Maletsunyane abseil, Lesotho Dec 2009

On Christmas eve we (Nicola, Gordon and I) left from Gauteng and drove to Clarens via Golden Gate. We had luxury accommodation at Next2Heaven. On Christmas day we entered Lesotho at Caledonspoort and drove up the stunning Mafika Lisiu pass (3090m). At the top it was windy, overcast and cold but we descended back into the sun. On the way down, my car's front brakes started smoking and the rest of our trip I had to use engine compression to break.

Katse dam then appeared below us and we had a leisurely drive all along the shore until we finally got to the very impressive dam wall. Then it was onto gravel for 30km, at the end of which we heard a knocking from the right front wheel - shock absorber. Fearing that it might be serious, we decided to drive straight to our planned accommodation in Roma, without lingering further. As soon as we turned west from Thaba Tseka, we had a lovely tarred surface. Pity it only lasted 20km. We reached a section where they are obviously in the process of tarring as well, but the primary rock layers laid in preparation made for such horrible driving that we couldn't exceed 20km/h. Hoping that this won't last too long we asked the first vehicle from the opposite side how far it was still gravel. 5km came the answer. Only 30km later we reached tar again!

We made much better time back on tar but we only reached Roma at 17:00. Relieved to have a rest we attempted to check in at our booked guesthouse, only to be told that we have beenbooked into another guesthouse. 40km down the road! Dismayed we left again and drove to Ramabanta where we discovered that the owner of the place had no booking for us! Luckily there was still place in the backpackers room and we settled down for a well-deserved rest.

Next morning (26 Dec) we had a local mechanic quickly checking the car. He confirmed there was nothing seriously wrong so we decided to continue to Semonkong. The road there is 55km long and took us a full 2 hours to drive. The road was pretty bad in places but the spectacular scenery made up for it - this must surely be some of the remotest parts of the world I've ever seen. Arriving at Semonkong lodge, we were warmly welcomed and spent the rest of the morning lounging next to the Maletsunyane river. Later in the afternoon we were invited to see the local horse races. Intrigued, we joined a whole group of tourists driving a fair distance to a high plateau where the Basothos held regular races, betting and bookies included!

On the morning of 27 Dec 2009, we still had to get in a few practice abseils and we were on the cliffs next to the lodge at 7am. We first practiced locking and adding a bar to the 5-bar rack abseil device, then did another with the entire 240m rope hanging on the rope at the bottom to simulate the weight we will experience on the big abseil. Then we were off! We drove to above the falls by 4x4 where a horse and owner was patiently waiting to take all the ropes and gear down to the top of the falls. We hiked behind them and promptly arrived at the jump-off. The setup was done quite quickly and before long Nicola was hooked up and ready to go. I took a few pictures as she went over the edge and only 12 minutes later the rope went slack - she did it! It was my turn now and although nervous, I was not nearly as scared as with the previous long abseil I did. I went over the edge and soon was sliding happily along - what a magnificent sight! As I turned around on the upper section I scanned below and around me - a truly indescribable view! About halfway down, the spray from the waterfall started getting very wet and with 20m to go, I was soaked. Arriving at the bottom, a guide in oilskins helped me get off the rope while I was getting drenched. A short scarmble over very slippery rocks got me to where Nicola and the main guide (Jonathan) were waiting. We got pictures taken and then waited for Gordon to come down. He managed perfectly fine and when he joined us he was all eyes and teeth! We waited for a fourth person to complete the abseil before a guide led us out of the gorge back to the top. Back at the lodge we received certificates for completing a Guinness World Record highest commercial abseil in the world - 204m!

It was now after 4pm and we drove the 55km back to Ramabanta where we spent a night in a tent at the same lodge before returning home via Ficksburg the next day. A marvellous trip and an abseil to remember!

Loskop dam Nature Reserve birding Dec 2009

Links

• List of birds

At 05:00 we left from Nicola's place, driving about 50km north of Middelburg to the Loskop dam Nature Reserve. It was drizzling and a bit windy when we arrived at the bridge crossing the Olifants river, resulting in fewer birds sighted than the previous time we were here. Just before we entered the reserve, we heard the booming call of a Southern ground hornbill - very unexpected for this reserve, but then they do have a breeding project for this endangered species.

Inside the reserve we added a few common birds before stopping at the ablution block where we got a quick glimpse of a Black cuckooshrike. We got a few more the deeper we went into the reserve but then picked up our sighting of the day just past the picnic site where a Bronzewinged courser posed dead still in the middle of the road while we took picture after picture.

Just before noon we've driven all the roads in the reserve and decided to pop in at Botshabelo Historical Village and Reserve. With grasslands as the common habitat here we got a few different birds here including Rock kestrel and Steppe buzzard. On the short game drive, in the middle of a small pool of water standing in the jeeptrack, an African snipe sat still for a good sighting before we drove past it.

We were back in Middelburg again by 14:30 as it was starting to get too hot to bird. A good day out with 101 birds for the day.

Bat cave Nov 2009

Links

• Wild Cave Adventures

This was Nicola's first trip with Wild Cave Adventures, going down Bat cave - the same cave used in Leg 5 of Amazing Race Season 7. A short but enjoyable morning out!

Abseiling in Fernkloof (Magaliesberg) Nov 2009

Day 1 (14 Nov): Gordon arrived at my place at 06:30 and the three of us drove through uneventfully to Bergheim. After paying we walked up to the bottom of the kloof. Climbing to the top of the bolted climbing routes, I set up my single static rope to have two separate single lines on two separate anchor systems. I then belayed Nicola on one quick abseil before Gordon did one on his own. Then I abseiled with Nicola on a self belay – the self belay was very tight and twice on the way down I had to help her move the prussik knot. In all, Nicola did 3 abs, Gordon 4 and I did 2. It was hot with thin high altitude cloud cover – ideal burning weather. By 11:00 we had enough, walked back out and then drove to Treetops, over Breedsnek with the Xtrail and then to Jasmyn farmers market and over Hartbeespoort dam wall. A fun day out!

Queen Rose hiking trail Nov 2009

I picked Gordon up at university and drove through to Middelburg to pick Nicola up. We left her place at 4pm and drove without incident first to Machadodorp then on the R541 towards Badplaas and then towards Barberton. The directions given were very good and we reached the hut at dusk in very rainy and wet weather. It was the XTrail’s very first trip, having bought it only 3 days previously – it did marvelously well on the muddy and rocky track into the hut. We were dismayed to discover there were no electricity in the hut – at least, it was off at the time. But we were happy to see that someone had the foresight to store the wood for a fire on the stoep where it was kept dry. There was a mobile braai drum in the lapa which Gordon, Nicola and I promptly moved onto the stoep, stacked some of the blue gum logs in it and got my stove out to start the fire with. Another couple arrived in the mean time and settled in as well. It took us some time to get the logs burning with the stove and it was a smoky business. Eventually I managed to chop some finer pieces with an axe and it wasn’t long before we had a pretty decent fire going. The owner of the hike popped in to say hi and apologise for the lack of electricity but it wasn’t long after that the electricity did come back on. I was impatient for food and before the embers were properly settled, had our meat going. Another couple arrived and also settled in and after dinner we spent some time reading before going to bed.

