Saturday 26th April 2014 - 9 Peaks

Saturday 26^th April 2014

It was now day 3 of the trip and we were only about to climb our second mountain due to the detour we needed to take and the extra kilometres to achieve this. It was a little unsettling as we thought we had everything completely planned out, we would travel, sleep in the car, climb, sleep in the car, eat on the side of the road and so forth but like any adventure things never stick perfectly to plan and this was a test of patience, endurance, resilience and most important team work to see this through. The support team (Gershon, Brendan, Graison, Zee, Shaun and Matthew) and the three climbing boys Kobus, Rene and Jordan were real troopers and I will walk through hell for them!

We left Resthaven after a hearty farm style breakfast and left for KwaDuma after Namahadi I was not sure what to expect, except the unexpected and the unpredictable! The road to the Tabase police station was long and dusty.  It seemed to take forever to get there. But it gave Pamela and I a chance to take hundreds of photographs and to take in the breathtaking views, sunrise and mountains.  We passed many small homesteads with cattle, sheep, donkeys and horses grazing nearby.  Some of the dwellings were painted in vibrant colours with various traditional patterns on the walls. With the early morning sunrays peeping over the mountains the lighting on the dwellings and landscape was spectacular.  Once we had reached the police station in the middle of nowhere, I might add,  we made the decision to continue further as the roads which were impassable had been leveled with graders and the support team would be staying with the cars, so security was not an issue.  We arrived at the starting co-ordinates where the support team started to set up a base came as we got ourselves ready for the once again long trek to the summit of KwaDuma. Once again this took us longer than we had anticipated.

KwaDuma what can I say about this incredible and beautiful journey to the summit of this mountain. If I had to describe this mountain and its surrounds in one word – it would be strange – yes this is a strange mountain. I could not quite put my finger on it but something was amiss with this strange yet incredibly breathtaking mountain and I was not alone in my thoughts. Unlike Namahadi where we did not see or hear a soul the entire time we spent on the mountain, alone with your own demons, here on KwaDuma you were constantly reminded that you were not alone with your own demons but many were roaming the mountains just waiting for you!!Eish. There are no trails or markers along the way; this is a lonely and desolate place where few sane humans, if any tread. We followed some of the shepherds trails that spired up mountains only to find them disappear and we then needed to find new ones. The trails were very uneven and rough with tufts of hard grass, bushes and loose rocks making the way difficult. The shepherd paths were very narrow, just enough for an animal’s hooves and long legs not really for hiking boots so stumbling and tripping become the order of the day. The biggest challenge was fatigue and to keep the spirits up and as in the case of many of the bigger peaks we did not walk the bottom of the peak look at it then make your way to the top. No it was not that simple, you would actually summit several mountains and peaks only to trek back down walk along the plains and riverbeds then make your way back up like a cruel joke, until you reached the actual real summit. This is hard on the physic and body. Early on we had passed two shepherds armed with a bottle of water, a stick, a blanket and gum-boots who thought we were completely crazy people while we were negotiating the KwaDuma pass to the top of the escarpment. They told us that we would never reach the summit in time and that they knew a quicker route.  Was this a trick? Was it safe to follow them? They certainly knew this mountain? We did discover on the way back after opting for another route that their shorter route did actually leave out all the ups and downs of the other peaks…..next time hey. We rested on the top of the pass near a rocky platform where the broken walls of a shelter long gone stood out. This is where Kobus had his encounter with the “wild dogs” that had killed a person 8 days to his arrival and this man did this alone in the dark! Legend!!

Once on top of the escarpment the walking was sort of flatter for a short while with longer grass but large rocks and no trail or pathway at all. We summited a couple of smaller peaks and then made our way up a long trek to another summit.  Once we had reached this summit we could see KwaDuma in all its majestic glory. We kept on passing many cows and several herds of horses, their colours and spectacular markings. These beasts would stop what they were doing and just stare at us, as if to say “what are you doing here” “you do not belong here”. Some of the herds had colts that would bolt off and challenge each other, putting a quiet a show for us. Then they would suddenly stop and stare. Horses and cows would stop mid eating and chewing almost letting their jaws drop then watch in apparent amazement.  I only saw one Shepard with his white wooly mountain dog as it ran in our direction his owner called him back. He was watching his cows on the final peak before KwaDuma.  Small spots of snow were now scattered on the slopes of KwaDuma and the temperature was dropping rapidly. Jordan was sick and the group had carried on without us. Jordan improved and we made our way up to the top. We could see the rest of the team on the top waving at us as we made our way up. there was a bit of a mix up and when we got to the top we found a cairn but could not see the group. I started to panic a bit as I was alone up here with my son and light was fading fast. We started to come back down quickly and when we stopped at the ridge we heard shouting behind us. The team had come back down. I was relived as I did not want to be out here alone with my son. I explained to the team that " we were right behind you" and when we got to the top they had disappeared They were trying to come back down another route then opted to come back down the way we came or we would not have found each other. I was really bumped as in the panic I had not taken a photo of Jordan and I on the top near the cairne. When I pointed out to Rene where we had gone, he said "but you were on the summit". We ended up taking a picture on the ridge one of my favorite photograph of Jordan and I on the trip.-a treasured memory in print) and made our way back down. Sunlight was fading it was 15h00 and we really needed to move quickly. We opted to take a different route back across the valley along a small river bed. This turned out to be a good decision as this was less punishing on the feet and legs. It did save some time, enough to make the top of the pass with some day light we were treated to the most beautiful and most spectacular red, pink, orange and blue sunset I have very witnessed across the escarpment behind us. We found out landmark and made a slow and dangerous way back down the very steep and slippery pass.  The GPS kept on freezing again and it was a challenge to navigate in the dark as there were no obvious path ways. We would once again find what we thought was a pathway only to have it end almost as soon as it had started. Then you would have to walk downwards until you found another path and follow that till it ended. Trails like this are hard on the body as you can never get into a rhythm.  Even in daylight it is a challenge in the dark near madness. But once again our mountain heroes Rene and Kobus and cameraman Shaun got us safely off the mountain. Once again we spotted the support vehicles with their headlights on showing us the way in complete darkness. We were so blessed with amazing weather during this night the incredible stars and Milky Way above us. The team walked about 2 km to meet us with words of encouragement. We stumbled into base camp to find a fantastic hot meal, hot chocolate and some of the police and locals had gathered around the camp-fire to welcome us, I am sure the free unexpected meal added to their pleasure in seeing us!!.  Apparently bets were on the table as to when we would make it back – the locals and police said at sunrise the next day. Thank the Lord we made it in long before midnight. We were blessed to be able to find accommodation once again at Resthaven and made our tired way back to a hot spa bath and those awesome cappuccinos and Kobus was a happy man!!.