Amphitheatre (Drakensberg) Jan 2008

Gordon and Nicola picked me up from work on Friday afternoon just before 3pm and we drove without incident straight up to Sentinel car park. George, Brian, Shirley, Eddy and Irma were already ensconced in their sleeping bags and after some shuffling around we soon joined them.

Day 1 (26 Jan): The day dawned cool with lots of fog below and above, but at least no rain in the immediate future. We packed quickly, paid, signed the register, and were off just before 7am. We walked without rush but still made very good time, arriving at the chain ladder before 9am. The path up to here was absolutely sodden and with lots of fog still floating around it didn’t look like it was going to get dryer anytime soon. At the top of the ladders we decided to walk to the lip of the falls before going up to the cave. However, the light westerly that was blowing a little earlier had begun to fade, so cloud was spilling over the escarpment. After watching the first 3m of the falls disappear into the mist, we gathered our gear and slogged up to the cave. I had the intention of walking up Mount Amery but as we could not really see terribly far and I had no coordinates with me for Amery, I decided not to go. Instead we took a good rest at the cave, climbed Crow’s Nest and contemplated going to Mont-aux-Sources. But standing on top of Crow’s Nest, the fog thickened and I got lazy and so we turned around and took our time to collect water some 200m below the cave. The cave was dripping in a number of spots and made sleeping arrangements a little awkward for the 8 of us. To make it slightly easier for all, I decided to finally sleep in the worm hole below the cave I’ve always wanted to try out. I set up all my stuff inside and it turned out to be so cozy that I almost fell asleep in the afternoon. With dusk approaching we started cooking mince, relish and cous-cous and had some pickled beetroot for starters. There was still heavy mist and cloud around when I went to bed but I stayed up reading until about 11pm. During the night it rained lightly on occasion and as my worm hole’s roof was a little shorter than the floor, the end of my mat got a little damp. However, I also noticed a little later that the moon was trying to break through the fog and I eventually slept soundly being reasonably sure that the morning would be clear.

