Skywalk (Eastern Cape) May 2008

After work on Friday I drove to Karen’s place. From there we drove to Karen’s parents in Senekal arriving around 9pm. They offered us some delicious left-over food before we went to bed. We were up at 5am and gone by 6am, arriving without incident in Lady Grey around 11am. We went to the Mountain View Inn owned by the Oertels. We parked the Terios in the back and made sure we had all we needed. Shortly after, Otto Oertel showed up to take us through to Tiffendell. The drive was very pretty and we stared at the high mountains we were about to enter.

Day 1 (26 Apr): Otto dropped us off at Tiffendell and left for the long drive back. As we gathered our packs, Karen and Phil realized they left their ski-poles in the car. Phil quickly phoned Otto and luckily there was reception – Otto returned to drop off the ski-poles. It was cold. There was still quite a large amount of snow on the slopes after the snowfall of 21 May. A strong wind was blowing over the icy slopes and we started hiking with shell gear and beanies. We followed the Tiffendell dirt road to the upper ski-lift station and in places had to wade through knee-deep snow. When we arrived at the top we were greeted with a bitterly cold gale blowing from the north. We dropped our packs and walked over to the top of Ben MacDhui. It was a beautiful sight – mountains everywhere as far as you looked! Back at our packs we kept to the southern slopes to try and avoid the wind but it was not always possible. I had Breslin’s kop in my sights and this was just under 4km away. The walking was pretty easy at this stage and compared well to the Drakensberg escarpment. We made it to just below Breslin’s kop when I spotted a flat rocky slab about 20m below us. I walked down to it and discovered that it would make a good camping spot. We decided to first climb Breslin’s kop which was another 50m higher up. At the top we had magnificent views of the Witteberg range still in front of us, as well as all the Lesotho mountains to the north. At the campsite the wind was a little calmer and we pitched the tent at around 17:30 while getting the stove going as well. Soon we had dinner going and went to bed straight after.

Day 2 (27 Apr): The night was calm and we woke to a clear but cold morning. When the sun rose, it did not make much difference to the cold and by 07:30 we were on our way – dressed in a lot of warm gear. The wind still blew from the north but not quite as cold as the previous afternoon. Following the fence lines as far as possible, we made very good time initially, despite having to climb through fences a couple of times. As we approached Edge Hill we came across some kraals that I assume must be Basotho as we were still very close to the border. Phil inadvertently discovered the spot where we had to descend the main range if we were not able to cross Edge Hill – this was as described by Dawn Green and Derek Odendaal. We still hoped to go across the top and climbed across a fence to traverse around the last hill to reach Edge Hill. There was a steep gully leading down to the northern slopes that looked like it could work. I still walked further along the ridge and discovered that we would not be able to descend the ridge directly as it was a sheer 50m drop. Back at the gully we discussed our options for a while: Karen and I thought it was possible but certainly were apprehensive about how things looked on the other side. Phil did not like the look of the summit ridge of Edge Hill. After 5 minutes we decided to play it safe and descend the range. We returned to the point where Phil had started descending and walked down to a gate in the fence on a nice bridle path. We decided to have lunch immediately beyond the gate and we watched the valley below us as we ate. Soon after lunch we packed up and descended. The path was still covered in snow in places and the walking was interesting. The path disappeared on approaching the saddle between Point 2404 and the summit ridge but we managed to pick it up again lower down. At the bottom we decided to follow Derek’s advice to stick high up against the mountain but this proved to be rather difficult with large patches of thick fynbos, including thorny rose hip, confusing cattle paths and endless numbers of fences we had to cross. Our progress was very slow in this section; so much so that I decided at one point to rather go down to the road and walk from there, even though it would take us much longer. We started walking south towards the farm road but 100m lower down it seemed like the undergrowth opened up and we decided to have another go at traversing west along the mountain base. Things went a little easier now but it was getting late in the day. Past 16:00 I started aiming for a little bush in the distance and when we arrived at about 16:45, we found a pretty decent campsite to use for the night. Our water was a little low but Karen judged it to be enough. We pitched the tent while the stove was going and after dinner soon crawled into bed. During the night it dripped a little but when we got up the next morning, the tent was dry.

