendrik Maartens for 6000 pounds). He hatched the idea of connecting his forest station to Cathedral Peak by constructing a contour path that would meet the tracks built by the Mike de Villiers who started the Cathedral Peak forestry research station and built Mike’s Pass. Later Van Heynigen pushed his path southwards, hoping that one day the parks board would built a path north from Giant’s Castle to meet his.

In the early 1970’s Reg Pearse wrote that the Natal Parks Board had begun forging a path north to Injasuthi: ‘When these two paths meet there will be something like 200 kilometers of well-graded pathway’. For many years there was just talk talk talk, but today you can walk from the base of Cathedral Peak pretty much all the way to Bushman’s Neck on paths through the Little Berg – admittedly sometimes a bit higher and sometimes a bit lower, and sometimes you think the whole path was laid out to be an endurance course. It is true that in places it’s in nearly impassable condition, such as below the Pyramid, while elsewhere it is so tortuous you wouldn’t want to believe it is the best hike between two points. It is also true that from Sani Pass to Bushman’s Neck it’s the Giant’s Cup hiking trail (and no longer a contour path) which, for the most part, is so far from the mountains it could be called the ‘toe-hills meander’. But the basic idea is there and who knows what will happen in time………

In 1980 Solitude was purchased by the state and incorporated as a satellite section of Giant’s Castle Reserve. It was then called Injasuthi. Accommodation is in 15 chalets, each sleeping six and full equipped for self-catering, as well as two dormitories sleeping 8 each. About 200 meters downstream is a caravan park and camp site, which in autumn becomes a riot of orange ‘Wild Dagga’ flowers. At the office there is also a small curio and food shop, stocking only the basics.

The main landmark from here is Monk’s Cowl, looming up between Champagne Castle and Cathkin Peak and lording it over the Injasuthi Valley.

Hiking routes start from three points in the camp: the tar road across the vehicle bridge leads to Poacher’s Stream, Battle Cave, Marble Baths Cave, Lower Injasuthi Cave, Fergy’s Cave and Centenary Hut; starting next to chalet 4 and continuing over a wooden footbridge this route leads to Van Heynigen’s Pass, the old game guard hut, Wonder Valley Cave and the contour path to Monk’s Cowl; starting from dormitory hut unit 2 is the route to Grindstone Caves and from there to Marble Baths, Cataract Valley, Yellow-wood Forest and the old kraal and dipping tank.

The only caves that can be booked for overnight stays are Lower Injasuthi, Grindstone (two) and Marble Baths. Fergy’s and Junction caves have been subject to flooding and are now no longer suitable as shelters. ‘Fergy’ was Sergeant I Ferguson, a policeman who in the 1940’s was given the task of guarding what was a government reserve (before it was sold to a private owner in the 1960’s) against poachers. He was a man who seemed to love life in the wilds and used the cave as his headquarters. Generations of hikers also enjoyed its comforts which are, alas, no more. But Lower Injasuthi Cave is far nicer and better situated anyway, and was until recently very little used by hikers. It makes a great 2-day return hike giving you access to the sacred bowl at the base of the Triplets – comparable in majesty to the base of the Amphitheater. The other place of great majesty is Battle Cave, whose significant ‘battle’ scene can only be viewed on a guided tour. It is a fenced off cave due to earlier vandalism. There are plans to re-open Tree Fern Cave to hikers. This cave was used for horse-trials starting at Hillside Camp to the south-east, so inquire this if you please.

A new hut was opened a few years ago in time for the marking of the Mountain Club’s 100^th year, but, alas, it has, like Bannerman’s Hut in Giant’s Castle, been heavily vandalized by Basotho poachers and cattle thieves. No matter what EKZNW does to protect the huts, some Basotho’s find a way to destroy and steal; thatched roofs were burnt and were replaced with tin; that was stolen and so tiles were used; windows were broken and thick bars installed; they were smashed with rocks……. and so on. The only pass giving easy access to the summit from Injasuthi camp is Leslie’s, going up Buttress Fork Stream past Marble Baths.

The Injasuthi Reserve is a stunning, beautiful area to explore and well worth multi-day hikes.

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.