Who is doing or has done the Grand Traverse

Hi all.

I have been fascinated reading all the posts on the various topics on this website. It has been quite a resource for me.
I am currently in the process of organising and planning a DGT towards the end of March. We are all from Cape Town and plan to hike over the Easter weekend. I have a number of questions and points to mention to hear what the depth of experience can help with.

Overview:
Group Size: 4-5 with one lady, unless she manages to fool another one into joining us. All of us late 20s, early 30s with quite a bit of experience in the mountains, whether hiking, trail running or MRSA.

Trip length and route: Aiming for 10-11 days N-S. Exact planned route and sleeping spots to be finalised based on some additional input hopefully from you guys I remember seeing a 10day plan somewhere on here but can’t for the life of me find it again.

The re-supply logistics are actually the one major obstacle we still need to get over. As we are rather far from home we are struggling to convince friends to join just to re-supply. I know this is not the forum for this, but if anyone is interested in helping here that would be amazing.
My thinking is to contact the Sani Mountain Lodge, where we will stay one night, whether we would be able to courier a box or two of items and making this a re-supply.

Questions:
1. Danger zones – I have read a bit about various areas where you don’t want to be sleeing over and I know this changes from year to year, so can anyone shed some light on this perhaps? Like areas where sleeping over would not be a bright idea.
2. Route choices - As this is our first DGT and many have never been to the Berg before I would like to make it as scenic as possible still keeping to our time restraints. Those who have done it before, do you find it better to minimise wandering (ie straight line travel) or to try keep from dropping and gaining altitude which is easier walking but probably longer. Obviously taking into account that there will always be unavoidable ups and down along the way.
3. Water points – Depending on the rainy season we may have endless supply or we may have only main rivers/streams to utilise as water spots. How critical is the water supply i.t.o. camp spots or just general hydration and water carrying. You don’t want to carry more water than you have to.
4. Cooking fuel – Have you guys found that normal gas canisters are sufficient or should we be looking at an alternative? How well does the Jetboil systems work up on top?

Thanks all. I look forward to the input and of course there will be a report posted on here once we have completed it.

I would normally start with "Hey Soulfactor, welcome to VE" or something like that, but I see you have been on for 3 months already so congrats on your first post - and don't forget that we are all expecting to see a writeup on your GT after it happened

Soulfactor wrote: The re-supply logistics are actually the one major obstacle we still need to get over. As we are rather far from home we are struggling to convince friends to join just to re-supply. I know this is not the forum for this, but if anyone is interested in helping here that would be amazing.
My thinking is to contact the Sani Mountain Lodge, where we will stay one night, whether we would be able to courier a box or two of items and making this a re-supply.

Remember that your resuply team is a crucial part of your trip. On my December GT we didn't have a resupply before Sani as we couldn't find anyone to help us - but if your team lets you down, remember that your GT will most likely fail. So be very careful who you rope in, be very specific on where you are meeting them, and make sure you stay in contact with them even 2 days before the meet you (i.e. while on the GT).

You can always hire Mnweni guides to meet you above Ntonjelana Pass. It is rather early, but it can help. Carrying 10 days worth of food from day 1 is not ideal!

You can also post a request on the upcoming hikes thread - some VE people may be keen to help you, but you are unlikely to find someone committing to it more than a month in advance.

Soulfactor wrote: 1. Danger zones – I have read a bit about various areas where you don’t want to be sleeping over and I know this changes from year to year, so can anyone shed some light on this perhaps? Like areas where sleeping over would not be a bright idea.

As long as you push to at least the Bilanjil River on night 1 (not marked on the current map - it is one drainage basin south of the Tugela), the rest is generally ok right now. Just remember that you are illegally in their country, so be friendly and polite to locals. If you make them your friends, they won't hurt you (well, based on personal experience). Also don't leave stuff outside your tents, put your shoes inside your tent, try to pitch tents out of view of their kraals etc.

Soulfactor wrote: 2. Route choices - As this is our first DGT and many have never been to the Berg before I would like to make it as scenic as possible still keeping to our time restraints. Those who have done it before, do you find it better to minimise wandering (ie straight line travel) or to try keep from dropping and gaining altitude which is easier walking but probably longer. Obviously taking into account that there will always be unavoidable ups and down along the way.

Sorry, had to laugh at that comment. Not laughing at you, but laughing at the fact that I probably would have asked a similar question before my first GT.

