Rating the Trails: Injisuthi hike: uKhahlama Drakensberg Park: Lower and Middle Drakensberg July 2015

I just love the Drakensberg and I feel so alive when hiking in these majestic mountains, Two of my favorite books on the berg: Barrier of Spears - Drama of the Drakensberg by R.O. Pearse and Encounters with the Dragon by John Hone are a must read. The photographs are beautifully dramatic and do justice to how magnificent our Drakensberg Range is.

Drakensberg means Dragon Mountains and the range extends like a spine of a dragon's back from far north east of South Africa and all the way down the country to end in the Stormberg of the Eastern Cape. In November 2000 the uKhahlama Drakensberg Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Zulu name uKhahlama means "barrier of spears". Hidden within the dragon is a wealth of treasures, the bushman paintings, the beautiful wild flowers, the sheer dramatic cliffs and continuous waves of rolling mountains, the stunning sunsets and sunrises, the wild life, dramatic thunderstorms and sudden weather changes, the freezing cold, snow, heavy backpacks, and silence, adding to this is the fact that without these mountains the rivers and dams would run dry and there would not be sufficient water to sustain a major portion of the southern Africa's population.

Excited we packed up our backpacks, supplies and equipment into our car and headed off to Injisuthi Camp. Jordan and I wanted to try out our new backpacks and hiking equipment. We knew that there was bad weather coming in. We left on Monday, the weather was to clear for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and by Friday afternoon bad weather was predicted on top of the high berg. We wanted to get to the high berg, weather and time permitting. I had just bought a Garmin Trek 20 so was keen to try it out. I am busy studying to become a guide so this was part of my preparation and and great addition to the map reading and compass work. Jordan and I stayed up late the night before we left plotting the trails we were to take and loading them into the GPS. Our huge coffee table was just one big map with rulers, pens and paper and battery chargers!!

We left very early on a cold wintery Monday morning and headed for the mountains. It was a longish trip and we stopped in Harrismith to have breakfast at our favorite Wimpy. It started to rain on the way down and mist was settling in with some sun peeping out from time to time and we started to hope for the best. We had packed for the cold and wet so we were not too worried. We just needed to be responsible on the mountain and make mature decisions when needed.

The highest pub in Africa is at the top of Sani Pass, the road to the uKhahlamba Drakensberg park.

UNESCO had this to say about our bit of heaven: "This KwaZulu Natal World Heritage Site has exceptional natural beauty in its soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden sandstone ramparts."

The Dragon's spine stretches 150km long and there are several very spectacular spots like Monk's Cowl, Giant's Castle and Cathedral peak all of which I have hiked in over the years, and all can be found within the park. The dramatic Amphitheatre a wall of rock 5 km in length and 1 000m high. The summit at Mont-aux-Sources is domed shaped and from this spills over the magnificent and breathtaking Tugela Falls. Jordan and I have had the privilege to stand on this very spot.

Fauna and Flora abound with the magnificent Eland, bearded vultures, lammergeier, the plentiful indigenous proteas and rare cycads to the ancient tree ferns. For some 4000 years these precipices were home to the indigenous San people. Although they have all but vanished form the area they left over 30 000 treasures, the incredible "bushman" paintings in some 600 caves and overhangs.. They are still discovering new caves and more treasures even today. Standing in one of these caves and bearing witness to a magical time capsule, lost a long time ago., is a very humbling and sobering experience, one that reminds you of how fragile we all are and if we do not look after our world we to will vanish.

We arrived at Injisuthi Camp at around 13h00 with enough light to sort out last minute adjustments and set up camp and watch the thick mist and rain come in sipping hot chocolate, while taking in the mountain air and sounds of nature. I was a little worried as the lady at the booking office said that snow and bad weather was expected and she did not recommend we go into the high berg. Eish that was not good news but the mountain teaches you one thing be prepared for every eventually and cold, cold, cold.

We mentioned to her that 3 cars were parked in the overnight hiking bays after she had told us that no one else was on the mountain hoping she knew about them and it was a bit of assurance that we were not completely mad to venture in the mountains. We found out that they had actually snuck in without paying or even paying for their hiking permits. They had also not even bothered to fill in the mountain Rescue register. I was really shocked, how dumb could you be.

