Dragons Wrath 2010

I was hiking in monks Cowl and on Sunday 05 Sept climbed Intunja, we got a view of Cathedral Peak and the Bell enveloped in thick smoke, and our group wondered if anyone was up there.

Very sad to hear the news, alot of burning in the area around Cathedral Peak, and strong dry winds.

Received this in an email from my Hiking Club this morning:

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Gavin Raubenheimer sent this report to the MBC about an unfortunate accident, which i think should be a reminder to us not to light fires in the berg for any reason especially this time of year:

On Sunday the Mountain Club and SAPS had a long and difficult body
recovery off the south side of Bugger Gully at Cathedral. The victim
was a 23 male from Gauteng. Part of a party of 6. They were camping
just a few meters from the edge of the gully on some flat areas near
to the top. It seems that late on Saturday night the victim or somone
else went out to go to the toilet. Then lit the toilet paper and a
veld fire started. There was panic and in the end the tents all burned
and the 23 year old was missing. It seemed that he had run from the
fire towards his tent and did not see the little cutback in the edge.
He went down about 80m vertical then tumbled another 80 meters down
the valley. The fire went down the hillside and then burned the body.
Regards
Gavin

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Hi Group

This is very tragic and sad for the family and friends of the deceased, my condolences go out to them.

There is a however a very real hope that the bible holds out that there is going to be a resurrection of the dead, as mentioned at John 5:28. This, whilst it won't bring the person back, is a hope of being reunited with them at a later and better time, and can offer some comfort.

Cheers
Karl

ps I am not sure if I have ever lit the paper that I use for ablutions, i think that it is just safer to bury it.

A tragic incident. My condolences to those who's lives have been directly affected by this sad event.

Dragon's Wrath was one of the very first books I purchased when i started hiking in the Drakensberg in '79. It was recommended to me; by someone with many years of experience; as a base from which to learn what to do,and more importantly what not to do, when entering the Dragon's domain.

Along with incidents noted in Barrier of Spears (R.O Pearse)it has served as a reminder of how quickly the environment can change, and how one needs to be prepared to adapt to this change.

These experiences, along with my own over the years, have engendered within me two primary rules - 1. RESPECT THE MOUNTAIN. 2. NEVER THINK IT CAN'T HAPPEN TO YOU.

As Intrepid mentions at the outset; of this continuation of Dragon's Wrath, his intention is that we share these experiences, learn from them, and in so doing hopefully save lives through education.

In addition, we need to consider the consequences of our actions on others.
Lighting a fire that ultimately may endanger someone else. Clearing a camp spot in a river- bed that will serve as an attraction to the less experienced. Endangering the lives of those who volunteer to rescue and retrieve. - And to those who do. I salute you!

Whilst it is sad that we have to learn from the tragedy of others, historically it should serve as a reminder each time we attempt to wade a swollen river, light a fire, camp in a riverbed, navigate in mist, or split a hiking party.

Our minds are strange and powerful things, and if we educate ourselves to the dangers, embed in our minds the awareness, we will be able to fully enjoy the splendour of The Dragon, without having to do so in mortal fear.

R W Emerson said "As soon as there is life, there is danger"
Whilst trying my best to avoid subjective dangers (not always possible), I for one would far rather risk these as well as the objective dangers posed by entering the lair of The Dragon, than those I have to face each day on the roads and in the towns of suburbia.

Carpe' Diem - Especially over 2500m !

