Drakensberg South Africa - Day 7
West of Rwanga Pass to South of Nquaza Pass
Distance 20km Climb 100m
Wednesday 16th May 2012
Last night we
had talked about having a fire, mainly because as soon as the sun goes down the temperature
seriously drops. It would also have been
something to do in the long twelve hours of darkness. However Tim was reluctant in case a spark from the fire set
one of the tents alight, and so as Tim was our leader we did as we were told and did not have a fire. Within minutes of it becoming dark we saw the
light of a fire a little further down the stream valley and knew it was the
other group. With head torches on, we walked
the 200m or so to join them. When we had had
enough of breathing in the smoke we returned to our tents and went to sleep.
First thing
in the morning it was very cold and we had a heavy frost on the tents. We saw the sun rising and it only took a few seconds
for the warmth of the sun to move across and melt the frost and dry the tents. As we were packing our kit we had a visit
from the expedition leader. He had found
during the night that he had some serious sun burn on one of his ears. We had all taken precaution against sunburn
but it still struck.
 |
| Early morning frost, Fatha, Woody and Steely |
 |
| Look at the sun line |
 |
| Itchy |
 |
| 05:32 |
 |
| Seconds later 05:33 |
 |
| Seconds later 05:33 plus a little |
 |
| 05:33 plus a few seconds more |
As usual the day started with a steep walk up hill. Once again when we reached high ground, Woody and Tim navigated us along the tops and kept us to the high ground as best they could. Travelling South we came to a view that was even more spectacular than all the other fantastic views we had previously seen. While here I was talking to Steely about a previous trip we had been on where had done a little parachuting. Here we were over 10 times higher than we were on the plane on that trip. Even the hills in the bottom of the valley although they looked small, were all higher than what we were at on the plane when we jumped out on our parachute trip. Totally awesome.
 |
| Lyle and Fatha move towards the edge |
 |
| Tim, Fatha, Steely, Itchy, Woody and Lyle on the edge |
 |
| 10 times higher than when we were parachuting? |
Further along
Tim pointed out somewhere that had been recommended as a place to stop, a place where we would see what we had been told was called the twelve apostles. Everywhere
you looked the views were amazing and as I said my camera or the pictures here
do not do them justice.
 |
| Head and shoulderless Tim, Fatha and Steely
What a view
|
 |
| Only a couple of the twelve Apostille I think |
 |
| Lyle, Woody, Tim and Fatha |
 |
| Lyle |
After passing
another empty small settlement of a couple of huts we moved down to another stream
near a waterfall. This was in a wide,
flat area and ideal for some of the lads to do a little sunbathing and paddle, while we had a short break. It was while we were resting here, we saw the other
group on the tops moving in a different direction to us. We waved at them and that was the last we saw of them
that day.
Walking up
the re-entrant by the stream some of us moved up and over some of the
features, while the rest of us tried to find the more level and easier going routes.
From the stream re-entrant we took another stream junction right, along which we made our camp. It had already been decided that tonight we would have our own camp fire, and so we did.
More to follow
Boz North
Details correct at time of walking.
If you have enjoyed reading my walk or found it useful you may also like to read other walks I have done in South Africa or other areas. Please check out the links on the right hand side.
Follow link to previous - Day 6 Natal Mountain Hut to West of Rwanga Pass
Follow link to next - Day 8 South of Nquaza Pass to Cathedral Peak Hotel
No comments:
Post a Comment