While buying something yummy to snack on, well ok lets be truthful here, a tin of condense milk and some milk for Jordan and I, and paying for our stay, as well as collecting our permits, filling out the mountain book I met a really amazing couple, Ian and Wendy Miller who live in Durban. They told me that the group that had left were not experienced hikers and only one had hiked in the berg before. They did not take a tent with them and they were going to camp from cave to cave. The worry was that the champ mentioned a cave on Judges Pass, to which Ian Miller, who has mapped out the entire Drakensberg trails, many of the caves, said he had no knowledge of this cave the bloke was talking about. They had a days head start and we were asked to keep a loot out for them. We were sure we would meet them somewhere along the trail. Ian and Wendy then invited Jordan and I over for coffee after I think we chatted for and 1 hour or so at the office.

Our camp was set up with our brand new tent that I had worked 4 over time shifts for. I decided to bite the bullet and buy a good tent. We bought the terra-firma Explore lite. 2 person tent. 150cmx230cm + 80cm x100cm, it is ultra-light and compact at 2.95kg, the poles are made of duralumin and its has a front vestibule area. It has a 4000 mm waterhead on ripstop fly sheet and a 5000mm waterhead bath tub type ground sheet. Its is a copperish colour and shaped like a bath wide at the top and then tapers off towards the feet. It was really waterproof and withheld the howling winds and rain. BUT - eish it was really small. Jordan and I were squashed in there and a bit of an issue was our huge backpacks just did not fit into the tent. If the tent was rectangular and not tapered off we would have just fitted. The problem when you are hiking out in the bundus is you just cannot leave anything outside your tent. Baboons will definitely lift you goods gladly from you and yes it is well known that hikers have had equipment stolen by the smuggles and guys living up on the mountains. We were not too sure how we were going to address this issue. We did try out our new tent in the garden and failed to put in our big packs - a bit of a rookie mistake. But a "boere maak n plan" As a one man tent it is fantastic and I will use it when either one of us hikes alone, but it will be back to working overtime and I will have to buy a bigger tent and I believe we might be lucky and find one even lighter but ultra light it does come with a nice price tag!

Ian came over as we were getting ready to sort out dinner and invited us for dinner. Man you need to see their set up. They are pros and their base camp logistics and equipment is outstanding. I had to take some photos to do their fantastic setup justice. One tent is used as the kitchen (fridge, freezer and stove powered by gas) and laundry, undercover is the scullery with camping sinks. Then near the fire place they have parked their trailer and at a moments notice chairs and cushions come out and we all get to enjoy a bonfire. The tents are set out in an L-shape. The Bedroom has camping cupboards and stretches and you could see that a very warm and comfortable sleep was guaranteed. Oil lamps were dotted around hanging from their attachments.

The dinning tent was spacious and Wendy had even put flowers on the table. Now this was the life no doubt and something to aim for. I will definitely be working lots of overtime to build up our future basecamp! We ate like kings with a neighbouring camper who joined us and told us about some amazing expeditions he himself had been on. He was originally from the UK.

After dinner we set up the maps, computer - yes Ian had solar power to charge all his electronics, what would you expect from an engineer - Jordan was in his element and spent a couple of hours loading all of Ian's mapped out routes with all his waypoints in detail onto our GPS Garmin Trek20. Ian had in fact mapped out the entire berg. Wow we had landed the mother load, this has taken Ian years to gather and in a short time we had this invaluable and life saving information at our finger tips, got to love technology and got to love fellow hikers, we are generally a great bunch always willing to share our life's lessons and information. God works in mysterious and wonderful ways and we really felt so blessed to have met this amazing couple.

Ian and Wendy as mentioned hail from Durban about a 2 hour drive from here. They are the "Guardians of Injisuthi" and spend a great deal of time here cleaning up and repairing caves, trails and huts. They also are busy opening up some of the older less known trails. They have also mapped out the area in detail marking all the caves and discovering new ones. They know the area like the back of their hands and are fantastic company sharing all their knowledge to two strangers!!