Day 1 (07 Nov): Soon after first light, the three of us were up and about, had breakfast and packed up without a peep from any of the other people. We had our packs on our backs at 06:15 and started up the driveway towards a pine plantation. The weather was overcast and cool – very pleasant walking conditions. We gained some height through the pine before starting a more level walk through some indigenous forest and open grassland. Gordon went ahead while Nicola and I brought up the rear. We were lucky to spot a Red-chested cuckoo and later heard the continuous calling of Black cuckoos. We reached the top of Roland’s staircase, a steep and slippery descent to the river through some evergreen forest. At the bottom we found Gordon waiting for us and as we rested a bit, I spotted an Olive woodpecker flying in and out of a dead stump close to us – a lifer! From here we walked next to the river, crossing it many times with only a rough cable spanning the stream. We estimated that the water level is quite a bit higher than usual as it didn’t take us long to get quite wet – at one point I slipped and ended up face down in the river, with my binoculars, bird book and PDA all getting drenched. Luckily the PDA got saved by its neoprene cover but the binoculars got wet inside and it wasn’t until I got home that I was able to let it dry out properly. After about 14 or 16 crossings we finally got onto a faint jeep track that eventually turned into a track again that climbed across a rocky slope. We traversed along this slope until suddenly some farms appeared directly below us. The path then descended sharply back to the access road and it wasn’t long before we reached the hut. In the mean time it had started dripping lightly so we were glad to be under cover. The hut had a nice tiled stoep in front and we spent the rest of the afternoon lazing about. The other people showed up about an hour after us. Around 4pm, Nicola started the fire and by 6pm we had decent coals for a nice braai that included coconut marshmallow starters. Not long after dinner we hit the bed and read for a while before drifting off.

Day 2 (08 Nov): Once again we were up at first light, ate and were on our way around 06:20. There were some clouds around but it promised to be a hot and sunny day. The path veered down to the stream and then next to it for a considerable time. Before halfway we were rewarded with clear calls of an African emerald cuckoo – lifer number two for the trip! The path ascended steadily and it proved to be hot going in the early morning sun. After the GPS point, Gordon and I went ahead for a while but before Kupid falls I waited for Nicola to catch up. From there I kept on waiting now and again until she caught up with me shortly before the final climb to the hut. By this time we were all sore and tired and relished the shower despite it being cold. We were on our way just after 11am.

A really delightful hike with fantastic birding, lots of indigenous forest and streams. Its not even that difficult a hike – perhaps the erosion protection in places could have been a bit better but all in all a really great trip.

South Africa tour Aug-Sep 2009

A 3-week multi-purpose holiday around South Africa. Our aim was to do some sightseeing, see lots of birds, see flowers in Namaqualand and introduce Nicola to my parents. We started off by driving to Potchefstroom and birding the OPM Prozesky bird sanctuary in town. Then we moved onto some back roads towards Klerksdorp and visited Faan Meintjies Nature Reserve. In Kimberley we visited Kamfers dam and the Big Hole before going to Barkley West and Spitskop Dam Nature Reserve. Our next stop was in Augrabies National Park before driving down to Springbok and catching our first proper flower fields in Namaqua National Park. In Lambert's Bay we visited Bird Island and then also got excellent flowers in West Coast National Park and Postberg. We joined my parents on my Dad's birthday present trip - a day out to Robben Island where we did the standard prison tour but also got to drive around the island with a local contact I had, picking up the Chukar partridges occurring only here. While In Cape Town we also visited Helderberg Nature Reserve and the Paarl Sewerage Works.

We moved onto Oudtshoorn along Route 62 and visited an ostrich farm and the Cango caves. In Knysna we stayed over before enjoying a morning at Monkeyland and Birds of Eden outside Plettenberg Bay. Towards Port Elizabeth the weather turned windy and the next few days didn't deliver very pleasant birding. Even so we birded the Swartkops and Sunday's River estuaries and then also the Nahoon estuary at East London. A long and arduous drive got us to Coffee Bay and miserable weather and we stayed just long enough to pay a quick visit to the Hole-in-the-Wall. It was wet and misty all the way to Port St Johns but when we got to Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve the weather was back to pleasant again. Past Durban we went to Umtunzini and then Richards Bay before entering Swaziland and spending a night at Hlane National Park. Then it was onto Kruger National Park and we stayed over in Pretoriuskop, Skukuza, Satara, Letaba and Shingwedzi before finally making our way back home. In total, we drove over 7700kms and identified 361 bird species.

Idwala hiking trail Jul 2009

Nicola and I left from her place shortly after she returned from work on Friday afternoon. The drive was uneventful except for the pitifully poor road leading into basecamp. We arrived shortly after 4pm with a member of another group not long after us. We picked the hut closest to the kitchen and ablutions and settled in. The others arrived around sunset and by then I had already started the fire. After a braai we all hit the bed.

Day 1 (25 Jul): We got up early despite a cold and windy morning. With breakfast behind us we left down the 4x4 track to Hannes’s dam, crossed the dam wall and climbed out the other side. The path was not terribly well maintained but very well marked and we had no problems following it over rolling hills until we reached the escarpment edge looking down towards Loskop dam. We rested a little before carrying on towards the Shotgun loop climbing down into a pretty but dark kloof and walking right up to the dry waterfall at its end. Unfortunately it seemed the path stopped here and doesn’t continue to a chain ladder as promised on a map. We returned the same way and then walked a while longer on the escarpment edge before stopping for lunch. With lunch past we carried on – Nicola and I fell behind a little and walked our own pace. As soon as we saw the road leading back up to the hut, the path descended down into a kloof again, and then angled upstream out of the kloof. We walked slowly here and saw Black-headed oriole, Jameson’s firefinch and White-crested helmetshrikes. I got ahead of Nicola about two thirds through the kloof, walked up to the dam wall and waited for her there – I saw Madelein and Elize leaving the campsite and walk up the road. When Nicola didn’t show up after I sat for about 10 minutes I got worried and walked back down to look for her – I found her on the wrong side of the river, not too far away. She missed one of the footprints where it crossed the stream and subsequently lost the track for a while. By now it was quite warm and we were tired. We tackled the last section up the road and arrived just after 3pm back in camp. After some rest we had a good shower and braai that night. I also showed my Chile video to the group before we hit the bed.

Day 2 (26 Jul): We decided to do our own thing this day. Soon after the rest of the group left, Nicola and I went down the road again to Hannes’s dam and picked up the path from there going up the kloof east of base camp. It was quite interesting but still chilly so early in the morning. Nothing worth mentioning happened and before long we climbed out the top end of the kloof. We skirted the top edge back to camp, packed up and left for Middelburg.

Not a bad hike but the path can do with some clearing and maintenance in places.

