Sentinel (Drakensberg) Dec 2005

I first picked Pip up from his work, then we drove to Camilla and Peter’s place where Gordon arrived shortly. As it was raining a fair amount on the road I decided not to risk driving up that night to Sentinel and we drove through to the municipal campsite in Harrismith. None of us slept too well that night, mainly due to traffic and mosquito noise. We got up at 5am and packed quickly to start the hike as early as possible

Day 1 (10 December): We got to Sentinel car park without problems, signed in and started walking. Just before us was a very large church group going up for the day. The wind was blowing strong and cold and all of us were dressed up for a cold day. Although we walked slowly, we made good time and soon sat down at the viewpoint for a short break. Then we continued up to the contour path and was soon below Sentinel. Because we planned to do the climb, I scrambled to the start of the first pitch and saw that it was fairly wet. Combined with the strong wind, the climb would not have been pleasant at all – I decided to write off the climb for the day but said that we would consider it the next day if the weather was any better. We then carried on to the chain ladder where I deemed it necessary to belay Jenny up as the wind was blowing horrendously. On the way to the falls I noticed that there had been a fair amount of rain as the Tugela was flowing strongly. Despite this, we could see that Fika Patso dam was well below its normal level. At the lip of the falls we had some lunch and lazed around for a while. The wind was still blowing without let-up so I decided to head for the cave for some shelter. As I was carrying rope and climbing gear I asked Gordon to carry up the 10 litres of water in the Drom bag. We split up the tent he was carrying to make it easier, and then headed up the slope. Apart form a few drops of rain, we had good weather for the walk up as opposed to November 2004 when we walked up in the hail. We got the cave and settled in quickly. Most people took a well-deserved rest while some others went for an afternoon stroll. It rained later on when the strong wind pushed in some heavier clouds from Lesotho. As the rain cleared, beautiful rainbows caused everyone to rush for their cameras. After 5pm we all started feeling hungry and I put on some water for soup, tea and coffee. As we only had my stove, we had to eat in stages but all worked out well. When we were all settled in our sleeping bags, just before 8pm, Thomas pulled out two good short stories by Herman Charles Bosman. I proceeded to read the stories to everyone and by then we all felt sleep coming on quickly.

Day 2 (11 December): We were all up at 6am and I urged everyone to get going as it was a beautiful day and I wanted to head for Sentinel. Although the wind was still blowing very strong, most clouds have disappeared and there were only scattered clouds in the valleys below. By 07:30 we were all walking back to the chain ladders – still dressed warmly. Past the ladders we walked around quickly to the climb. Some of the clouds in Royal Natal have consolidated and started pushing over the escarpment – luckily the strong wind from Lesotho kept them at bay. I went ahead from the Sentinel saddle to set up. As I tied myself in, Pip and the rest arrived. The wind was still blowing very hard and it made the climbing less fun. It also made the hands and fingers exceptionally cold. At least at the top I climbed into the sun, clipped myself into the top piton and proceeded to belay up the rest. Everyone tried for the climb, even Jenny, and it was nice to have everyone up there in the sun. Pip climbed solo last and then we started hiking up the west face. When we climbed on to the sharp arête we discovered that the wind kindly removed all the clouds that were pushing up the cliffs earlier on and we had a stunning view onto the Amphitheatre. At the start of the final scramble, the wind subsided considerably, but we still thought it necessary to put up a handrail, especially as we had so many novices up there. We finally managed to get up to the final summit and I wrote all our names in the summit log. It was nice to see that my last climb in 2002 with Darrell’s church group was also still there. We then descended quickly back to the handrail. I had most of the girls come down first so that they could start walking back to the top of the abseil while Pip and I pack up. At the abseil I went first and then provided bottom belays for all the rest as they descended. Then it was the last 3.5km back to the cars that we completed in good time.