Day 3 (28 Apr): We left again at around 07:30 with a perfectly clear sky above. We had a good walk down the ridge and towards the road that crosses Lundin’s neck. We followed a number of good cattle paths and eventually made it out to the road. Phil complained a little about his right knee and Karen’s boots were crushing one of her little toes. I aimed for a gully we could see in the distance that goes up about 1.5km south of Balloch Peak – this was also as described by Derek. I reached a point where I thought we should start climbing. Phil and Karen were both struggling to keep up and as we reached a small stream, they proposed that I hike up on my own to climb Balloch Peak if I wanted to and then wait for them as they get up the gully at their own pace. This sounded like a good idea as the weather looked very good and I really wanted to get up Balloch. The walk up on the ridge approaching the gully was steep and hot in the morning sun. I had to get across a fence on my own before struggling through thick grass to the bottom of the gully. The gully was very steep and for some reason I felt very tired going up it. Sitting down numerous times, I occasionally spotted the other two making their way below me. I finally reached the top at 11:50 and was absolutely exhausted. I decided not to have lunch yet, and immediately took some water and started walking up towards Balloch Peak. Even without the pack the going was hard as my blood sugar dropped but I finally reached the top. The views were really brilliant but I must admit that my exhaustion took precedence and after a few quick pics, I was back on my way down, reaching the pack at 12:50. I immediately started eating lunch and felt very shaky with low blood sugar. At around 13:05, Karen and Phil arrived at the top and they sat down for a brief rest – they had lunch in the pass. From the top of this gully we then walked a little uphill to where we crossed another fence and then struggled through thick grass to a stream where we got some good water. From here we followed a cattle path that angled uphill and topped out on a ridge leading towards a high plateau. With my legs still a little shaky, I stuck to the back. Heavy clouds started to build up and we were all very tired. On the ridge, a bitterly cold wind blew in, and with the sun starting to go behind the clouds, we had to dress warmly. As we approached the plateau/saddle where I thought of camping we had to drop quite a bit of height to avoid crossing and re-crossing a fence. At the bottom of this section a lot of cattle have trampled the earth into mud and just as we started crossing this section, it started to drip lightly. It was very cold and we hurried on to a rocky section just below the saddle summit where we decided to pitch the tent – it was 15:30. We didn’t get quite as far as I had hoped for the day, but it was a tough day and we were all very tired. We agreed that we would get up at 05:00 the next morning. Dinner was done before 18:00 and immediately after we were all ensconced for the night.

Day 4 (29 Apr): We were up at 05:00 and on our way shortly after 06:00. The skies cleared up early in the evening and we had heavy frost all around. We walked barely for 10 minutes before my feet were soaked. It took us a while to climb onto the ridge behind our campsite but we made the ridge shortly after sunrise and made good progress towards Point 2599. Here we ran into a very nasty fence – the bottom two thirds were covered in chicken wire and the four upper wires were spaced too close to climb through. The barbs on the top wire were so close together that you couldn’t even put your hands on it! Finally across, we had to descend a steep and thickly overgrown gully to get to the ridge connecting Point 2599 to the rest of the range. We ran into an even nastier fence that was on a very steep slope. We struggled a lot here and ended up on the other side of the fence with a lot of holes all over us from the barbs. Finally on the ridge we made better time and eventually walked up to what looked like an abandoned hut in the Skiddaw valley area. From here we contoured on the inside (northern slope) of a large bowl where we were able to collect some water – from here we could see the ridge starting to sharpen ahead of us and we knew that water was going to become a little scarce. As we approached Trig beacon 217, clouds had started to move in again and the wind blowing from the north was very cold. We made it to the Trig beacon at about 11:00, took some pictures and started to traverse the next section on the northern slope. The ridge before Avoca peak started to rise and sharpen and we could see several dragons’ back shaped sections that looked a little scary. Just before 12:00 we sat down for an early lunch just before the first serious climb to the altitude of Avoca. We used the opportunity to dry the tent and flysheet from the previous night’s frost. Then we started climbing and came to a few interesting spots – the fence made life difficult as it forced us to walk over exposed sections and traverse past large drop-offs. But we had a steady approach and made good progress over difficult terrain. After crossing a steep, snow-covered southern slope beneath a shark-fin outcrop, we descended to a saddle and tackled the next section on the northern slope. Gaining height on this slope until we reached the summit, we topped out on a spectacular ridge that was only 1m wide in places with the mountains falling away on either side – it was magnificent! We gained steady altitude and I climbed to another Trig Beacon (226) just before the start of Avoca peak’s slopes. From here we decided to traverse low on the northern slopes of Avoca which turned out to be a little overgrown in fynbos. But we progressed well and I discovered a reasonable campsite just after 4pm, about 500m north of the actual summit of Avoca peak. As the sun set, clouds and mist moved in from the south and we had a very colourful sunset. The views to the north were beautiful and as we ate dinner, the wind also subsided and eventually died in the early night.