Blyde river canyon May 2009

Nicola and I drove out to the Mpumalanga escarpment for the long weekend. We hiked around the Blyde river canyon a bit, visited Bourke's Luck and a number of the waterfalls in the area and also found the Taita falcon in its eyrie above the JG Strydom tunnel. At the Aventure resort at Blyde river we stayed over a night and walked out into the veld under the starry sky. Sitting on a bench with just the fresh night air and calling nightjars for company, I slipped the token ring I bought into Nicola's ring finger and asked her to marry me. She said yes!

Corner pass - Injasuthi (Drakensberg) Apr 2009

I drove to Nicola’s parents’ place at 15:00; Shaun and Bianca were already there when I arrived so we quickly packed my stuff in. Nicola was stuck in traffic and showed up shortly before 4pm. We quickly packed her bags as well and were off in Shaun’s dad’s Pajero. We decided on the R21/R24 route which was surprisingly fast and we got through Johannesburg easy enough. I packed sandwiches for us so we ate while driving, only stopping for petrol outside Harrsimith. In Bergville we discovered the tennis court verandah where we always sleep was converted to a coffee shop with a nursery next door – we were still allowed to sleep there though. It was cool when we arrived and it looked like it might rain so I decided not to pitch the tents. We regretted this decision as the mozzies came pounding in as soon as we settled down.

Day 1 (10 Apr): At 6am we were up and having breakfast. It cleared completely during the night and the ‘Berg was visible in the early morning sun. Shortly after 7am we left Bergville and drove to Injasuthi, arriving and signing in to start the hike before 9am. We decided to go the shorter route through the river and soon we waded through the chilly waters. The climb from there was easy, as the workers in the area had cleared the paths nicely to Battle cave except for a short section in the middle. Gordon spotted some Ground woodpeckers that we admired before moving on. We stopped for a snack at the junction that split off through the dense grass towards Centenary hut. The grass and ferns were as unpleasant as ever but we reached the other side without problem. We ventured once again onto the faint track leading up the spur prior to the one the hut is on so we contoured a little on the ridge before picking up the path again that led to the next spur. Then the climb started in earnest. However, we only climbed until just over 1800m before we sat down for lunch. By now, the usual morning clarity have given way to heavy cloud all round and it was cold. Luckily it wasn’t raining yet and we still had hopes of reaching the hut before it did. After lunch we each set our own pace with Gordon leading. Nicola and I stuck together as the mist gathered. Shaun and Bianca were not far behind but Gordon was far ahead of us. Reaching the hut I was shocked to see the bad state in which it was in. Ceiling boards were torn down and used to make a fire inside the hut. Debris and broken glass was scattered everywhere and almost no unbroken panes remained. Still, it was dry, and as it had started to drizzle lightly, it was a welcome rest stop. Gordon fetched water and soon we had some soup going. By 17.30 we started dinner and by 7pm we were ready for bed. It rained harder during the night and we were curious how the next day will be.

Day 2 (11 Apr): It stopped raining early in the morning but heavy mist was still around when I stuck my head out just before 6am. A little later I noticed though that the mist was clearing and I could see the escarpment. Quickly I roused everyone and we packed up for the summit. We left the hut at 07:30 and made reasonably good time on the contour path, reaching the bottom of Corner pass at 9am. After a short breather we started up the grass slopes on the left but crossing two steep gullies was unpleasant and we headed back into the main river bed. It was slow going but the two girls made steady progress. Gordon was up ahead again but I spotted him waiting for us a little higher up. When we joined him we took a decent break – we were at 2700m and it was 11:00. Bianca was suffering from sinusitis and tonsillitis and was not having a good time on the uphill. I then took the lead and climbed until 12:00 to have lunch at just over 2800m. After lunch we climbed into the narrow final gully of the pass. Gordon, Shaun and I took over some of Bianca’s pack so that she was only carrying about 5kg. Gordon was climbing ahead when he ran into the waterfall with a ramp on the right side that I completely forgot about. Reaching him it looked really nasty – wet and slippery with sloping holds. Gordon managed to get up but was shaking at the top. When Shaun and Nicola reached us we debated a little and then decided it was not worth the risk – I didn’t have any rope with me and if someone would fall on this spot, chances of a fracture were really good. We turned around. While Bianca and Nicola took the lead down, Shaun and I helped Gordon to get down the ramp before we joined the girls. We were disappointed but soon we realized we now had to climb down all the way and back to the hut – and it was 2pm already. Due to the terrain we couldn’t move too fast and time slipped away as we descended slowly. As we reached the grassy slopes about 150m above the contour path, it turned 4pm. Down on the contour path, the sun was now long since behind the mountains and we only had about an hour of light left. Gordon pushed on to go and collect water at the hut, while Shaun and I stuck with our partners. Nicola was starting to suffer badly from sore knees and exhaustion and I helped to carry her pack for a while. The middle section of the contour path she was able to carry it herself again but at the stream before the hut I took over again, gave her her headlamp and marched off to the hut in the gathering dusk. I reached the hut in the failing light and the others struggled in a few minutes later. Bianca was exhausted and nauseous. Gordon and I prepared dinner while the girls rested and we fed everyone tea and Game. Finally we settled down for the night at 8pm.

Day 3 (12 Apr): The day dawned beautifully clear and we were immediately sorry not to be in the cave on the summit. But now we had different plans to complete. We were all very tired and sore so we slept late and then had a good look at the map. It was eventually decided to head over past Cloudland Col on the management track and have a nice short walk. We started at 9pm and soon came upon the management track. Shaun, Gordon and I climbed to the top of Cloudland Col while the girls skirted below. We joined them and carried on on the track, stopping occasionally for a rest. The wind was blowing enough to make us chilly and when we started looking for a campsite, we were also looking for wind shelter. But there was precious little and our first concern was water. Then, as we approached the Field Ranger’s Outpost we saw a few possibilities in the shallow valley to our right. Gordon and I went exploring and finally decided upon a grassy spot where we could pitch 2 tents. We sauntered down, pitched the tents and then went to have lunch at the stream close by. After lunch we rested in the tent but between the baking sun and a remarkable number of flies, it went dragging on for a long time. Finally it started cooling down and we prepared dinner. High cirrus clouds pinked in the setting sun as we cooked. Gordon wanted to sleep under the stars and opened his mattress next to the tent. A few hours later I heard slight drizzle and soon Gordon was in the tent with us. During the night it rained harder but in the early hours it stopped again.

Day 4: (13 Apr): We woke to swirling mist and wet grass all round but at least it wasn’t raining. We had breakfast and packed up the wet tents before heading over to the management track. Soon we were looking down into Injasuthi. We followed the advice of some hikers Shaun and Bianca chatted to the previous day and when we descended towards a wooden ladder, I realized it’s the same route that Darrell, Liza and I did a few years ago. It was very slippery and wet and we had to take it slowly. But we made good progress and shortly after 9am, we walked into camp. We had wonderfully hot showers, signed out and left for home.

We are all very disappointed to not make it up to the summit, especially since the night we would have been on top it was so clear and open. However, it was decided rather to be safe than sorry.