4 Sept - Death on Cathedral Peak
A group of five of us climbed Catherdral peak and by 4pm had set up camp with four tents at the base of the Cathedral peak.
We were all very clear on the fire issue and the fact that we would not burn toilet paper due to the dryness ofrustling off as we got into our tents. Two or three minutes passed when we heard him shout 'f**k' and that alerted us to open our tents. Running from one end of the buttress to the other was a line of fire moving quickly towards us. Panicking we screamed for Simon and there was no response. It was immediately evident to us as we sat for a moment, after running into bugger gully that he had fallen off the edge where there is a cut away into the mountain. He was not with us or shouting from the fire burning the tents. It made shocking sense to us that he had fallen!
Two of our party who shared a tent then said that they had heard rustling in the grass and a low murmur of voices. They were very concerned that we had possibly been scared off by people who could have lit the fire.
We spent the rest of the evening moving around the mountain to various spots and finally found a space on the mountain that had been burnt and spent the early hours of the morning in relative safety until we were rescued by the mountain rescue club.
I would like to mention that we did have cell phone reception and Darren(from the Mountain Rescue) was extremely helpful in keeping us calm through this ordeal.
I feel it is vital that people who do intend sleeping out on the mountain are aware of the possible life threatening dangers.
We do not have proof that the fire was lit by mountain folk wanting to steal our equipment but we are almost sure that this could be the case. After the incident we were informed by the staff at Cathedral Peak Didima hotel that locals have been known to make fires while hikers are present. All our tents burnt and two burnt ruck-sacks we saw the remnants of. One ruck-sack with a camera in it has not been found. There were no remnants of it like there was of the other ones and this does bring more concern and a big question. There was no fire for miles around us that evening and this again raises concern.
We will never really know what happened as I think Simon would be the only one to shed a little light on the events of that evening. I feel that it is of upmost importance that people are warned of more than the changing weather patterns a climbing difficulty of the Cathedral peak area as we would be horrified to hear of another incident that has unanswered questions relating to other people loosing their lives. One member of our party recalled being at the same spot a few years earlier and was concerned at the fact that they were being spied on by 4 locals (who were clearly visible) at the base of summit of Cathedral Peak (the same place where we were camped and where Simon fell).

I would like to find out if there are any other groups who may have been harassed or even attacked by vagrants as we are trying to put the pieces together of how Simon could have fallen.

Hi Mark, thanks for posting. I have slept in the same spot before, as many of us probably have, so this is a wake up call. I think your report is clear and sounds quite factual, I do want to send our condolances, as I can imagine this must have be very difficult.

I really pray and hope that you find peace and also that the perpertrators are found.

The question remains what of the future? What wise actions should be learnt and applied to avoid a similar thing. Fires dont just start themselves, neither do rocks fall 100m away from a cliff etc.

Personally I am ready to stay away from a number of areas, especially when bringing others. Should we be hiking at new moon? (Because I live in JHB I often only make camp at 10:00 at night, does this help?)

Maybe its time to start exploring the more remote areas, with little paths and no traffic?

This is a really sad event. My condolences to Simon's family and friends.

Guys, in this case there is a fundamental difference between a bloke burning loo paper and a gang of people setting fire to the grass in order to drive off sleeping hikers. The former is a tragic, tragic accident. The latter is murder.

Mark, again my condolences. I can not imagine how this has affected your party. Thank you for your firsthand report on the incident.

If the fire was indeed started by locals, with the intent of robbing or otherwise harming your party, this is a grave concern for all of us.

If it appears that this fire was started by others, deliberately, have the Police taken this as a case, and is it being investigated further?

It is becoming increasingly apparent that the authorities no longer have the control they used to have in the Drakensberg, particularly when one observes the increase in the numbers and size of the Stimelas operating out of Lesotho. The litter and fire detritus is sickening, and while I believe that the smugglers generally avoid confronting hikers in order to keep their routes undisturbed by authority, confrontation is just a matter of time.

We observed a large Stimela (15-20 pax) resting at the base of Rockeries. There were only two of us, and the air of tension from a number of them was very apparent. Of those who were lying in the grass and amongst the rock, I was certain that at least two were armed with long barrel weapons. They demanded, more than requested, smokes and food.

We have, in the past, discussed amongst us reporting by means of cell phone the position and size of observed Stimelas entering SA. The question always hangs at WHO...?

Who to call, and what response could we expect?
Would this action aggravate or increase tension between hikers and smugglers?
In the case of Locals observed "spying" on a party, should some pro-active aggression be displayed so that the message is passed that nonsense won't be tolerated?

Does anyone have thoughts; better still contacts; regarding this?