Hiking the Wilderness - Lightning

 “I SOLO HIKE THE WILDERNESS, NOT TO ESCAPE LIFE, BUT FOR LIFE NOT TO ESCAPE ME”

UNKNOWN

HIKING THE WILDERNESS

LIGHTNING

Of all the hazards that can best you in the wilderness, it is certain that being struck by lightning is one of the most terrifying. That bolt from the blue can zap you without warning, melting your boots to your feet and reducing you to a smoking heap. And it’s so hard to get away from, too – especially if you are high up or in the forest. Well, that does not have to be the case. One of the reasons why you should take an interest in the weather around you is so that you can avoid being on that knife-edge ridge in a thunderstorm.

Warning signs

   Your best source of information for thunderstorms and the menace of lightning is the weather forecast. And if storms are predicted for your area, amend your plans – it’s better to spend a few hours in the outdoor shops. If you do get caught out, there are a few steps you can take to avoid becoming toast.

   If you hear thunder or see lightning, don’t hang around for the rain to come, get to safety as quickly as you can. If you can hear the rumble of thunder the storm is probably only 10-16km away. You can see lightning a lot further off, usually up to 24km away, but in the hills your visibility and the sound of the thunder may be obscured and deflected by valleys and ridges. When you see the flash start counting. Stop when you hear the bang. Divide your result by 3 for a metric answer and by 5 for a distance in miles. If your result is between 5 and 8km, you are in the usual strike zone for lightning, and therefore most at risk.

Protect and survive

   The best places to shelter from the rain are often the worst places to avoid lightning. Tall trees are natural lightning conductors, but caves and overhangs too will conduct electricity around you and your body will act as a conducting core.

   If you are in a forest, see if you can find a patch of younger trees. If you’re on rocky terrain, see if you can find a boulder. Sit on your rucksack with your head down and your hands on your knees. You don’t need to throw out all your metal ware – lightning has bigger fish to fry than being drawn by your ice axe, walking poles, camera or crampons – but it may be sensible to lay them to one side. The middle of a well-drained slope is probably the best place to be.

Clouds

   If you take a little time to learn which clouds are associated with the different types of approaching weather you can impress your friends with forecasting prowess in the wilderness. If you only learn to identify two – learn cirrus, the high level, wispy clouds that precede a warm front and follow a cold one, and cumulonimbus, the angry thunderclouds which foretell severe weather.

Wind chill

   However cold the air temperature actually is, you will feel colder if there is also a wind blowing. Wind chill is the dramatic factor loved by news reporters because it sounds so dramatic: ‘Although the air temperature was just above freezing, wind chill on the remote farm saw temperatures plummet to -10! There can be no doubt that the wind chill is a killer – it’s a measure of how your body reacts to the conditions of cold air being blown against it. Freezing air will cause you more harm faster if it hits you at 50kmh! If the ambient temperature is -5 degree Celsius and there is a 20kmh wind blowing, the temperature will feel to you as if it is more like -12 degrees Celsius.

How does this affect the Wilderness hiker?

   You have to be prepared for the conditions you’ll find in the wilderness. It’s not just the case of checking to see if it’s going to rain. High winds can make ridge walking very dangerous. Snowfall can occur even in summer at altitude, rain will swell watercourses making route changes necessary, and poor visibility will slow you down, even if your navigation is Exocet-like.

   The moral is, keep your eye on the weather reports before you go. Get accurate forecasts, and understand how they will affect you on the ground in the Wilderness and Mountains.

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.

Drakensberg - Walking in Monk’s Cowl The Sphinx and Crystal Falls

 “IN THE END, YOU WON'T REMEMBER THE TIME YOU SPENT WORKING IN THE OFFICE OR MOWING LAWN....

CLIMB THAT GODDAMN MOUNTAIN"

UNKNOWN

Drakensberg  

Walking in Monk’s Cowl

The Sphinx and Crystal Falls

Monk’s Cowl Reserve, in the Central Drakensberg, is very popular with both day walkers and multi-day hikers. It is a vast area with some spectacular scenery. The only limit as to how far you can go depends on your own stamina. The reserve lies close to the N3 highway and is very easy to get to. It is a place well worth a visit. Here follows some walks which can be done in the area.

The Sphinx and Crystal Falls

Route: Monk’s Cowl EKZNW parking area to the first level of the Little Berg.

Distance: 6 km

Duration: Two and a half hours

Grade: Easy

General: What does ‘easy’ mean, exactly, when hiking in the Berg? The fact that this walk is short in distance does not mean it’s a walk in the park. You will sweat, and it will seem a whole lot further than it really is, but that’s mountains for you – they make you work for their pleasures. Once on top of the Sphinx, if the weather plays along, you’ll return home with photos that show you were among true warriors with their up-pointing spears.

   Start off from the car park, heading past the office diagonally to the left, following the Sterkspruit upstream. About 500 m from the office there is a direction sign where you head off to the left. After another 500 m you come to a T-junction where you must head to the right and up some steep zigzagging steps where you should keep strictly to the path to avoid erosion. You might find the local inhabitants selling walking sticks here. This is a heavily used path and so highly susceptible to degradation. Try not to step on the wooden erosion barriers, but over them, as continual tramping destroys them.

  A fence at the top of the zigzags channels people on the right track. There are some kraals above the right-hand side of the path. Here the path heads around to the right as it makes its way onto the lower section of The Sphinx – the obvious headland. Where you cross the second tributary of the Mpofana you’ll find Crystal Falls in a small shady cove; but this a barely 2 km from the start and so hardly even qualifies as a hike. For children, however, this would be good place for a rest before tackling The Sphinx.

  The path first contours right under the large, pitted, head-shapes sandstone band, weathered into interesting shapes and colors. At the top of The Sphinx – completed in a steep 1-km pull up onto the Little Berg – slip off your pack and enjoy the views among the rocks and silver-leafed protea bushes.

  Here the path swings to the right and you reach Breakfast Stream just a short stroll from the top of The Sphinx. If this is as far as you plan to go, then you’ll have plenty of time to walk around and find great angles for photographs, using the proteas or other plants as foreground detail. It is amazing what can be done with a well composed picture in the Little Berg with the contrasting light of the early morning or afternoon when the main peaks are back-lit for some dramatic shots. Return along the same path back to the car park.

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.

References and Acknowledgements

From the book – “Best Walks of the Drakensberg” – David Bristow

Photos:  ©W Pelser

Compiled by:  Willem Pelser