Cycad hiking trail Apr 2009

Due to flight delays I could only leave the airport at about 18:40 on Friday evening. I drove through to Nicola’s at great speed, arriving there shortly after 8pm. Nicola already packed the car so all we had to do was dump my stuff in her car and then we were off. Nicola drove calmly while I still seethed in the passenger seat after the flight delay. We arrived at the basecamp shortly before 9pm, greeted the group who were mostly in bed already and set about making our beds for the night on the verandah of the one hut.

Day 1 (04 Apr): I was up before sunrise, looking for birds. When Nicola got up we boiled some water for tea and coffee and ate some of the pizza we had left over from dinner that Nicola bought for the previous night. We all got ready and left by 8am. Initially the path wound through boulders and grassy plains with the path itself being poorly maintained but well marked. We arrived at he lip of the Olifants river canyon and had nice views of Arendsnes hut we were aiming for. Then we turned away and wandered across more plains before descending to the Olifants river. We followed the path to almost directly below Arendsnes camp before starting the steep climb to the top. It took us about half an hour but still we reached the camp before lunch. Almost immediately we took a shower; it overlooked the entire Olifants river valley and is quite spectacular. The rest of the afternoon we rested, read and watched a pair of Verreaux's eagles soar first below, and soon above us. Before 5pm I started the fire and by 6pm we were braaing our sandwiches and cherry bacon sosaties. After dinner we had peaches and cream for desert and then ended with a cup of tea before going to bed.

Day 2 (05 Apr): We slept outside on the verandah again and got up just before sunrise to boil water for breakfast. We packed up fast and Nicola and I together left a few minutes before the rest so we could do some bird watching in peace. We made good time despite the path rambling unnecessarily through boulders and by 08:30 we were already back at the camp. We watched some birds at the basecamp while we waited for the others to arrive. When they did, I handed over a few pictures for George to frame before we left for home. On the way out I discovered that I left my bird book behind and we had to turn around to fetch it. Back on the tar road, just before Middelburg, we came upon a horrific accident that must have happened minutes before. We stopped to help. One person who seemed to be a paramedic was already helping a female passenger of a bakkie. I put on gloves and helped to keep pressure on a head wound to give the paramedic a rest. The ambulances arrived shortly after. It seemed that a motorcyclist hit the bakkie head-on at great speed. The bodies of the motorcyclist and the bakkie’s driver were in the grass next to the road, terribly mutilated. After giving our contact details to the police we left with the scenes and smells not to be forgotten soon.

Fern and Grootkloof (Magaliesberg) Mar 2009

Gordon arrived at my place just before 6.30 and we drove to Fern kloof in his car. Arriving just after 8 without trouble we started hiking at about 8.30.

Day 1 (7 Mar): We made good time up the hill without rushing it and by 10.00 we were in the bottom of Fern kloof. The descent went well and we enjoyed the cool shade in the kloof. Past the tree and the first nylon rope section we scrambled and then arrived at the big slab. Having not had rain for quite a while the slab was nice and dry and although my heart was beating a little faster, the scramble down was straight forward. Then we arrived at the tricky down climb where I always use my slings. Someone has put up a nicely tied rope again and this time it looked a little more permanent than the last time I saw a rope up here. It was handy and soon we were past that. Next came the last rope that I put up and this also went without incident. Then it was time for a swim. Gordon jumped in and took the bag with our clothes, shoes and cameras and then first Nicola and then I took a jump. The water wasn’t particularly cold and it was a nice swim across. I thought earlier that I spotted Ian Koegelenberg in front of us but we were a good 10 minutes behind them so I didn’t bank on hauling them in. We came across some people climbing again in the lower section and soon we arrived back at Bergheim. I bought a coke at the kiosk and we took a quick swim before having some lunch. Then we packed up and just before we got in the car, I heard a voice calling me from behind – it was Ian! They were on their way back to Pretoria so we chatted briefly before also driving out to Sparkling Waters Hotel. At the hotel they’ve cleared more space for parking but we chose the well-shaded pine trees as usual. The new parking area was fenced off so we had to walk outside the hotel and through tall grass to get to the road. Soon we were on the track leading in. My pack wasn’t heavy but it was huge and I kept on bumping into the low vegetation on the track. It wasn’t long before we reached the campsite – it was just after 1pm. We took a short rest and hid our bags in the thorny bushes behind the campsite. Up the hill we went and then down into Main gully, me carrying the rope, Gordon harnesses, helmet, karabiners and camera. Nicola took it nice and slow down Main gully and we arrived at the bottom without mishap. Soon we stood above the waterfall and got the rope ready. I rigged the rope for an easy single abseil for Gordon, using just a tie-off at the top as it was already doubled around the tree. Then Nicola went down quickly and then me. I coiled the rope as usual and followed across. All the obstacles came and went without trouble and I enjoyed the kloof thoroughly. Ten minutes after the slide rock we were out at the intersection with Woodpecker gully and saw some kids playing below. Since I was patrolling I had to get their numbers but they directed me to their parents who had already scrambled out. I climbed out after them and met them at the top, taking their membership numbers for the record. Back at the campsite we took a nice rest – it was only 4pm and then chatted the afternoon away. Otti Neser and Michael Stiller came by just after 17.30. They’ve been weeding lower down in the kloof. We chatted a bit before they left and then we had a nice dinner of bacon, pasta, beetroot and canned peaches. Hot chocolate followed but it wasn’t 7pm yet before we headed for bed. I dozed for about an hour when thunder and lightning threatened from the north west. I listened for a while and then got up to see where exactly it was coming from. Gordon was also awake. As we stood listening to it, the wind picked up and started blowing towards us. That settled it. We didn’t have any tents with us so we decided to bail. I woke Nicola up and in the dark we packed in a rush. In less than 10 minutes we had everything in and off we went – the first drops were already falling. We hiked as fast as our poor head torches allowed. I twisted my ankle on some of the loose rocks down from the campsite but soon we were in the path back to the hotel. During the 20 minute walk it never rained hard but just enough to wet our hair and necks. We got to the hotel just before 9pm, jumped in the car and drove back home. At my place Gordon dropped us off and went back home while Nicola and I headed straight for bed.

Climbing Cerro Marmolejo (Chile) Jan 2009

Having lost my main baggage on the Johannesburg-Sao Paulo flight, I had to wait another 2 days in Santiago before my bag arrived. By then I had already decided it would be more prudent to wait for Darrell to arrive on the Sunday morning and leave together, as I would only be able to get max 2 days extra time in the mountains which would not be nearly enough to start acclimatizing. Darrell arrived at about 1am on Sunday 14 Dec, he got a few hours sleep and at 7am we caught a taxi to Plaza Italia. At 07:30 we left with Turismontana – a minibus transport that would take us all the way to Puente Colina. We drove without incident, picking up a few people along the way, and stopped for 15 minutes in San Jose. In San Gabriel I had to notify the local police of our plans by handing in a form I filled out. In return they gave me a slip of paper I had to return to them when we came off the mountain. Going off onto a dirt road we finally started seeing some snow covered peaks, with Volcan San Jose being most prominent at the end of the valley. We reached Banos Morales where a few people got dropped off and then drove up to Refugio Lo Valdes where a German was dropped off. We quickly went in to ask about muleteers in the area and Andy (owner) confirmed that we should chat to Ivan at Puente Colina. The Refugio looked very nice and we both agreed that if we came off the mountain earlier we should spend at least a night here. Then we were back in the minibus and we drove up the last 5km to Puente Colina where we got dropped off across the bridge at about 2200m. It was bright and sunny; we kept our glasses on and slapped on some sun cream. Then I went to find Ivan who we then tried to negotiate with to take our packs up. Weighing each close to 30kg, it would’ve been almost impossible to carry everything ourselves. Not speaking Spanish, it was pretty much impossible to negotiate and we ended up paying about R1200 for the service. I thought it was a bit of a rip-off but it was almost impossible to just shrug and walk off with 30kg backpacks.