Day 5 (30 Apr): With clear skies we once again had heavy frost during the night. We decided that Phil, who were still having trouble with his right knee, would traverse the northern slopes of Avoca by himself while Karen and I climb Avoca peak. We would then meet up again on the ridge leading west from Avoca. We had a bit of a late start and were only away shortly after 7am. Karen and I climbed well and arrived at the summit about 25 minutes later. We were greeted by the most amazing view over the southern valleys. Cloud covered most of the hills below 1900m and the view was so awe-inspiring that I got tears in my eyes – I decided that Avoca’s summit ranks within the top 5 summits I have reached so far. We descended again over some rocky sections and as we approached the ridge, we saw Phil walking in the distance. On the ridge, early morning cloud had moved in and the wind from the north was once again below freezing. We covered up with shell gear, beanies, balaclavas and gloves and struggled against the cold wind. As we only had about 8km to cover to reach Snowdon, I wasn’t in a big hurry. The two Snowdon annexes kept us busy but it wasn’t long before we sat down for lunch, hiding behind a rocky outcrop on the ridge leading directly to Snowdon. Snowdon is a magnificent hill with two Trig beacons on the northern and southern ends, ringed with a rock band of about 10m tall. After lunch we headed towards its southern slopes and came across a decent campsite for the night. We all wanted a nice long break and we rested well for the rest of the afternoon. Initially I thought about doing the 12km round-trip to Graskop on my own, so that we could head south west towards Pelion the next day. But I felt lazy and decided to only climb Snowdon for the afternoon. At 14:00, Karen and I left for the walk to the top. I wasn’t sure where we would be able to breach the rock band but as we approached it, I saw a pretty easy ramp leading to the top which we quickly scaled. We walked to both beacons and took a bunch of pics before descending back to the tent. We spent dusk watching the beautiful play of colours on the valleys to the north and eventually went to bed, feeling ready for the last two days.