A fact you have to bear in mind regarding a GT - stand on the beach and have a good look at Table Mountain. On your GT you will climb Table Mountain roughly 14 times, with a heavy pack, and at altitude. It is a concept that I joked about before I did my first GT, I don't joke about it now. Those hills are killers.

Some variations are easier than others, but unless you really plan on taking all the shortcuts used on a speed GT, which will save you 2 climbs up Table Mountain, no matter which route you do, you will be climbing Table Mountain roughly 14 times.

While I wouldn't try to follow the entire escarpment edge - e.g. I wouldn't go right out to the top of Giants Castle (costs roughly 4 hours, but if you guys are doing well for time, it is a great spot), but I do recommend taking the scenic route through Lotheni and Vergelegen - perhaps note the shortcuts so that you can use them if you fall behind schedule.

As for the exact specific route - it really depends on a lot of variables, fitness, weather, what you enjoy etc.

Soulfactor wrote: 3. Water points – Depending on the rainy season we may have endless supply or we may have only main rivers/streams to utilise as water spots. How critical is the water supply i.t.o. camp spots or just general hydration and water carrying. You don’t want to carry more water than you have to.

That is why I did my second GT over December/January! In March you should be fine for water, baring valleys like the one above Organ Pipes Pass where water is hard to come by if you don't know the spot, you should find water in every valley.

Soulfactor wrote: 4. Cooking fuel – Have you guys found that normal gas canisters are sufficient or should we be looking at an alternative? How well does the Jetboil systems work up on top?

We used a Jetboil on my last GT - worked perfectly. I used a single standard sized cylinder on my first GT, and 3 of us shared 2 cylinders on our December/January GT.

Remember that weight is key, so anything you can share, you should share.

My 2 GT hike reports are at:
www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/16-drakensberg-grand-traverse/53719-the-upside-down-dragon-gt2012.html
www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/drakensberg-trips/55708-gt2014-15-don-t-follow-the-lights/unread.html

Hi Ghaz.

Thank you for the feedback. I have had a good read through your "short" trip reports of your last DGT's.
I will hopefully post our first draft of our proposed schedule soon.

For those of you who aren't trail runners...there's a write of a certain someone's (Andrew P) solo DGT trip in the latest TRAIL mag. Nicely done!!

Hi everyone!

So... I'm planning a GT We will be 3 or 4 people coming all the way from Stellenbosch, aiming to do it in 7-8 days at the end of March. (Depending on feedback from this forum we might go for longer - but we are all into trail running and do like to go faster rather than slower.)

We are also keen to hear about anyone else planning to do the GT around that time, as I'm guessing there would be a number of people due to the awesome public holidays end of March (3 leave days for 10 days away, whoohoo!! ). I think it would be a great help if we knew other people who are going to be close by, and would even consider joining another group if we can find one that would have us

Our little team has lots of hiking experience - been spending almost every weekend in the mountains. However, we have very limited knowledge of the Drakensberg, having done only one proper hike there (Mnweni), as well as a few short ones. Any advice would be very much appreciated! Although, there is such a wealth of information on here already, so happy to have stumbled upon this amazing forum!

Monday 3.00am our Dutch-Belgian duo (Gideon and Luc) will start our DGT.
If you are keen to follow the goats, we have a spot tracker :
Link to Spot tracker :
share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0TPkttvAjo2RdIEZgkRiPfseguSL84q17

Good luck Jan

I'll be watching! You are going for 4 days, right?

Good luck Gideon and Luc. Have fun!

So Jan's team are already heading down the Senqu (well, give or take 1km). That's a good start! I assume they will reach Easter Cave around 5PM, not sure what their goal for tonight is - but Rolands Cave would be a great start for a 4 day goal.

overlaying their routes and times.... they might be meeting Mr Porter for a braai up there

Jan's team is climbing towards Mahout now - that means that they should be getting to Rolands Cave today (I'd guess around 8PM). So it looks like they are going strong!

Coeta wrote: overlaying their routes and times.... they might be meeting Mr Porter for a braai up there

Would have been fun, but Andrew will probably only reach Didima late tomorrow or early Wednesday (based on my estimates, I have no inside info on that section).

I am kind of hoping that Giants Castle is on Andrew's itinerary for Saturday - I will hopefully be day hiking up there with Hobbit, could be fun to bump into him.