Day 1 (14 Dec): Ivan loaded our packs both onto a single horse, then one of his family (assumed) got on another horse and they started walking up the road, with the two of us trailing behind. Almost immediately we left the road onto a track leading uphill and we made our way through countless cattle paths cris-crossing this particular hill called El Morro. About 30 minutes later we started up the La Engorda valley, a beautifully green and flat valley leading directly to the start of the paths going up to Volcan San Jose and also accessing the Marmolejo valley to the north. At the end of the valley we had to cross the Marmolejo stream coming off the glaciers higher in the valley. It wasn’t very wide, maybe about 5m, but was flowing very fast. Luckily we didn’t have our packs with us, otherwise it could’ve been interesting. We didn’t have any other shoes with us either, so we just walked straight into the water. It was shockingly cold and the water threatened to topple us immediately. But with a few carefully placed steps, we were soon through and sat down to wring out our socks and boots. Then we carried on up and entered the main Marmolejo stream valley rising towards the north. We were now in a true glacial moraine and as the patches of snow increased, so did the vegetation decrease. We climbed steadily with the horses way out in front, me in the middle and Darrell coming slowly up the rear – he was feeling a bit jet-lagged, had little sleep and didn’t have much of a breakfast. Most of this walk turned out to be a bit of a blur as we didn’t completely trust the muleteer and wanted to keep our bags in sight. Consequently I just walked as fast as I could to keep up with him. But this was pretty much impossible and for long times we didn’t see the horses at all. Then finally, at about 2.30pm, I came around a bend and saw the two horses and that the muleteer has already started to unload our packs – it was obvious we were going to stop here. We thanked him and paid and before he left we both got a chance to sit on one of the horses to take a picture. Then he was off down the mountain again. We scouted the area. It looked pretty miserable. It was a very rocky sloping part of the valley with a 20m hill blocking the view from the higher valley. Two streams came from either side of the hill and converged about 100m lower down. The patch in the middle looked to have a few possible campsites so we hitched the heavy packs and slowly scampered across an old snow patch that covered most of the right-hand stream. We pitched the tent and I switched on the GPS which showed we sat at around 3250m. We climbed just over 1000m from Puente Colina and a whopping 2.7km from Santiago. That partly explained why Darrell was feeling lousy and he soon vomited. Having made really good progress in my opinion we declared the next day a rest day and proceeded to just rest and drink lots of water in the tent. With the sun still high, it was very hot inside the tent and only at about 6.30pm, when the sun finally hid behind a high peak in the west, did it start to cool down. But it did so rapidly and long before the sun set properly (only after 9pm), we were inside our sleeping bags (during the night at basecamp, temperatures fell to about 2 degrees C).

Day 2 (15 Dec): We slept late but as soon as the sun hit the tent at around 9am, it started getting hot inside. It was quite pleasant outside but the sun was so potent (we both burned some on the previous day) that you had to cover up and use so much cream outside that it was not all that pleasant anymore. But we decided to have some tea and coffee and I started assembling the stove. But when I opened the valve I was dismayed to discover that it was leaking badly. I cursed and then emptied the benzene back into its original container and started opening up the whole assembly to see if I could fix it. There was nothing wrong with the O-rings and everything else was fine – then I noticed small cracks in the plastic part of the pump which caused the valve to not fit snug enough to maintain the seal. We then tried to wrap plastic around the thread before screwing it back in but this didn’t work. Then we decided to try and weld the cracks closed by melting the plastic with a lighter. We seemed to have managed this but then when we screwed in the valve really tight, we managed to break of a large chip of the plastic. We tried to weld this in place again and later had to resort to heating a needle in the flame and using this to smooth over our work. After struggling with it for over 2 hours, it still didn’t work and we had to give up. Our trip was obviously in jeopardy, mainly because we depended on the stove to melt snow for drinking water higher up on the mountain. Luckily, none of our food required cooking; we had biscuits, fresh and dried fruit, cheese, salami and Jungle bars. We then read through our route descriptions and it seemed like we may be able to find running water in the afternoons up at Camp 1 (4300m). We then decided we must at least get to Camp 1 and then assess the situation from there. We spent the rest of the day trying to stay out of the sun and when that finally set, packed our bags for the next day. We couldn’t carry the huge load so planned only to ferry stuff to Camp 2 and then return to sleep at Base again, before breaking camp the day after. After sitting in the tent the whole day to escape the burning sun, we were due to start this ferrying the next day.

Day 3 (16 Dec): We got up at 6am, packed and by 7am we were ready to go. However, just as we were about to start, Darrell indicated he didn’t feel very well. He looked a little pale and I made him get back in the tent in the sleeping bag where he started shivering. We decided we had more than enough time to get up to the top and that another rest day would not harm our trip. So we snoozed while it was still cold and then when the sun popped up from behind the mountains and it got hot again, we tried getting as much air movement in the tent as possible by opening the door wide. Our food consisted of cornflakes and muesli for Darrell’s breakfast, lots of biscuits, Jungle bars, a jar of peanut butter for Darrell, some raisins, fresh apples and oranges, two rolls of salami, two packets of cheese and a number of packets of powdered cold drink called Zuko, similar to Tang. Darrell also had pre-mixed coffee and I had some soup and tea, but now these could not be used at all. We sat out the whole day, reading or snoozing to pass the time.