Day 6 (01 May): When I poked my head out of the tent at 05:00, I couldn’t see a thing – we were covered in mist. Our plan was to walk to Pelion peak and from there descend a ridge towards the tip of Joubert’s pass. We packed the wet tent slowly to make sure we start walking when it was light. At about 06:15 we were on our way and I navigated by GPS. When we reached the ridge I thought will lead to Pelion, we all decided that it would be better if we descended immediately to the farm road Karen and I had spotted from the top of Snowdon. This would mean we miss out on Pelion peak but would also mean we get off the mountain – we were concerned that there may be snow in the air. I struggled finding the track in the heavy fog, even with GPS, but I kept heading downhill until we ran onto a thin track that had bright orange markers on it. This we followed until it turned into a cattle track that started heading due south – and we were supposed to go due west. I then headed off the track on the GPS, lost some more height and then descended a steep grassy slope on its southern flank – this brought us into a deep valley and at the bottom of this we ran into the track again. This time however, it was much broader and very obviously a bulldozed road. We were happy to be finally on something recognizable and after a brief stop, we headed down this road. The road ran down some pretty steep inclines and we walked past a bulldozer being used on the track. The road dropped steeply down to the river where we crossed at a little drift and started taking off a few layers – the clouds and fog had started to clear slightly and although the sun poked out occasionally it was still pretty cold. A little later we heard some noise coming up the road and a girl on a quad bike and a guy on a scrambler came past. We chatted briefly and the guy explained we still had about 3km to go to an empty farmhouse. Shortly after chatting to these people, another larger group came past on scramblers, quads, and what we later learned, a Polaris buggy. We chatted to them as well and later found out it was Dick Eistedd, his wife and some family and friends going up for the day. The farmhouse we eventually reached and sat down for some biscuits and water. Then we were on our way again and at long last reached the road of Joubert’s pass just after 12. We walked down to where the road crossed the Karnmelkspruit and sat down for lunch. We had already walked about 16km for the day and our feet were sore. While the tent and flysheet dried in the wind, I boiled some water for Karen and Phil’s lunch. I settled for biscuits, chocolate and biltong. At around 1pm we hit the road again at a steady pace, walking a good 4km before having a brief break. A lady came past while I was walking out in front; Phil and Karen spoke to her and she apparently invited us in for coffee if we walked past Olympus farm. Another 30 minutes passed and we were starting to feel really tired. We checked the map and noticed that we were already on the Olympus farm area. We followed the road and came to the entrance to the farmhouse. Deciding to take the lady up on her offer, we walked in and knocked on the door. The whole family greeted us and immediately offered us some coffee. We chatted some time before I asked if they knew about some place along the way we could pitch our tent – they immediately offered their place for sleeping and we gladly took it up. Maureen showed me around and I then also met her husband, Leo. The whole family consisted of Leo and Maureen Reid, Maureen’s mom Dorothy and Leo and Maureen’s daughter Kerry-Anne as well as her two children Philippa and Catherine. Leo showed me pictures of Mozambique and told me he used to date the daughter of Brian Godbold – he used to climb with him as well. We enjoyed the afternoon of chatting tremendously and later went out to pitch the tent and get ready for the night. The three of us agreed we wouldn’t accept dinner if it was offered to us but when Maureen invited us, she refused to take no for an answer. We couldn’t decline and the food was delicious. We sat around the fire in the lounge until after 9pm before thanking them, saying goodbye and going to bed.

Dat 7 (2 May): Phil woke at around 03:45 and asked softly who else was awake. I was awake as well and tired of sleeping. I suggested we start walking and this idea caught on very quickly. At 04:30 we were on the road – literally. We had about 19km to walk for the day and intended to walk a good distance before breakfast. There was some moonlight and we were able to walk without torches. It was chilly in the morning air but I enjoyed this walking very much and we made excellent progress. Shortly before 6am we stopped to have breakfast. It was still pretty dark but the stars had started to fade. We sat in the middle of the road, got the stove out and boiled water for breakfast. I had two really nice cups of coffee with salticrax but I started getting cold and at about 06:30 we were walking again. Soon we hit the incline that goes towards the summit of Joubert’s pass – third highest in South Africa. I walked a little faster and got to the neck first where I sat down, looking out towards Lady Grey – it was a beautiful morning and I felt very sentimental at this point. Karen and Phil arrived shortly and we started on the remaining 8km or so. I took my time down the pass but still went ahead of the other two and started singing and whistling as I went. We finally arrived in Lady Grey and got to the hotel at about 11am. We sat on the stoep and had a drink before going up to our rooms. The shower and shave was wonderful. Then we met again for lunch – Phil and I have been looking forward to a steak for a whole week!