They also arrange for volunteers to join them in removing alien plants, especially the invader /alien pine trees. When time off work permits Jordan and I will head back there and join them on some of their adventures. I would also like to have my nature guide evaluation done here in Injisuthi. It is really a fantastic and magical place to take groups to as its filled with history, a dinosaur cave with fossilized foot prints, fantastic bushman paintings and the very well known Battle cave which has one of the largest well preserved bushman's paintings, beautiful river crossing, stunning trails, glorious mountains, incredible flora and fauna, lots of caves to sleep in and it just goes on. It is really a hikers and adventurers paradise. It is one of my all time favorite places to hike and I have hiked here with my kids when they were very young. It has hikes of all degrees for both the new hiker to the very experienced hiker looking for an ultimate berg adventure.

Above is the warm and very comfortable bedroom tent!!

We had a great bath then headed for the sack. We had left all our extra stuff and backpacks in our car so it was just Jordan and I and our kettle for our hot chocolate.

We crawled into our sleeping bags and had a very restless night continously bumping into each other in the night. It was actually freezing, the wind blowing quiet strongly and it was raining again. Oh boy the adventure had started!

Testing the emergency tent - this is
the air tunnel for us to breath

Jordan and I both in the emergency
tent and you can see the window

We set our alarm for 5 am and when we did wake up the mist was so thick you could not see your hand infront of you and it was still raining. We decided that to make up the tent in the pouring rain and pack away without drying would not be great and walking across the river in the thick mist was not an option. so we waited and met up with Ian and Wendy a little later on. They suggested as it had rained the whole night the route we have planned to take, one we had already taken on a previous time would be hell negotiating all the long grasses and slippery pathways and several river crossing with heavy backpacks and they suggested another route. It would be difficult as we would have to go up a very steep gully, but the mist was lifting and the gully was visible. Once on the top we would be walking along the Jeep track for some several kilometers and would need to find a path to our right, hike several more kilometres to Centenary hut for the night. We would need to make a decision quickly as we needed to get going now while we had a window open to tackle the gulley. Ian had said if the weather turns bad it would be too dangerous and we could slip and come tumbling down. Great I thought I hate highs and cry my eyes out everytime I look down or have to go too close to the edge.

We packed up, parked our car and the tent had dried a bit thank goodness. It was now nearly 09h20 am 4 hours later than what we had planned to leave. Not a great start but that is the luck of the draw and part of the adventure. We walked along the tarred road, passed the start of our original route, crossed over the low level bridge and made our way to our new starting point. Jordan felt confident he had the GPS nailed and we had both our tent and our Trekates StormShelter (400g) (emergency tent that can fit both of us comfortably, heats up very quickly and you can cook in it too. A good mate a doctor from the UK Sam Worley worked with me on my response car for several months while he was working for a medical charity organizaiton and sent one from the UK for me. Great when hypothermia has set in to quickly warm you up. It even has a window so that you can check when the weather has cleared, or what's headed your way making you its supper. Quiet cool actually!!)

Ian's waypoints and GPS guide was spot on, we could even mark the exact point where he stood had when he entered the waypoints in. It was a real God's send to have such reliable and accurate information.

there was thick ice all over and
much of the grass and plants had
icicles hanging form their foliage.

There was so much reds and oranges on display!

The beautiful reds and oranges of the grasses left you in awe

the thick mist coming in fast

the first of two gullies lay above us

We went off course a little for about 100m, why because Jordan and I were yacking so much, but we quickly saw our "oops" and traced backwards to the actual path. It was not clearly marked and looked like a spot that runoff water had created. On the upside we got to see a beautiful Klipspringer antelope but it disappeared before I could get the camera. It was really gorgeous and well worth the extra 100m we had walked. Such a blessing!! The mist was starting to setting in again and not clearing as we had anticipated. the paths were tricky and very muddy, the grass wet and a lot of ice on plants and the pathways.

A frozen spiders web - stunning!!

the frozen grass

that smile that says," I am faking it cause me knees are knocking"

Initially the path did not seem too bad, it worked the legs and you felt a bit out of breath as we were ascending fairly quickly. Then it happened we got to a really tricky spot, one slip and it was all over and there was nothing for you to grip or hold onto and a sheer drop on our left. The path was at an angle and with everything so wet it was difficult and not recommended to rely on any plants to hold onto. I shat myself to put it bluntly. I was hyperventilating like a steam train all the way up and at times Jordan had to pull me up with my trekking poles, Our packs felt so heavy even though we had managed to get rid of 17 kg between the two of us from our last hike here. I think the fear of slipping and not felling balanced was making it worse.