Day 4: (17 Dec): We slept a little later until 07:00 and as our bags were already packed and we didn’t need to pack up the tent or sleeping stuff, we just had a few bites to eat and then were on our way. As it looked far easier, we chose to ascend the snow and scree to our left, looking up the valley. We set a slow but steady pace and soon reached the upper part of what turned out to be a bit of a spur. This necessitated that we climb down again into the bottom of the valley through some loose and steep scree. This was rather unpleasant and the subsequent loss of height was also unfortunate. We decided not to take this route again. Once in the valley we made our way steadily on the true right hand side, staying away from the strongly flowing stream. We crossed snow fields interspersed with short sections of boulders and scree. Upon entering the valley we immediately saw the ridge we were supposed to climb. It looked steep and loose and really not pleasant at all. But we plodded on and eventually noticed that the river split higher in the valley and that we’ll have to cross it sooner rather than later. Walking along we found a nice thick snow bridge across. First steps across were tentative but when we realized it was solid we walked over easily. Then we approached the ridge in the distance first in the valley bottom, and then steadily started venturing onto the scree slopes on the true left side of the valley. In place this became quite difficult with unyielding terrain and large boulders. A small stream tumbling down from the Marmolejo glacier also cause us to walk up and down looking for an easy place to cross but we eventually found a spot. We actually gained so much height along the slopes that we missed the bottom of the ridge completely and eventually stood on a small spur facing the ridge at around 3750m. There was a steepish snow slope in front of us that looked slippery, so we decided to boot up and put crampons on. In this manner we finally got onto the ridge. It was everything I feared it to be – steep, loose and ugly. Despite the sun now burning down fiercely, ambient temperature was quite chilly and a cold wind was gusting from the top. After scrambling up another 50m or so up the ridge, we sat down for lunch. Then we carried on higher up the ridge. Originally our target was to reach Camp 2 and stash our stuff there. But it started to become evident that we were both growing very tired. We decided that we’ve managed to gain quite a bit of altitude and we can dump the stuff on the ridge. At 2pm we reached a spot that looked quite safe and proceeded to pack all our extra food and gear into my survival bag and hid it away behind some rocks. We were at 3944m. The way down the ridge went much quicker and on the snow slopes we quickly discovered that we can glissade quite a long way down the slope without putting too much effort in it. Soon we were down in the valley again, this time descending on the snow slope immediately next to the ridge all the way to its bottom. Walking in the valley itself was much easier than on the slopes we climbed up and we were sure that would be the best way to follow again when we returned. We made good time across but started feeling very exhausted as we approached the end of the valley. We rested often but the wind was now really cold and we wanted to get back to the tent. We crossed our snow bridge and then stuck close to the river all the way as it turned left and approached a gap between the valley side and the spur that we climbed that morning. This way was choked with a lot of snow and boulders, but it turned out to be pretty easy going despite a few slightly dangerous steps that, if you slipped on the snow, would’ve sent you straight into the icy water below. But at least there was no climbing up again. At 16:30 we walked into camp and gratefully collapsed in the tent. We slept our last night at Base camp, full of anticipation for what lay ahead.

Day 5 (18 Dec): We got up early, had breakfast, then packed up everything and got ready to go. I was pleased that we managed to carry more than half the weight of our packs up the ridge so when we started this morning, our packs were considerably lighter. Retracing our steps of the previous afternoon, we were soon in the upper valley and made very good progress towards the ridge, which by now I’ve named El Diablo (The Devil). It was much easier to walk in the valley bottom than on the slopes like we did the previous day when we approached ridge so we got to the bottom in good time. As we didn’t know yet if there will be water at Camp 1, we decided to carry about 6 litres of water up the ridge so we can at least spend 1 night at Camp 1, even if there isn’t any water. Unfortunately, the stream we saw the previous day was now frozen solid so early in the morning and we ended up filling the Drom bag with silty glacial water; at least we had some. The lip of the ridge turned out to be pretty nasty – steep and very loose. We zig-zagged up the slope until we reached a rocky section which seemed a lot easier to climb than the loose scree. Although the rocks were a little more solid underfoot, it was very brittle, even worse than Drakensberg basalt and I was glad when we finally reached the top. We made steady way up the ridge and reached our stash shortly after noon where we sat down for lunch. After lunch we packed some stuff from the stash, mostly food and warm gear; but left quite a lot of our technical equipment and more food behind. Then we tackled the last bit. Surprisingly, the ridge got steeper the higher we went, even though from the bottom it looked a little easier past the middle section. But since we had the rest of the afternoon, we took it nice and slow, resting often. Darrell was suffering quite a bit, complaining that his pack was very heavy – he was carrying most of the water. Finally we reached the top of the ridge. It was spectacular. I didn’t expect the sudden top that we reached, or the sheer drop down the other side – I was thinking there would be more of a plateau. But the scenery opened up to show large stretches of Andean peaks to the north and north east, glaciers stretching away and lots of snow fields. It was cold and a nasty breeze was blowing in our faces. We rested a little here before carrying on up the path. There was another nasty loose section before we scrambled up some slaty scree and then finally reached Camp 2, about 300m from the top of the ridge. It was truly an awesome sight – there were some very nicely cleaned and flat campsites, surrounded by rock walls and we picked the best one – no-one else were around. Darrell was not feeling great – I had to go fetch his bag about 50m from the camp site. I was also very tired and definitely we now started to feel the altitude – we were sitting at 4325m. After catching our breaths for a while, we slowly pitched the tent and then collapsed inside. Darrell was feeling particularly bad, complaining of a nasty headache and being nauseous. Apart from exhaustion, I was feeling quite perky and still walked around outside looking for the water I could hear running. Back in the tent we rested for the rest of the afternoon. Darrell took some acetazolamide and aspirin. I made Zuko to drink and we shared half of one of the salami sausages I had. This perked Darrell up and by sunset he was feeling much better. We still had some stuff in the stash about 400m down the ridge, but we both decided that we needed a rest day to acclimatize to the altitude.

Day 6 (19 Dec): Knowing that we didn’t need to go anywhere, we snoozed until the sun touched the tent at about 8am. I woke with a slight headache. As the morning slowly got hotter, the headache got worse, to the extent that I took some acetazolamide and later aspirin as well. I holed up in the tent while Darrell, feeling much better than the previous afternoon, went strolling about outside. He dug a nice hole next to the penitentes field close to our tent and found a decent trickle of water which meant we might be able to make a summit bid. The day in the tent was once again tedious and hot and with the headache I was nursing it was not particularly pleasant. I tried to drink as much water as possible and just rested, and by the afternoon, this seemed to start paying off as the headache finally eased up a little. By about 8pm I was feeling much better. A German guide with two Austrian clients showed up as the sun started to set. They obviously made their summit bid that morning and were returning from Camp 3. They set up camp close to our tent and soon were fast asleep. We didn’t last much longer.

Day 7 (20 Dec): We were going to fetch the rest of our stash today. But since it was not far to go at all and we had nothing else to do for the day, we waited in the tent until the other group had packed up and left. Then we slowly got out of the tent and made our way slowly back down the ridge, trying very hard to take as long as possible. It was certainly much faster down the ridge than up and we reached the stash by 10:30. We sat for a long time here, ate some fresh oranges and then packed up all the other things we would need from the stash, leaving behind some food and other things we thought were unnecessary. Going back up was hard work, but our packs were not as heavy as on Day 5 and by now we have acclimatized quite a bit. Even so, we took it very slowly so that we didn’t get to camp too early. We made it back at 2pm. We have decided over the past 2 days that tomorrow, Day 8, we will break camp and pack essentials only, walk up to Camp 3 very slowly and see how we feel. If we don't get sick, we’ll spend the night and if by the morning of Day 9 we’re still feeling OK, we’ll make a summit bid and come back down. So the rest of the afternoon was spent thinking about this plan and getting ready by drinking lots of water and making sure we have enough to carry up to Camp 2 as we were pretty sure there wasn’t going to be any water that high. We were now seriously missing the stove – soup and tea would have made a huge difference not only to our hydration state but also to our morale. Clouds have been building all afternoon and a cold breeze was blowing. By 19:30 it started sleeting very very lightly but it was soon over and we were treated to a cold but very pretty sunset.

