Injasuthi and Leslie's passes (Drakensberg) Dec 2005

After meeting at Karen’s place at 13:00, we left Pretoria at around 13:30 in Johan’s bakkie. The drive was uneventful. We had a bite to eat in Harrismith and arrived in Bergville not long after sunset. Although the tennis court verandah was already occupied we decided to sleep there again.

Day 1 (16 December): We got up at 5am, had a quick bite to eat and drove another hour and a half to get to Injasuthi. The weather looked good and we all thought it was going to be a good day. We signed in at the office. Ian and Henry, the two guys that were supposed to join us on the hike from Pietermaritzburg, drove in to say hi but were not going to hike with us. When the office opened we paid, packed up and left. The Injasuthi river looked very crossable at the bridge so we decided to stick to the standard route. After the first river crossing we climbed the first hill and walked strongly towards Marble Baths where we arrived just before lunch. Another group was already enjoying the water slides and we jumped right in as well. After a spot of lunch we carried on up, trying to follow the path and cairns through very thick underbrush. At around 3pm we arrived at the fork where Leslie’s pass splits off from Injasuthi. According to Archie there was supposed to be a campsite in the area. All of us started walking up and downstream looking for something but none of us were able to spot anything worthwhile. Chris even climbed onto the ridge to see if the height advantage could help. Johan however managed to spot two sites about 30m apart that could each accommodate a single tent. Very glad that we would be able to sleep semi-comfortably that night, we pitched the tents and lazed around a little before starting dinner. Not long after dinner heavy clouds moved in from Lesotho and it started raining. Luckily it only rained for about an hour and a strong wind dried out the tent from both in and outside.

Day 2 (17 December): We got up early in anticipation of the ascent of Injasuhti pass. Te sky was mostly clear but the strong wind was still blowing. We had breakfast, packed up and left at 06:30. The bottom of the pass was reasonable and not nearly as choked with Ouhout as Ship’s Prow. Our progress was good but as the gradient increased we ran into a few waterfalls that were tricky to negotiate. Just before 9am we ran into a 15m cascading waterfall that looked rather tricky. As I was in front at the time I immediately spotted a steep crumbling gully to the right that led to a grass ramp above the waterfall. If the grass ramp could be reached, one could easily scramble to the top of the waterfall. I started climbing up the crumbling rock and had to test every single hand and foot hold. Halfway up this gully, Harry was just coming up behind me. Realizing that the gully is far harder than I thought I shouted to Harry to find a different way to get past the waterfall. Down-climbing the gully looked to be much harder than climbing up so I carried on. At the top of the 10m gully I faced an overhanging wall of mud and rock and I realized I need to step across the wet gully onto a steep slabby bit before reaching the grass that led to the final ramp. The traversing move looked particularly hard as there was no hand or foot holds of any substance and everything was either wet or covered with moss. But I was getting a bit desperate and knew I had to commit myself. As I committed, I knew I was going to come off. Perhaps because subconsciously I knew I was going to fall, I managed to turn my back towards the rock and slid down the steep gully on my back, trying very hard to keep upright and not go into free-fall. I hit the ground hard with mainly my right leg and because my pack slid up my back, the pack landed on my neck. I collapsed to the ground and got the pack off. Harry got around the waterfall via an easier route and saw the whole thing happen. He asked me if I was okay but I was in shock. I realized my elbows and back were bruised badly. Karen, Chris and Johan arrived. Karen told me I was as white as a ghost. Chris and Johan helped to clean up my back and elbows and Chris put on some betadine. Then Harry returned from the top of the waterfall where he was waiting and said that he had seen enough and he was turning back. After some debating, we decided that Harry was experienced enough and the route easy enough for him to return on his own. Initially I wanted to go back with him because I did not want to split the group up but my stubbornness got the better of me. I still rested a bit more, had some Game and water and also took the rest of the tent and dinner from Harry before he left back down the pass. The other three helped to lighten the load in my pack slightly before we carried on. We crossed another two smaller, easier waterfalls before we got to a large one where the only option seemed to be a steep gully leading off to the left. Chris had to help carry my pack past a difficult scramble - I was still very shaken and unsteady on my feet but I still walked strongly. This last gully was long and slabby. It turned out this gully was the one we had to take – we only saw this higher up in the gully when we noticed the main fork ended dead against the high cliffs. We carried on in this gully, resting frequently. We didn’t think to take water when we split from the main fork, thinking we would soon be back in it. Luckily there were many drips high up in the gully so Chris and the rest were able to collect some water. We had a quick bite to eat before tackling the last bit. The gully finally narrowed to a very steep chimney about 50cm across. Some hail from the last night was still trapped in the upper reaches. Johan was ahead at the time and was able to free climb it. When I got the chimney I didn’t feel comfortable climbing it solo at all so I asked Chris to climb ahead and rig a belay. Chris then climbed with his pack and the rope to a ledge where he was able to set up a precarious stance. We didn’t have any anchor equipment so Johan only stabilized Chris slightly with Harry’s short section of nylon rope. I couldn’t climb with my pack either but I managed to get up to the ledge with legs shaking and breath coming in gasps. With me at the top, Chris tossed the rope and harness to Karen. Together with Johan I provided a better anchor for Chris while he belayed Karen up. With Karen safely at the top, Chris down-climbed with a belay to fetch my pack. After this very scary section we had only a short scramble remaining. While we were climbing the chimney, mist started blowing up the pass and at the top we only had fleeting glimpses of the bowl below the pass. We celebrated the top of the pass with whoops and backslapping before contouring around most of the bowl. We finally descended towards a river and found a spot decent enough for tents. I took a break while the others climbed to a saddle above us, looking for the top of Hilton pass as well as a cave that was supposed to be in the area. Returning 20 minutes later, they found Hilton pass but not a cave, so we pitched the tents immediately. With the clouds swirling non-stop we cooked dinner and went to bed. It rained harder and longer than the previous night when it started around 18:30. The wind was quiet though, so the tents were soaked when we woke up the next morning.