Rhebok hiking trail (Drakensberg) Apr 2008

After work I drove to Gordon’s parents’ place to pick him and Nicola up. We left at 16:45 and drove on the R21/R24. Traffic wasn’t too bad except the usual delays at Gillooleys. We bought something to eat at the Engen at Villiers and by 21:00 we were at Glen Reenen. The campsite was locked but we woke a guard at the petrol station who opened up and we quickly set up the tent on a concrete caravan stand. Gordon wanted to sleep outside but was soon chased into the tent by mozzies.

Day 1 (5 Apr): My alarm went off at 05:00. It was a cool morning but the brilliant stars heralded a beautiful day. Just after 06:00 we were on our way and walked well to the top of Sentinel. Then we climbed down to the path that skirted the lower slopes before climbing to the ridge from where the path led to the Backside. It was a gloriously beautiful day and despite the wet grass dampening my socks and boots, the hiking was brilliant. We stopped for a short break where the path dipped to the stream. Then we carried on and soon found ourselves having another short break just before the Wilgenhof house before descending down to the road. We crossed the road shortly after 10:00 and beat a group on horseback to the hut at 11:15. We were planning on carrying on to the saddle between Ribbok Kop and Generaals kop but clouds had started to build and threaten since 09:30. At the hut they were starting to look darker and we immediately started a fire to cook our lunch/dinner. I made the call to stay at the hut instead of carrying on. With the fire still burning brightly we heated some garlic bread and cooked mushrooms that Nicola brought for dinner. These we had for lunch. When the fire settled into some nice coals we put on pork sausages and lamb sosaties, but these were not done yet when the first rain drops started. Luckily it wasn’t the break of a big storm yet so we kept the meat on the braai. However, not long after we took the meat off, the rain came down hard. We spent most of the afternoon reading in bed before we started dinner at around 17:30. The rain had killed our fire completely but with a lull after dinner we decided to start it up again. We got a roaring fire going again before rain once more started pelting down and we headed back into our beds. Later we got up once more and noticed a few embers clinging to life – stars have come out above and we stood outside for a while longer until the sky was once more covered with cloud.

Day 2 (6 Apr): During the night it rained some more and when Gordon’s alarm went off, the rain was pelting the roof. We listened to a number of snooze alarms before finally getting up and ready. The weather was cold, wet and miserable and I decided to can the day’s planned walk and just walk out to the road and back to camp. At 07:00 we were on our way and slipped and slid on the muddy road all the way to the stables. Here we got on the tar road and walked back to Glen Reenen, arriving around 08:30. We had a quick shower, before going to the office to pay for our trip.

Bannerman pass - Giant's Castle (Drakensberg) Mar 2008

For the entire week I had training in Sandton and Gordon and Nicola came to pick me up from the Southern Sun hotel at 15:30. Traffic for the Easter weekend was heavy and it took us about an hour and a half to fight through Johannesburg. Eventually on the N3, we went well, despite heavy traffic, and had dinner at Bergview’s Wimpy. Although the sky looked clear as we started driving to Bergville, rain was forcasted for the next morning and I expected this to start during the night – consequently I decided to rather stay over in Bergville where we at least could have a roof over our heads at the tennis court instead of a wet tent in Estcourt. Arriving in Bergville around 20:30, we pitched the tent at the tennis courts to avoid the mosquitoes and went to bed.