Day 8 (21 Dec): We woke reasonably early but did not hurry as we had breakfast before packing up. We packed only essentials: tent, sleeping pads and bags, technical gear, warm gear, food and water. We climbed slowly to where tracks ran through a penitentes field. This was our first experience of walking through these strangely shaped snow blades, some of them more than a meter deep. It was tough going. In the third field we realized the tracks were thinning and soon we found ourselves in a penitentes field without any tracks. We spotted some cairns on the bare rocky slope to the right and made our way towards that. On the rocky slope the going became much easier but with the altitude now approaching 4500m, the going was very slow. Despite taking some acetazolamide in the morning before we started (both of us took, as prophylaxis), I started developing a slight headache and felt a little light headed. We had to stop often for a break and at one point I felt particularly bad and we sat down for a longer time. But I kept pushing as I didn’t feel nauseous yet. We eventually reached a steep snow field and slowly plodded up this, resting every 10m or so. This carried on until we suddenly reached a lip of flat ground where the snow had melted on the spur itself and where 2 small campsites were hacked out. The one in particular looked very inviting. However, we were only at 4878m, not the 5000m that indicated the further Camp 3 in the middle of the glacier which is what we really wanted to reach. But I did not feel great. I asked Darrell to have a look a little higher if there were any other options but he returned with a negative and we decided to stay where we were. The tent went up very slowly, and I felt bad enough to leave most of the work up to Darrell and collapsed in the tent resting. I drank some water, Zuko and took some aspirin. The wind gusted the tent throughout the afternoon and we really noticed we were camping very high in the Andes. Towards evening I started feeling better and we started planning seriously for the next day’s summit.

Day 9 (22 Dec): Darrell’s alarm went off at 05:30 but I didn’t hear it – when Darrell stirred and started getting ready, I got up as well. We ate a quick and dismal breakfast, tried to swallow some ice and water from our bottles. Outside it was freezing. The air was reasonably still but ambient temperature was -9 degrees C – it was bitterly cold and we felt it. I dressed in my fleece pants, shell pants, thermal top, down jacket, shell jacket, beany, two pairs of gloves, two pairs of socks and snow gaiters. I filled our 6 500ml water bottles from the Drom bag which was still mostly water since we kept it in the tent between our sleeping bags. But by the time I packed them in the backpack, all of them were frozen. I then took one out and put it in my down jacket’s inner pocket. By 06:15 we had our crampons on, I had the pack on my back and we started moving. I didn’t feel any ill effects from the previous day’s symptoms and although the going was slow, we were going well. At about 5000m we were walking on a large snowfield towards a patch of open ground that was obviously the alternative Camp 3. We later realized we were already walking on the glacier at this point. Walking over the snow and ice with crampons so early in the morning was straight forward, but a breeze was still blowing and although the sun has painted the peak summits at our backs, it was still a long way from warming us; it was very cold. We reached the open ground at 5100m and had a rest. There were a couple of campsites here and the ground was brilliant for a tent – if we were able to reach this far and had a stove to melt some snow! Darrell took over the backpack that I had been carrying up to this point. We headed for the snow slope ahead of us that we now knew for a fact was the glacier. Although it looked nothing like what we had expected, we still took it nice and slow. Admittedly, we didn’t put on harnesses or ropes as it really did look like just a snow slope and we bargained on the knowledge from mountaineers we met earlier in our trip, saying that the glacier was clean. I took the lead and made my way slowly across the snow and ice. There were the easy hard-packed ice/snow bits, and then the hard loose snow with a thin crust of hard ice on top, that you broke through when you stepped on it and sometimes stepped to halfway up our calves through it. And then there were the cracks. Every now and again I could hear a crack and my heart would skip a beat. This carried on for a long time and it started to seem we were not making much progress. At 5274m Darrell stopped me and complained about his feet getting frostbite. Although I was reasonably sure it wasn’t, I could obviously not tell how cold his feet were. I was terribly exhausted at this point and wanted to turn around rather than stand still. We vacillated some more and then decided we should get through the glacier first and go and rest on the rocky slope beyond. At this point we’ve already decided that we should get through the glacier as soon as possible and instead of gaining height, we moved laterally towards a rocky spur that was devoid of snow and ice. I led the way to the rocky spur, reaching it (5350m) sometime later. Waiting for Darrell I took my crampons off and had a good rest. The sun has now risen properly but I must admit, its heat was rather slim and the wind speed has increased. When Darrell arrived he sat for a while as well and eventually declared that his feet was thawing and we could carry on. I took the pack over from him and with him in the lead on the rocky slope, we made our way up. We now got to a point where we could only walk 15-20 steps at a time, then caught our breaths for 2 minutes, repeated the whole step. We decided to take a sitting break after every 50m altitude gained and we made good progress eventually reaching 5750m. We were slightly behind our agreed schedule as we indicated we will turn around at 14:00 no matter what. But I was comfortable that we could push it to 16:00 as it only got dark around 9pm and was absolutely sure that the descent could not take us more than 3 hours. At 5750m I was tired and passed the pack back to Darrell. By now we had picked up on a zig-zag track but lost it again when we started walking through some snow drifts. Volcan San Jose had appeared majestically to the south and we were now higher than its summit. In fact, despite not being at the top yet, I was quite sure there was nowhere else on earth south of where we stood, that was higher than where we were. For the first time I now really believed that we could make it. I started thinking about what I would say when I got to the top – would there be any prophetic or profound words? I don’t know – but I was thinking about it. Then, in front of me, I saw Darrell taking an ‘unscheduled’ stop and sitting down. When I reached him, he asked me how I felt. I told him I’m tired but am OK to go. Then he said that he’s incredibly cold and was shivering uncontrollably. The wind at this time was really blowing very hard from the south and ambient temperature I later guessed to be about -25 degrees C. I told Darrell to sit down and I huddled around him, holding him, trying to warm him a little and shield him from the wind. We sat like this for about 5 minutes when Darrell said that he cannot make it to the summit and he wants to go down. I turned around and looked at the summit, less than 200m above me. So close, so far. We got up. I took a GPS bearing while Darrell started down. Then I took a short video clip of the summit, turned around and started making my way down as well. As I thought we would, we made excellent time downhill and we flew down the scree, then the glacier and took our first break on the descent on the open patch of ground for the alternative Camp 3. Then we took the last section back to Camp 3 with me in the lead. Approaching the camp I started feeling extremely exhausted and actually had to sit down in the snow to take a short break. I reached the camp at 14:30 – it took us 1.5 hours to get down. We planned to break Camp 3 and head down to Camp 2 immediately when we got off the summit but we were so tired that we decided to spend another night here and move down past Camp 2 all the way to Base Camp the next day. So we spent the afternoon resting, drinking and more resting before dozing off at about 10pm.