Day 3 (18 December). There were heavy cloud and mist around the escarpment. Johan and Chris wanted to go to Mafadi at 4am but slept in a little late. We agreed the previous day that we would not attempt Hilton unless the entire pass was completely visible from the top. With all the cloud then, we decided Hilton was out and we’ll go down Leslie’s. We thought we had more than enough time so Karen, Chris and Johan went to climb Mafadi while I walked over to the Injasuthi buttresses. I had a look at Hilton pass and then climbed both the Lesser and Greater Injasuthi buttresses. I returned to the tents about 15 minutes before the others. The slight breeze had dried most of the tents but it did not remove any of the clouds – it was still pretty cold. We packed up and left back up the bowl towards Injasuthi pass top. From there we continued to the top of the ridge which we followed all the way to Leslie’s pass. The wind was howling most of the way and heavy mist kept obscuring any view from the valleys below us or in Lesotho. Consequently I walked most of the way on a previous GPS co-ordinate of the pass. Getting to the top of Leslie’s we had a quick snack-break before starting the descent. Still carrying remnants of shock and whiplash from my little slide the previous day I was taking the downhill hard. As we descended the wind calmed somewhat but the mist thickened to a total whiteout. I could not remember the path traversing right so far just below the upper cliffs before starting the descent in earnest. Because the path was also very dim at this point, I took it slow and made sure that all of us were keeping up. I followed the cairns more than the path through the boulder field before we got to a more distinct path through the thicker slope vegetation. We got to the little stream where the path crossed onto the left hand ridge for the final descent. Here we drank some water and had a few peanuts. By now I was soaking wet and sitting still for longer than 5 minutes meant becoming hypothermic. At the bottom of the ridge I waited until all of us were together again. We continued together a short distance before sitting down for a short lunch. As we sat, the mist lifted slightly in the valleys below us. After lunch I sped away but it wasn’t far before the lifting mist turned into heavy thunderstorm clouds and the lighting flashed behind me. I increased my speed because I realized that the boulders that were dry up to now would become treacherous when it rains. I managed to get to within 1.5km of the caves when the rain started. It rained hard. I suspected that the others might actually try to find shelter, especially from the lightning, but at the time I couldn’t really care – I was cold, wet, and very sore, especially my neck and back and I wanted to get to the caves and lie down. As I walked onto the slabs at Marble Baths, the rain subsided a bit but it was still a very wet and muddy climb up to the caves. A guy was sleeping in the first cave on his own and we chatted briefly before I continued around the corner to the bigger cave. I immediately took off all the wet stuff and put on some dry clothes. I was lying on the dry grass inside the cave when Johan showed up. He also picked up speed and got in about 15 minutes behind me. Karen and Chris showed up another 30 minutes after him – they had indeed taken some shelter from the worst of the storm. After we all were dry, we brewed some tea and watched the rain getting worse and the mist closing in once again. But it was really nice to lie in the sleeping bag, dry and cozy, and watch the storm outside. At 17:30 we cooked dinner and went to bed by about 7pm. Chris and I still chatted well into the night about future and past trips before closing our eyes at 9pm.

Day 4 (19 December): Although the day dawned beautifully sunny and mostly clear, everything around us, including our clothes and shoes were still soaked. We packed up quickly and were gone before 7am. It took some grinding teeth to bear the cold, wet shoes and clothes but the sun warmed us nicely around the first ridge. We had a quick break where the path from the caves joined up the path that goes up to Centenary hut. Then it was a rather enjoyable walk back out. Karen and I got to the Injasuthi river crossing first and waited almost 30 minutes before Johan and Chris arrived. Then it was just the final walk back to the road and then to the car. Harry was waiting for us when we got there and had stories to tell about lost American hikers and helicopter searches and hail in the afternoon. We also had many stories to tell but the shower was shouting loudly. In the car on the way back we chatted a lot about our experiences on this trip and planned for the next one.