Day 1 (21 Mar): We woke at 5am to drizzle – the decision to stay in Bergville turned out to be a good one. We packed up quickly, had breakfast and were on our way at 06:00. In Estcourt we filled up petrol and drove to Giant’s Castle, arriving not long after 8am. We completed the mountain register at the entry gate and drove to reception where we paid for the hiking, then to the picnic site where we parked under a large tree. It was cold and miserable, so we dressed up in full rain gear. We eventually started walking down to the river at 08:45, crossed the stream on a wooden bridge and took the path heading up towards Bannerman. With all the grass wet from the previous night’s rain, it was barely five minutes before my feet were soaked and it would remain so for the next four days. We made good progress up the valley and then climbed up on a spur and into the mist. Every now and again, a light drizzle would engulf us and when we reached the contour path, we were pretty wet. As there was nowhere dry to sit and rest, we carried on and reached the hut before 1pm. The hut was really a very welcome sight and we even had a nice table and benches to sit at. After draping all our wet gear around the hut and putting on dry clothes, we had lunch with hot soup and tea. None of us felt like going out in the rain again to go up the pass and we decided to stay in the hut for the night. After lunch we climbed into our sleeping bags and listened to the rain on the roof. At around 17:30 we started dinner. With heavy cloud and drizzle still in the air, we went to bed. During the night a very strong wind started down the escarpment – I was hopeful that this would clear the clouds and dry the grass.

Day 2 (22 Mar): When Gordon’s alarm went off at 5am, the wind was still howling and resonating throughout the hut. The clouds hadn’t cleared and fog and drizzle still blew in from the escarpment – it really looked miserable outside – therefore we climbed back in our sleeping bags. A little later I got up and had another look outside – it still looked very unpleasant and I made the decision to not ascend Bannerman pass and change our plans for the rest of the trip. With our trip changed, we felt lazy and climbed back into bed once more. However, we vowed that we could not sit around the hut all day and after a leisurely breakfast after 8am, we finally left the hut at around 09:30. The wind was still blowing but it certainly had calmed down. We decided to walk north on the contour path towards Centenary hut and see if we could climb a point off the contour path named eMankentshani. The wind had dried the grass well during the night, but we still had to put on wet socks and shoes to save our pair of dry socks for another day. We walked without hurry on the path until we saw The Judge, prominently standing out from the escarpment. Although the escarpment at this point was visible, heavy nimbo-stratus clouds still abounded high in the sky and we kept on our thermal and shell layers. We first passed the spur where our summit was and decided to carry on to the spur directly north of Judge’s pass. However, we lost the path going into Judges pass and then decided to turn back, heading for the ridge with the summit. The map indicated the summit was about 2km below the contour path and seemed very insignificant. On the spur we started walking downhill and soon looked at a rock-ribbed ridge below us with a high point that seemed to be our summit without a doubt. Nicola was taking lots of photos higher up on the spur and when she joined us, decided to stay behind while we walked the last kilometer to the summit. This we did quickly and soon claimed our first summit for the trip. Ascending back to the contour path (which at this point was over 2400m) we trudged back to the hut. With a faint sun occasionally poking its head though the clouds we were able to shed our shell layer. At 2pm we were back in the hut and had lunch around the table. We spent the rest of the afternoon reading. After dinner of Smash, bacon, onion and pepper, a heavy rain storm broke and lasted for quite a while – we were starting to wonder what the next day was going to look like.