Day 2 (27 Jan): The morning indeed dawned clear overhead with a heavy blanket of cloud below. The cloud once again provided us with a beautiful sunrise but the good weather also urged us to make good use of it. With the rest of the group deciding to go take pictures on the edge, Gordon, Nicola and I made a go at Mont-aux-Sources. A cold but light westerly was blowing and we kept our jackets on during the climb. Reaching the summit in an hour, we took a good look around into Lesotho and were just able to make out the Cathedral and Cathkin ranges pushing through the cloud in the distance. We got back to the cave in 45 minutes and then continued down the ridge to join the rest of the group. The three of us spent some time taking pictures while the others started walking back towards the ladders and we played catch-up soon after. The westerly was slowly fading and by the time we got to the ladders we were again in the upper parts of the cloud with occasional glimpses of Fika Patso dam. We descended the ladders and then most of the males in the party took a fast walk on the path to one of the slippery rock sections we knew we would need to provide some help at for the ladies. Immediately past this rock, we dropped our packs and took a breather but it was barely 5 minutes before the rest of the gang showed up. With Eddy and Gordon helping from below and me stationed at the start of the slippery bit, we first helped Nicola and then Shirley across. Next came Irma. I was holding Irma’s hand as she gingerly stepped on to the first step, when suddenly her footing gave away. Since I was holding her hand I was able to stop her from falling down the rock but she sat down hard on the step we were trying to cross. She immediately told me her ankle is gone. I couldn’t quite believe it because she didn’t fall at all – she basically sat down hard on her foot. When she managed to turn around a little she said maybe its not broken but as she shifted into a slightly better position she said that its definitely broken. It was also noticeable that her right foot had a slightly awkward angle to it. George had started walking ahead so I immediately sent Brian after him. With Eddy and Gordon helping from below and me from the top, Irma was able to shuffle along the ledge to a point where the guys below could help her get off the wet rock. We sat her on a dry rock in the middle of a path and took stock. We only had two options: try to help her down the mountain ourselves or initiate a call-out. First we needed to splint the leg. Having a closer look and feel I was able to tell that it was very possibly a fracture but I couldn’t feel or see any blood which was a good start. I decided not to remove her boot to limit swelling. Gordon took out the aluminium supports of Nicola's pack and these I inserted gently into the boot, on either side of the leg. I used one bandage to secure the aluminium struts to the leg and then another to support the boot and ankle a little more. Although this setup did provide some support, there was still slight movement of the ankle so I got my Drom bag with a little air in it and wrapped it around the entire boot and lower calf, fastening it very tightly with a third bandage. Checking with Irma, she was still able to feel and wriggle her toes. I did not want to give her any medication yet and she agreed to this. She indicated that she’s willing to try and hobble along with support. With Eddie on the one side and me on the other, we lifted her up and barely managed two metres when Irma stopped us and asked that we rather get some help as she cannot do this. Then I changed things a little. I got Gordon to get us a GPS fix, noted we didn’t have cell phone reception, got Shirley and Nicola to get everything Irma would need out of her bag and started completing my first aid and rescue page with all the information. We got Irma comfortably seated and Shirley and Gordon volunteered to stay behind. Nicola was sent ahead with an extra pack so we could make sure that all the gear was off the mountain. Making sure that Irma was comfortable and the others had all they needed, I set off at a brisk pace, soon overtaking Nicola. I got down to the car park in about 40 minutes and used one of the guards cell phones which had reception (coin phone did not accept the coins I put in) to call Gavin Raubenheimer. I gave him all the details I had. He then said he will organize something and let me know. With the call made, I trudged back up the path, meeting first Eddy and Brian and shortly after George. They were doing fine but Eddy was carrying two packs. I took one off him and walked back with them to the car park. With Nicola still up in the mountains after I sent her back to collect car keys, I walked back up to make sure she was still okay. I met her halfway to the first bend and she indicated that everything was still fine at the scene and Irma was very calm and collected. Back at the car park I phoned Gavin again who confirmed that Natal Parks Board and medics were on their way and that we were looking at about 2 hours before they would show up. As we waited, Eddy discovered he still had his 2-way radios in the car and as he wanted to go up anyway, we thought it would be a good idea for him to take a radio and provide some moral support. In addition, we were also trying to get hold of Irma’s son but the PIN code she gave us to her cell phone wasn’t working. Eddy planned to take her cell phone along so she could speak to him herself in case there was reception. About an hour and a half after the call was made, the first ambulance from Phuthaditjaba showed up with two paramedics. We asked them to wait for some more people first before we do anything. Shortly after, another ambulance with 3 paramedics showed up and they indicated that they can walk up the mountain with a scoop stretcher to stabilize and package Irma. I then got hold of Eddy on the radio and asked him to wait for them, as he would be able to guide them to the scene. With the paramedics well on their way, it was only about 30 minutes later that three guys and a lady from Phuthaditjaba fire brigade showed up. They had a golf bag stretcher and some rope with them and I started walking up with them. Finally we got to the contour path and as the cloud ceiling had lifted slightly, I noticed a car pulling into the car park in the distance. I thought they may be Parks Board and got hold of Nicola who was at the bottom to quickly check with them. They confirmed they knew the area well and would immediately start walking up to assist. Just past the small ladder on the Sentinel contour path, we saw the one female paramedic and as we rounded the corner we saw the guys struggling with the stretcher. As the golf-bag stretcher had more handholds, everyone helped to lift Irma on the scoop stretcher straight into the golf-bag stretcher. The paramedics had 3 broad straps that could be hooked over the shoulders of someone walking in the front and at the back but the carry still required support from the sides. With the path being only 1-person wide in places, this was very difficult. Swapping hands regularly we made slow progress over the difficult terrain. Gordon, Eddy and I assisted with the carry where we could and eventually we made it to the top of the zig-zags. The fire brigade wanted to lower the stretcher with a rope belay directly past all the zig-zags, which I think was a good idea since the zig zags were very rocky and steep in places. Unfortunately they had no other gear apart from the rope and I ended up helping one of the paramedics to do a body belay. With two rope-lengths we managed to pass all the zig-zags except the last big one with the fencing. In the mean time, another senior medic showed up and started making the carry efforts more coordinated. This helped tremendously to speed things up. When Irma got to the path above the fencing I made the call to not lower the stretcher with the rope anymore. The reasoning was partly that there was no sufficient anchoring and the body-belay was certainly not safe, the grass, wet from some light drizzle may easily cause the carriers to fall, as none of them had proper boots, causing even more harm and a belay to the bottom path was not going to save us more than 5 minutes. As we approached the home stretch I took over the lead again and we made very good progress to just before the concrete section when I was getting very tired. Irma was carried into Sentinel car park at 18:00. While we sorted out her gear and personals to go with her, she was made a little more comfortable on the scoop stretcher and loaded in the ambulance. She was still alert and reasonably calm but obviously in shock and shivering. The paramedics heated up the ambulance and gave her morphine while I walked around thanking all the people who helped. At around 18:15 the ambulance left in gathering cloud and rain and the rest of our group followed. We stank, were incredibly tired, sore and hungry but we were very glad that Irma was now on her way to professional care and there was nothing more we could do. We thought our efforts were not bad under the circumstances and our two vehicles met again in Harrismith for some late dinner before driving back, arriving home after midnight.