Amphitheatre one-nighter

On 24 September 2014 we (my wife and I) departed from Pretoria to Witsieshoek Mountain Lodge.

This was a trip that was about 3 years in the making - we just never came around to doing it, or as we say in afrikaans "van uit stel kom af stel". So this year we finally comitted in doing a hike we wanted to do for a long time. A few months back we started kitting ourselves out with the basics and with countless hours on the VE forum and the wealth of info shared by the members we were confident enough to tackle the berg. Although our route might be one of the easiest and more commonly done, for us it was our first berg hike and something totally out of our comfort zone, also our first time hiking with packs (I now realise what all the weight saving is about).

After a restless night of sleep (a combination of howling winds and probably nerves) we awoke to a peaceful but nippy morning.





We did a final gear check and had a big breakfast at the restaurant. We took the shuttle up to the Sentinel car park and upon seeing the Sentinel that close it became clear that we are dealing with a very big mountain. The sheer size of these mountains left us gaping in awe! Our hike haven't even started and already we were blown away by the views and sheer scale of the berg.
After signing the mountain register we headed off on our first berg hike! Total excitement and nervousness set the mood, and about 100m into the start the cameras was out and we were snapping away - like tourists!





After making our way up the zig-zags we took the path to the view point first and the sheer scale of this mountain became much clearer.




We headed off on the path contouring all the way along the mountain to the chain ladders. I was quite surprised at how exposed some sections on the trail was or maybe it was just us not being used to such steep trails.





We decided not to go up the gully at Beacon Butress as the weight of our packs were quite heavy with all the water we took, and the legs were not used to hiking and climbing this much. After a few stops for photos and snacks we finally hit the chain ladders. There was one family ahead of us with two young boys, once they topped out it looked liked an easy task getting up. We were a bit nervous on the ladders I must admit, but one-step at time and holding on did the trick.





On top of the escarpment one could start putting things in place, Beacon Buttress, Crow's Nest, Mont Aux-Sources all there in front of us. By this time the scale of these khulus had us thinking twice of bagging any of them, so we headed off for lunch at the dry Tugela waterfall. There is a clear path all along the river to the edge of the escarpment and the landscape was very dry and burnt. (I would love to see this river in full flood must be a sight!) We saw a group of other hikers also having a snack in the dry river bed and another couple heading back to the chain ladders.





We have never had lunch with such a stunning view!

One felt very small in these majestic mountains, and after a nice break we headed off to our intended camping spot near Ribbon Falls. Climbing over the ridge we could see Mount Amery in the distance, by this time we could feel the legs were taking a bit of strain and my wife was also taking strain. We proceeded down into the valley and headed off to the Ribbon Falls area all along the escarpment, it also became much clearer that the distance you percieve can be intimidating.







After 6h30min of hiking the bodies were taking strain, and we pitched our tent right there on the escarpment.




We were a bit worried about our water supply and if we had enough for cooking, and for the next day. It was now just after 3pm, it was hot and we just took in the silence surrounding us laying in our tent. After 2 hours of chilling in the tent and re-hydrating ourselves we headed off to the edge of the amphitheatre taking in the stunning sunset. As the sun dissapeared behind the mountains you could feel the temperature dropping.





We proceeded to have our first cooking experience with a gas stove on top of a mountain. After a lekker meal of vermicelli and chorizo we had some tea and headed off to bed. In a span of about 5minutes there was total cloud cover over the mountain, and I could not make use of the new moon and getting in some shots of the milky way.

Luckily we did not have any howling winds like the night before at Witsieshoek and after dosing off a view times we didn't sleep well and was awake for most of the night - must have been a combination of not being used to the thin sleeping mats or the total silence surrounding us or the high altitude? After another restless night we awoke to a very clear and crisp morning with some stunning views of the sunrise over the Eastern Butress.

We packed up camp and around 6:45 we headed back to the chain ladders. Tackling the ridge to get over into the Tugela basin proved to be a bit of a challenge for my wife (I had also put some extra stuff into my pack to lessen the weight of hers), but we finally made it over and wanted to check out the MCSA hut.









After stopping at the hut we decide that bagging a khulu (Mont-Aux Sources which we planned on doing) will not be on the cards for this first trip.
We had a snack at the very big cairn just above the chain ladders and after a nervous descent down the ladders we were chuffed at getting this far in our hike.






As we got closer to the car park, it was almost like our brains had already finished the hike, and we could feel the legs and feet getting tired descending along the zig-zags. We reached the car park after 3 hours - WE MADE IT!

Tired and overjoyed by our experience we called the lodge for our transfer. After a very nice hot shower we headed off the the restaurant to have one the best burgers and chips and ice cold cokes.

Probably one of the best experiences we have ever had and although it was just for one night, we were humbled by being in such a setting. It awakens something in you to come back for more, and we definitely will be back for more. Love the mountains!

LouisvV wrote:

Thanks for the write up LouisvV - great to see the Berg through someone's fresh eyes.

That photo has some interesting clouds. Even if it were still at the surface, that wind was still howling higher up. When the near surface layers cool, which they do rapidly after sunset, an inversion layer gets set up and the winds skid over the frictionless top of the layer instead leaving still air at the surface. As the fast winds go over the mountains, the air gets lifted and if the air is stable, its sinks again to the altitude it started at. On the way up the air cools and condenses and makes the clouds in the photo. On the way down the air warms and the water evaporates, so the clouds just mark the uplift part of the wave. The clouds are called cumulus lentcularis or lenticular clouds for short. They often get confused with UFO sightings.

Thanks for the writeup

LouisvV wrote:

We seriously need to do a VE Cool Mountain tent hike some time with a large area covered in these tents.

@ghaznavid: Yeah would look great, very happy with mine!

@mnt-tiska: Awesome, thanks for explaining that! Here is another shot of those clouds :

Great write-up. What a wonderful first 'berg hike. Well done

Fantastic stuff Louis, and congrats on your first time 3000+ ASL.

Sure we sometimes do serious challenges up in these mountains but this is what it is about primarily, gaping in the views and experiencing that silence you referred to. Not to make a religious thing out of this, but when up there and having one of those deafening silence moments is the closest I ever feel to my Creator.