We made our way up and stopped a few times in rather perilous positions just hanging, contemplating life and such things while mustering our strength to carry on. It was really too dangerous to turn back and we really just needed to grow some and dig in and to be honest I thought I must of been bloody mad to have found myself in this position. I like to be in control and in my work as an Advanced life support paramedic with the fire department I have to be, but here on the mountain, or should I say rock face I was so not in control. This is actually a good thing, puts things into perspective for me and the reality that I cannot control everything, even I have to let go and just be.

We knew we had 2 sets of ladders to tackle and we actually came across a few others which only had a few rungs each. some of the rungs had come loose so we needed to really pull ourselves up hoping the ladders would not give way.

We eventually came to the ladders that the Millers had warned us about. One lot was not too bad, quiet fun actually but tjoewee one was hectic. Serreiaaas!!They were really not stable and this shit had really got real, actually it had got real back when I was hanging, unable to move with a sharp drop below me, my heart about to leave my chest, and I was sure there were a few fairies flying around my head. There were several rungs missing and I was really battling to pull myself and the weight of my backpack up. By now my legs were rubber, so Jordan suggested I take my pack off and climb up to the top. Yes I just love this boy!! Now we are talking. We had brought a safety rope with so we used that to secure the packs. Jordan then climbed up and down twice to bring both my pack and his pack up. My hero, so glad he could help his old mom out!! I did manage to get some fantastic shots of my hero son while I was perched in a safe spot, stuggling up the ladder as some of the rungs gave way leaving him dangling and resorting to him doing his Bear Grylls stuff. Was so super proud of him.

That look " what the hell am I doing"

the pics just don't do justice as to just how perilous the ladders are.

the steep gully - the final harassing section then it got less scarey.

My favorite photo of my Viking boy!!

"the things I do for my Mother!!"

some of the rungs broke leaving Jordan dangling somewhat - we reported back so they can be repaired.

"did I really just do that crazy Sh@t" look

We finally got to the top and by now the mist was very thick and creating a light mist rain and we were thankful for our rain brooks and jackets. Our backpacks were also waterproof and everything on the inside stayed dry. We has also lined the inside of our packs as per our usual regime just incase.

The jeep road is not too difficult but we were somewhat tired from our little adventure up the gully so it was a welcome relief, I wont lie not to be dangling off some ledge having your life flash before you was a cool feeling. We were still feeling strong and pushed a bit. We found a lot of evidence of poccupine tracks and dung but did not actually see one except for the odd quill. The mist was really bad and we could not even see our outstretched hands and had to stay really close to each other. Jordan was walking infront and had to keep looking back to make sure mom was behind him. Once again we were both very gratefull for the GPS and without it we would have had to set up camp and wait for the mist to clear. We pushed on until we found the path to our left. We would never ever have found it if we had not had Ian's GPS information. Again we were so grateful that we had meet this amazing couple.

The thick mist!!

As we got onto the trail to Centenary hut the sun threatened to come through the thick mist and clouds but it kept on disappearing and the thick mist came back in over us. Not too far from the hut it suddenly cleared for around 10 minutes, just long enough for us to get some really great shots of where we were planning to go. It seemed to take forever to get to Centenary hut and the wind had now picked up causing us to stumble a few times. When we finally got to the hut we burst through the door ( I have always wanted to do that - in the movies in great adventure stories a group of people will be taking shelter in the hut while a huge storm is raging and all of a sudden the door bursts open and a few people fall into the hut, suffering from hypothermia and other injuries) Okay so it was not quiet as dramatic as that but if any baboons or the resident pigeons saw us they would have been suitably impressed. Hell I was impressed we had made it safely to the hut!!

Popple Peak, Judges Pass, the Judge and Corner pass, the Corner can be seen in the photo

The floors of the hut were soaked from the rain. It was lashing together with a massive wind, beating the hut. There was absolutely no way we would have been able to set up a tent in this and would have had our new tent blown into the skies in shreds!