Day 3 (23 Mar): At 5am Gordon’s alarm went off and we looked outside with high spirits at a clear sky with a very light breeze. Our aim was to do a very ambitious day trip up Bannerman pass, traversing south on top, descending Langalibalele pass and hiking back to the hut on the contour path. With a quick breakfast and fast packing, we were on our way at 6am. The path was good and we were able to stick to crossing the stream a number of times. With just daypacks on our backs we walked fast and we only stopped for a short break when we reached what looked like Spare Rib cave at 2750m. Gordon and I went to have a look at the cave but were dismally disappointed – there was not a dry spot in sight and your only options were whether you want to sleep under a heavy drizzle or an outright downpour! This was definitely a winter cave. The higher we climbed in the pass, the more I noticed that the water pouring off the escarpment was relentless – there did not seem to be an end to it. As the gully of the pass narrowed we started to climb more and more in the stream and despite putting on dry socks at the start of the day, I was now walking in drenched shoes once more. Clouds started forming fast around the escarpment peaks and by the time we topped out, it was cold and misty. But we managed to do the entire pass in 2 hours 45 minutes! Into Lesotho things were a little more clear and we could see the big valleys south of Popple peak extending into the distance. Gypaetus point was peeping out occasionally through the drifting mist and we decided to give it a go, as we had done so well up the pass. I was amazed at how wet the top of the ‘Berg was – it was impossible to avoid marshes that were covering every square inch of the ground. We made it to the top of the peak and were a little surprised at how airy the summit was – unfortunately we also could not see a single thing in the heavy mist and after a brief rest, descended back towards the top of the pass and started skirting south east. The mist occasionally cleared enough to see where we needed to go and we finally reached the ridge summit that looked down towards the Langalibalele valley. As far as we went, water was either running down into the valley or standing in huge puddles all over the place. I was trying to find Bannerman cave but failed once again. Descending towards the pass top on GPS coordinates, we noticed white patches in the distance that we initially thought might be snow. But when we finally came across some of the patches we discovered that it was hail – probably still remaining from the previous night’s heavy storm. It was now cold and miserable and clouds were building into Lesotho as well. Getting to the top of Langalibalele pass just after 11am, we immediately started the descent. Right at the top I spotted a fountain that was gushing water out of the ground at 2900m – astonishing! We found the path down the pass to be almost impossible to follow at the top as it was an ankle-deep river. We had to stick to the grassy slopes next to the path to try and stay less wet but every now and again our options ran out and we got filthy in the process. The path eventually traversed right and onto a drier slope down which we made fast progress. We stopped briefly where the path crossed the river bed and started to contour to the spur on the left. The weather looked threatening and we heard thunder every now and again. Reaching about 2400 on the spur, I opted for a short cut to the left as soon as I saw the contour path below us. Although we could see patches of sunlight over some of the Little Berg ridges, rain was already falling around Giant’s Castle itself and it looked like we were going to get wet. We had 7km to go on the contour path and set off at a fast pace. We had a number of close lightning strikes and a spatter of rain between the pass and the hut but we were lucky to avoid the worst of the storm. Over the last 500m, the clouds actually began to clear from the west, leaving the escarpment clear and a warm sun finally making an appearance. Back at the hut we were able to lay out our wet clothing to dry in the remaining rays while we had a late, but very well-deserved lunch – we did 20km, up and down two passes and added a peak! Later we were treated to some rainbows and some dark thunderstorms to the east – luckily it all seemed to be going further east. Dinner of pasta, tomato relish, meatballs and cheese went down spectacularly and this was followed by Lindt hot chocolate donated by Nicola – a truly great meal for our last night.

Day 4 (24 Mar): The night was uneventful and we rose bright and early at 5am. At 06:10 we were on our way, back-tracking the contour path we had already walked twice. It was a stunning morning and promised to be hot. At the junction of Bannerman path we decided to go the long way down Langalibalele ridge to have the opportunity to have a look at Main caves. I measured the distance of the section between Bannerman and Lanagalibalele ridges as I was convinced the map was wrong. Measuring 3.43km instead of the 2.5km as indicated on the map, I was proved right – but it also meant our last day would be 14km instead of 13km. Down the ridge, Nicola’s calves started to act up and she had to slow down. Finally making it down the ridge we had to take our shoes off to cross a stream and then had only about 2.5km left to go. At the junction to Main caves, Gordon went ahead to see if we would be able to get in. He returned and reported that there was no-one there and we’d be able to squeeze through the gate. However, Nicola was suffering and I wanted to avoid her making it even worse by climbing the steep concrete path to the caves; I made the decision to can the idea and rather get back to the camp as soon as possible. From here we lightened Nicola’s pack with Gordon taking her sleeping bag and me her share of the tent. Gordon then went ahead to fetch the car and drive up to the office to try and save Nicola the last bit of the walk. While Nicola started to plod along, I chatted with two couples before catching up with Nicola. I overtook her and speed walked the last little bit to the office where I dropped my pack and returned to fetch Nicola’s. With both of us at the office, we waited about 2 minutes before Gordon showed up. We couldn’t find anywhere to shower so we got in the car as filthy as we were and started to head back to Pretoria.