Day 10 (23 Dec): The night was calm but cold, dropping to almost -12. By 7am we were packing already and by 8am, we were making our way down. Our packs were light and going downhill was a supreme pleasure, but my feet were suffering a little in the mountain boots. Without event we reached Camp 2 and I was happy to exchange my mountain boots for my hiking boots. We were surprised to discover that the survival bag I packed everything in, has been ripped full of holes. Initially we thought it might be rodents but later changed our opinion to the possibility that birds attacked the red bag. None of our food or anything else inside were damaged in any way, but the survival bag was now worthless. We loaded all the equipment and with our packs now a fair amount heavier, started towards the ridge to descend down into the Marmolejo valley. Going down the ridge with heavy packs was hard but it wasn’t long before we made it to our stash where we left unnecessary food and gear 3 days ago. With our packs now very heavy, we descended from the stash to the snow field on the left of the spur where we were able to glissade a bit, making good time. However, it was noticeable that even this method of descent was very tiring and we took a decent break when we finally reached the bottom. It was now past lunch already but we didn’t want to reach Base Camp to early so we took our time. We were now back in nice and easy terrain and enjoyed the walk, sitting down for a break often. Eventually we reached the snow bridge we crossed 3 times before across the Marmolejo stream and noticed that the bridge has thinned almost alarmingly in the 5 days since we’ve last been there. But it still held firm as we walked across and finished the last little bit to Base Camp, arriving at 4pm. We pitched tent in a new, much flatter spot, and went to fetch the last remaining gear of ours on the mountain. I was rather shocked to discover that the broken stove we left here, was stolen. I entertained murderous thoughts for a while but eventually gave up on it. We rested for the rest of the day and luckily it was not very long before the sun dipped behind the high peaks above us and we had relief from the hot sun before settling in for the night.

Day 11 (24 Dec): Christmas eve. Knowing we had very little distance to cover to La Engorda valley, we slept late and took our time having breakfast and getting up. We dried the tent reasonably well when the sun peeked out and eventually left Base Camp for the last time around 9am. I remember how dismal the place looked when we first arrived 10 days ago but now it seemed like home, and as we started walking away, I turned around and took one last long look at Base Camp before turning my back. We stuck to the path going down and made very good time, despite taking it easy. We descended the main head of the valley and noticed the green of La Engorda in the distance. We were slightly concerned about crossing the Marmolejo stream again, especially that now we had heavy packs to carry across, which we didn’t have on Day 1. But when we reached a sturdy looking snow bridge still fairly high up in the valley, it seemed like we may be able to stick to the left side of the stream and skirt it all the way down the valley. This way would have been a bit longer in distance and we would get off the path, but neither of us fancied crossing the glacial torrent that came from above. We crossed the bridge and immediately the terrain got a little more difficult without a path. But it was still quite passable and we had lots of time so we took it easy. We reached the exit of the valley and sat at a clear stream murmuring into the Marmolejo stream. Our packs were very heavy and although it was still early, we were starting to tire rapidly. The Marmolejo stream flowed right up to the left hand side of the valley and just before it opened up into La Engorda, we had to scramble across some rocks on the valley wall to get past the stream. But then we were in La Engorda and we saw the head of El Morro in the distance. Having spotted a cluster of boulders in the middle of the valley earlier that morning, we headed straight for this. La Engorda is covered in greenery but since most of this consists of a very thorny bush, it was rather uncomfortable walking through. Just after 1pm we reached the boulders and walked right up to a rock shelter that looked so inviting we decided to stay there for the night. A nasty breeze has been blowing most of the day and here in the rock shelter we got some protection from it. We spread out all over the place, resting, drank Zuko, had a late lunch and enjoyed the scenery for what would be our last night. As the afternoon wore on, the wind eventually tamed and then stopped altogether and we had a very peaceful evening. At around 19:00 we were walking around camp, when a thought struck me. We could make a fire! We started scouring the area for dead pieces of wood from the thorny shrubs and soon found more than enough to sustain a small fire. We found an area that was previously used for a fire, tucked behind some of the boulders on a nice sandy bit. We surrounded the area with rocks and started our fire. Very soon we had some decent flames going and I put the pot on with some water. We were looking forward to our first hot meal in 12 days! It wasn’t long before it boiled and we made our first cup of soup. Then we had another. Then I felt like having some tea and we washed the cups, boiled more water and had a cup of tea. And another! Finally satisfied that we were completely rehydrated, we killed the fire, took some beautiful pictures of the Volcan San Jose, red in the setting sun, then crawled into bed. We lay awake for a long time watching the stars and chatting about the past 11 days before we dozed off late in the night.

Day 12 (25 Dec): Our last day! We woke early, ate, packed and were on the way well before 8am. Our packs were very heavy but we still walked pretty fast – we were eager to get to a shower and a decent meal. We made our way over La Engorda’s countless horse and goat paths and found the bridge crossing one of the streams easily as all the paths converged to this point. Then we were on the paths that led into the rocky El Morro and before long we approached the dwelling of Ivan where we rented horses on Day 1. We happened on an elderly woman and what looked like her grandson, and when she approached us to ask something, I recognized her as the lady that drove along with us in the Turismontana minibus almost 2 weeks previously. She recognized us as well and switched to English. We chatted very briefly before making our way to the road and then started walking the 5km down to Lo Valdes. The road was hard and the packs so heavy that we had to rest twice on the way down as my hip started to suffer badly and my feet also started packing up. Even so, it was nice walking this road as we could revel in the spectacular mountains all around us that flitted past when we drove up the first time. Finally, at about 11am, we walked past a few scattered huts, the open quarry and then we got to the Lo Valdes sign. My hips were killing me so we sat for 5 minutes at the entrance gate before walking the 500m uphill to the hut. Having arrived, we gratefully dumped our bags and checked in. We were a little dismayed to hear that they didn’t have place for us for the 26th of December so we asked around if there was a way to get back to Santiago the next day. A local who was standing behind us kindly offered us a lift back the next day. We accepted and then headed off to our room for a long, hot shower and afterwards, a fillet steak with black beans and chips. And lots of coke!

The next day we took our time getting up and ate breakfast leisurely. We didn’t know what time the other people were going to leave so we sat outside reading until shortly after lunch when the guy came up to us and announced that they were going to leave now. On our trip back to Santiago we learned that the guy’s wife is Russian (we later learned he’s Russian as well) and that he’s a wannabe Formula 1 driver as he careened around blind corners crazily and almost caused a very nasty head-on collision. But we arrived safely in Santiago and they invited us for lunch which we happily accepted. Lunch with the two Russians was interesting and very nice and afterwards they took us back to Hostal Amazonas.

It was an experience I will remember till my death. It was very disappointing not to get to the top of Marmolejo and I will probably still regret it for some time to come. However, we gained snow, ice and glacier experience like nowhere before and did so at altitude as well. We had some tough obstacles on our way, most notably the broken stove, but we still managed to survive 12 days in the Andes without it and still made it to almost 6000m. My acclimatization strategy seems to have paid off. Although I was deathly exhausted when we turned around, I was still quite capable of moving and feel I could have comfortably made the top. Not once did I suffer anything worse than a headache and some slight light-headedness. We had a fantastic, unforgettable experience and will talk about this one for a long time to come.