All the windows of the hut have been broken so the wind howls right through the hut, the ceiling boards have all been stolen and the zinc in the kitchen and the flushing toilet are no longer in use, all has been looted. Very sad it is such a fantastic hut with the most breathtaking views of the huge mountains separating the middle berg from the upper berg. you are really in the middle of nowhere, out in real wilderness. It makes you feel so very much alive!! We were several hours behind schedule and wanted to be up on the top berg to camp overnight.

It was really freezing and I was convinced the hut would be blown away. We had to set up our tent inside just to keep the wind off us. We used the little alcove to the loo as our storage place and took one of the broken doors and placed it up against the windows to give a us a little shelter and protect our gear

Our tent was still a bit wet from last night. On the outside we were wet but our rain gear had done its job and we were dry on the inside. We cooked our supper and used our fantastic brand new little kettle to make our hot chocolate and crashed. Again we did not sleep very well, our sleeping bags -5 were just not warm enough.

Wendy showed us their First Ascent sleeping bags that they have used on the upper berg even in the snow. So thats next on our list!! The wind howled the whole night and the metal door rattled like it was about to explode.The wind does not move in one direction up here, you can actually hear it circling and tumbling like it was hunting us!! Along the jeep track is absolutely no water source so we had filled up 2 lts each and had planned to fill up when we got to the hut. But the weather was horrid and it was not safe for Jordan to go and collect water and it was just as well as we would have gone off together and the weather turned very bad within 5 minutes of us tumbling dramatically into the hut. So we had around 500 mls left between us for cooking and drinking.

Initially the weather looked ok and we thought we would continue....

Morning came too quickly and again the weather was not good. We made a decision before we tried to sleep, that if the weather was foul we would stay another day at the hut. Sometime after 10 am the weather suddenly lifted. The weather did not look good however, up on the high berg above the imposing Trojan Wall and Corner pass. Judges pass looked clear but clouds started to roll around, creeping up the pass.

the Trojan wall in the mix with the, as well as the Injisuthi Buttress, Injisuthi Pass

The magnificent Trojan Wall

The clouds were moving at great speeds and we did contemplate pushing though. Jordan did the 100m or so hike down to fill up our water bottles while I made up our camp and prepared breakfast.

Jordan really battling to stand up straight with the wind
against him.

We calculated the intended kilometres and time we had left ( I was going back to work on Saturday so we needed to be back home by Friday. We were concerned we might not make the gate before it closed on Friday then we would never get back to Johannesburg). We toyed with the idea while we ate our breakfast and decided we had this window and needed to get off the mountain back down to the lower berg where the weather would be better or we would at least have less wind hammering at us. The other danger was that if we carrying on we might not be able to easily turn back and would have to stay were we were. Unbeknown to us snow had fallen in the night over Mafadi at the back so we could not see it from where we were,

That night more snow fell. With our tent being so small and our sleeping bags not warm enough we would have been in a bit of bother. The weather really turned bad and if we had pressed on would have got ourselves into trouble so it was a good decision to make. Part of being responsible is to know when its time to turn back you can only push out the boundaries so far before you get bitten on the butt. These mountains as beautiful as they are can be mean and very unforgiving and I am glad we did not see just how on this trip.

this little guy and his family had been seeking refuse right near our tent and one had found its way onto my gaiters.

The wind had picked up and we fell over a few times. It was tiring as you would move forward but you actualy were not move. We felt like we were moon walking down the Burns and had many laughs and funny moments. The sun was out at least and it was thankfully not raining. We found fresh foot prints, several large boots and one set of small ones, and we realised it must of been the group the guys back at base camp were concerned about. They must of missed the hut in the bad weather. At least they were on their way back and had done the sensible thing and turned back.

Once we got off the Burns and lower down the wind died down a lot.

We then got down to "Dave's Spot" were our mate Dave had camped on our last trip. Our "message" rocks were still as Dave had left them, informing us that he had made up camp and had headed on back. We sat down here and had lunch.