Cathedral Peak (Drakensberg) Oct 2005

It was a rough drive and we only arrived in Bergville just before midnight. No-one was home so we drove down to the tennis court where I was very surprised to find other people sleeping there already. Whispering in the dark we quickly settled down. Neither Camilla, nor Laurel had sleeping pads so I gave mine to Laurel, folded open the tent’s flysheet for Camilla, and used the tent for myself.

Day 1 (8 October): We got up at 6am and packed quickly. The weather looked a little ominous and I had a feeling we might have a wet weekend. We first went to the BP garage to get some more food and plastic bags, then left for Cathedral Peak. After signing in and paying we parked the car and started walking. As we approached the trail head it started raining. We all whipped out our rain gear, put our pack protection on, and then started up the trail. The next hour saw the rain coming and going and some welcome sun poking through now and then. Despite the sweaty work in our rain gear, we made good time and soon we were approaching the gully leading up to Orange peel gap. At the top we sat for lunch, but the cold wind blowing over the ridge forced us to hurry. As we got up, a couple returned from the top and said we didn’t have too far to go. The walk on the back ridge leading to the peak was pleasant and flat and we made good progress. My concern for water at the cave was alleviated slightly when we got to a small puddle that we used to fill up our bottles. From there it was a short walk to the start of the gully. It was a hard climb and by now we were tired, wet and cold. We took it slowly but Laurel and Pip pulled a little ahead of us. Pip managed to return and help Camilla with her pack. I rested frequently on the way and finally also stood on the saddle between the peak and the gendarme. Getting down the other side of the gully proved interesting on the wet rock and by the time we got to the traverse it was raining softly again. We were very relieved to find numerous small streams tumbling over the cliffs and the walk over to the cave was full of expectation – expectation of a dry, protected spot, hot tea and a warm sleeping bag. At the cave I decided to pitch the tent in the upper section which was most protected. Having just the 3-man tent between the four of us, I planned to sleep on my space blanket between the tent and the cave wall. It was already 4pm as Pip started brewing some tea. The wind picked up and he had trouble keeping everything together. I was very cold at the time and climbed into my sleeping bag to warm up. Pip made dinner of spaghetti and pasta sauce which I supplemented with chips and chocolate. The weather gave us a little break just before sunset, but when it started growing very dark suddenly, I realized we were in for some more rain. The girls were already settled in the tent, Camilla with my sleeping pad and Laurel, this time with nothing besides her sleeping bag. I retreated to my sleeping bag and spent a restless night tossing and turning on the hard ground. After some heavy squalls pushed through, strong drips developed above my bag that I only discovered when my legs and feet got wet inside the bag. Covering my legs with the space blanket helped a lot but when I finally passed out, a new drip developed so that I was very wet when I woke up the next morning.

Day 2 (9 October): It was a beautifully clear day when we woke up – sunny and bright but with a strong breeze blowing from the east. I got up first and spread all my wet stuff in the sun. Just after 6am the others rose as well. We had breakfast and packed up quickly. Typical of a clear start, clouds were already forming in the valleys again. We were still hoping to get up the peak, so soon after 7am we were on our way. The climb up the gully was tough so early in the morning but the weather looked good from the saddle. After dropping my pack and climbing to the path going up to the peak, I decided that the peak was attainable. While Pip decided to go, the girls opted out and walked down to the path to wait for us. Pip and I made short work of the trail and were up and down in under an hour. We picked up our bags and descended to the girls. As we left down the gully, another group of two guys came walking up. They slept in Sherman’s cave and also wanted to climb the peak. The path down the gully took us a while and the weather looked a bit ominous, but once on the contour path on the ridge, the weather cleared and we sprinted to Orange peel gap. Down the gap and onto the last ridge we were walking well and soon found ourselves back on the tar road. We had a quick shower at the campsite before driving back.

Abseiling in Fern kloof (Magaliesberg) Sep 2005

Al, Zelda and I drove out for the day to Fern kloof to some abseiling and practice basic rescue training. It was a short but fun day out in the hills