We took some awesome photos and rested in the sun. It was glorious and the only sound was the baboons making sure we knew who was in charge in their valley. Salami, provitas and cheese never tasted so good before, we even had a cup of coffee. Life was good. the temptation to just lie and sleep was huge. It was great to feel warm!

the water is very clean and we drank straight from the river - no need to purify the water here!!

This pregnant lizard enjoying the sun too!!

Took a bit of time to play with water refections and colouds. the sky was really beautiful and certainly was showin gno evidence of the weather conditons on top of the the high berg.

After a leisurely lunch we packed up, filled up our water bottles again and continued on back.

This little stream is known as Mom's Butt. Why? Because during summer months it flows much stronger than this and I did on one occasion slide off the embankment after a safe, dry but perilous crossing and promptly land squarely on my butt into the water and could not get back up due to the weight of my pack and me laughing my head off.. My son was of no use either as he was trying his best not to laugh.

Fields or red grasses!! the winter colours of the grasses are really spectacular!

Everlasting flowers!!

Every so often bits of still green grasses ad to the landscape of red and orange

Our GPS was spot on and we added a few more way points of our own. Added a couple of caves and some spots that were special to us. The rock formations are spectacular, huge and range from a crocodiles head, to a puma head, baboons and monkeys heads, a sphinx, hieroglyphics and skulls.

The Crocodile head - Waypoint

This gorgeous white cloud looks life a white dove flying over us!

This waypoint is called "Swan Rock" take a look at the unusual rock formation on the middle of this rock, Spectacular!!

our secrete bushman cave - Treasure Cave waypoint

Waypoint:Chameleon fields

Monkey Skull cave - Waypoint (bottom right hand corner)

Waypoint: the gateway!

An then we were blessed!!!We were so privileged to spot this guy a magnificent male Eland. We was on our path and he continued to crisscross the trail ahead of us.

Stunning Sandstone rocks. The dark stripes are caused by water cascading off the sandstone and it has weakened the rock formation below to form a natural arch-like structure. Unbelievably beautiful!

beautiful ancient fern tree

Some wildflowers are dotted around the landscape adding to the dramatic winter landscape

Another quick river crossing and to fill our bottles up again. The water was really cold and refreshing!

The weather was changed again and the stunning few hours we were having in the Injisuthi valley was fast coming to an end and we needed to motor a bit so we would not be caught in it again.

Waypoint: The Beach Rock - several people had recently had a huge party with a large bonfire under the rocks. Luckily the authorities were alerted and they removed the party animals and explained to them of the dangers of one: camping on a dry river bed and two: not making a fire and three: leave no trace!! The idiots really left a mess and it took some time to cleanup. We could still see the woodpile. Between the split rocks is a massive chamber where water would run through in the high rainfall seasons. A fantastic site!

The ominous weather following us!

Waypoint: The Lion King Rock - these rocks all would have come from above during movement of the earth.

The beautiful sandstone Money Spinx

Stacey's &n Mom's snake spot

We stopped off at our new Waypoint: "Kobus's Spot", this shaded gully is gorgeous and you are taken back to a lost time of fairies and elves, you feel as though you are sitting in the middle of a Lord of the Rings movie set. This little treasure is a very welcome resting spot away from the hot sun in summer. We were surprised though as we battled to find the usual ample flowing water. It was coming out in a little trickle. Jordan got two sticks and created a a funnel to channel the water into our bottles. Genious!! and yes he is my son, what can I say!

This incidentally was also the spot my daughter, who is now 28 and I sat some 22 years ago while coming back from Battle Caves to see the fantastic Bushman paintings. We rested here after we had an encounter with two copulating berg adders, Yipe a true story!. The ranger shouted to me "snake snake" in Zulu. I felt something hit my leg. I jumped into the air grabbing my daughter and holding her up in the air and made like "flash Gordon". The ranger used the barrel of his gun to move them off the path so he could pass. He was convinced I had been struck. We rested here while he check my legs and he found a spot that was wet on my boots and told me this is where the Berg Adder had struck. Okay so it was a little scarey, but if I was in their position I would have also lashed out when being disturbed. The poor things were minding their own business and along comes Adventurekim.com. Not sure who was shaking more me or the ranger. I have come across a couple of snakes but nothing quiet as dramatic as this. I make lots of noise just in case though. Snake are not going to hunt you, chase you or purposely strike you. When you accidentally stand on the poor blighters or corner them they will more than likely strike to protect themselves. So it is important to just look where you are going and use proper hiker clothing and poles. Remember you are the unwelcome guest not them.

There is a cache of stunning moss and lichen

Mosses are small evergreen plants that carry no sap in their vessels (non-vascular) and lack true roots. They reproduce by spores and found on rocks, trees and soil in bogs and shallow streams. They occupy a variety of habitats within the Drakensberg. One of the best known ones are Old Man's Beard, (common on your trees and shrubs), Pendent Forest Moss, Bristly Swan-neck Moss and Red Alpine Thread Moss.

white and grey Lichen on the rocks

There are around 1 200 species of Lichens in South Africa and almost 2 000 lichen species occur in the Drakensberg region. They grow really well on the sunny north-facing rocks and tress and you can spot hundreds of them along the trails. Not a lot of major documentation has been done yet on these little guys but the best known one is the Ermatiscum thunbergii, a lichen that occurs only in southern Africa, where it is actually used to produce bright yellow dye. Now how cool is that!!

Spot the small round circles of grey/white lichen

Lichens are a group of composite organisms, usually an algal and a fungal species assisting each other in a symbiotic relationship for survival. The algal cells provide food for the fungus by secreting carbohydrates while the fungus supplies the necessary structure and moisture to protect the algae from drying out in the harsh environment. Lichens are pioneer plants which simply means that they are vital in nature for its oxygen and and carbon dioxide cycles as well as for soil formation. They are also very sensitive indicators and markers of environmental pollution. They also provide food for certain animals and are widely used for medicinal purposes, for perfumes and traditional beer! They were even used in the preservation of mummies, and it is thought the some of the desert species, which are easily blown by the wind might have been the "manna" mentioned in the Bible. Another super cool plant that no one even gives a second glace at while marching past!! Hope this makes you stop and smell the Lichens!!

We followed the path to what looks like a grave yard of humongous rocks that were just thrown there by some angry giant. We call it "the shipyard" as many of the rocks resemble shipwrecks and a shipyard. There are some really spectacular rocks here. The path is great and straight so you can motor here and make up some lost time before you make your way back down towards the river crossing. The baboons were around and crossed our paths a few time, watching us closely. Jordan is a big lad and fits into a size 13 shoe at 16 years of age so I am sure he looks quiet intimidating to the baboons so they left us alone. Dragging him along on my hikes does have its many advantages!

this is "Bread Rock" it resembles bread slices and has a tree whose roots have splt the rock in two

the huge rocks lying on their side resemble the bottom of a ship and look like fossilized wood, hence the name "shipwreck rock"

Waypoint Hieroglyphics - these are actual holes in the Sandstone rocks and we spotted a couple of birds going in and out. From a distance it looks just like Egyptian hieroglyphics. Pretty awesome. Note this rock is really high up and I used my zoom lense to get a close shot of this incredible rock formations.

Waypoint: Puma Rock - how cool it that rock and it is really huge and his head looks rather perilous and I hope it does not fall off anytime soon, its really spectacular!! Always glad to see him as it means we are almost home!

Yay we are almost home - Hot Chocolate and hot showers here we come. We got to the river crossing and the water level was a bit lower than on previous hikes, so we did not get too wet and we were on the homestretch. Boy I was really looking forward to my bubblebath. My feet were a bit sore and my body a bit stiff. Old age creeping in. But this was a bit of a tough hike this time around but wow what an amazing journey!!

You need to step carefully as many of the rocks are loose and algae creates a fair amount of slipperiness and you can very easily even in shallow crossing se you noggen!! If you get into a wobble with you heavy backpack on....well it might end badly!

Always a hoot when you watch others make a river crossing, that is util its your turn and it becomes serious bussinesss!!

As we pulled onto the little road into basecamp we were treated to this spectacular sunset. The dove was back and had watched over us from the heavens above. Thank you God for protecting us and for allowing us to experience your awesomeness!!

We pulled into the camp and walked to collect our car. Tjoe we stunk that car out. Was glad to get out and set up camp and go and take a bath. Ian and Wendy were happy to see us and told us that they had been so worried about us, which included several other people camping. The weather reports were not good and we had made it off just before it really turned nasty. Again I was glad we were not foolish. We came for an adventure and an adventure is what we got. It was awesome and we loved every minute of it even the scary bits. Ian said that after we left they saw how the mist had come in and knew we were in for a bit of a challenge up the gully. Jordan and I both said we were never going up this gully every again when we reached the top, but in good weather and with the Millers I think a challenge is on, maybe it won't be so terrifying when its dry, mind you when I can see how far I can fall I might change my mind!!

Once again we were treated like royalty at "Hotel Miller" and had a meal fit for a king with pudding nogal!! We sat around a roaring fire and contemplate life and spoke of past and future adventures Life was really good. Our adventure had come to an end for now and we would bid farewell to our favorite berg spot until next time, soon we hope as this mountain stuff is addictive and so necessary for peace and to clear the head.

Dinner is about to be served!!!

the girls, myself and Wendy enjoying the last moments of the bonfire sipping hot chocolate

the morning brought a gorgeous but freezing sunrise

Where we camped on our last night.

reports were coming in of thick snow falling on the high berg. Solitude Valley now called Injisuthi. It is from this valley that one gets the best view of the stunning Monk's Cowl between Cathkin Peak to its right and Champagne Castle on its left.

from here it all looks so calm hey!!

If you look in the middle of the photo at the mountains range in the background you will see pockets of snow up the gully

By the time we had packed up and got ready to go the weather was changing again.

The grounds at theInjisuthi Camp site

So these were the gullies we had to climb up - the picture does not do justice as to how huge they really are. Without the mist over the it puts it into perspective as to why we had such an awesome but scary adventure tackling them!!

Making memories with some awsome new friends

these little sparrows where all over the cars attacking their own reflections - too funny

and the rain and bad weather was now settling in

"Rhino rock from the other side on our way to Harrysith for Breakfast

Go out and have an adventure it is just waiting for you, remember to respect the environment and leave no trace and take only memories and some awesome photographs from your experience.

Note to self:

When buying a new 2 man tent make sure that two people can actually fit into it and that includes ALL YOUR EQUIPMENT
Make sure you produce smaller sized sons!
Don't go hiking when bad weather is predicted (but what an adventure hey?)
Make friends with people at basecamp you never know what you can learn from them (normally I just avoid all contact and peer at then through the tent zipper and convince myself they could be serial killers
The berg has a minimum of three different weather patterns occurring simultaneously, one on the lower berg, one on the middle berg and one on the high berg - and they are just waiting to surprise you and surprised you will be
The wind is really strong so make damn sure everything is anchored. That wind is hunting you and just waiting for you to mess up - it takes no prisoners and makes for a really bad hair day
Must really get that water proof bag for my camera
Just because the gloves are water resistant does not make them water proof - rather spend a bit more and have dry and warm hands
Oh talking of hands birng nail repair kit with ladies - you will break many nails - so just live with it
Vaseline is my friend, in fact vaseline is my hero
Hot Chocolate is my bestie
Best buy for this trip: the tiny weeny little kettle that my large Viking son insisted that I buy - thanks my boy! It fits in his 1 large hand!
Always take along Viking son they are very handy in scarey spots to encourage mom just he doesn't fit well into small said tent
Buy bigger tent and open it up in the shop - hell set it up in the shopping centre passage outside the shop if necessary and climb in, people think you are crazy anyway to pay so much money to live like a homeless person for days on end - you can sit in a chair or lie on a bed you are about to buy so why not set up a tent, makes perfect sense - so do not need to spoon with said Viking kid.
Buy new WARM sleeping bags First Asscent thank will do nicely, so we can make like squirrels and burrow
Make sure said Viking son does not leave his socks on the table and use my pink socks - I take size 5 he take size 13 - you do the maths!!
always pack lots of Llama bars and absolute must enegry bar
Yes you can go commando even in the winter on the berg
Trappers Retail store is my new home!
Make sure when hiking Injisuthi that the Millers are there too, it just makes so much more sense now doesn't it.