Journey to the deep south

Ghaznavid and I started making plans for an Eastern Cape trip several months ago. At the time, I was still planning to run the Skyrun, so we chose dates accordingly. Then, I decided that an extra pair of socks weighs too much and pulled out of Skyrun. Taking the expected turnout for this year’s race into account, it was a no brainer to shift the dates of our trip to a quieter weekend...

By shuffling the dates a bit, we could time it to co-incide both with the end of exams for Hobbit and a slide show for MCSA Durban.

On 8 December, nice and early, we drove out of Pietermaritzburg, target Tiffendell. We passed a record number of trucks before reaching Ixopo (Ghaz does of course keep records of this sort of detail), and shortly afterwards, the Hobbit passed into the Eastern Cape for his first time. We took note of a not-so-random signpost as we passed through Matatiele and another one later on as we got close to the town of Mt. Fletcher. But, this belongs to the second episode, so I will not spoil the story to come.

Soon afterwards, Google directed us onto a dirt road. It started out in good condition and was appreciably shorter than the alternative, so we carried on. About 50km of really scenic driving later, we hit an intersection. Instead of the expected tar road it brought about a rather dodgy dirt road. And a sign to “Naude’s Nek”. Now, in a normal car, you do not want to see this, but we had no option but to carry on. By now, the Google arrival time was making a whooshing sound.

Slow driving got Ghaz’s Etios to the top of a high berg pass, where we stopped at the view point. A sign post suggested that swimming was not allowed. Really, the only pool within 10km is 2cm deep!



We did see a few fields of lucern in full bloom, and it really is a pretty drive. We all agreed that we were happy with the route, but would not have taken it had we known better.

Here, the road improved and before long we had reached the road up to Tiffendell. At parts, it is really steep, and the key signpost says amongst other things “drive confidently”. Ghaz handed the driving back to me, and we got to Tiffendell in mostly one piece.

It is really quiet in summer, but still open, so we were given a tour of the facilities. We all agreed that the grass skis look a bit too dangerous. We had burgers for lunch, in an attempt to sit out the rain. As they were not charging us for the parking, this seemed fair anyway.

We eventually started walking, and headed straight up the ski slope (now grass of course). Pretty soon, a storm rolled over and we all headed over to the nearby wooden fence for shelter from the hail. We later found out that the staff of the resort had seen this manoeuvre!

Once the storm eased off, we continued up the ski slope and got onto a dirt road that takes you all the way to the top of Ben Macdhui. A sign tells you this is the highest point in the Cape, which is of course rubbish. It is though the highest summit entirely in the Cape, as the Lesotho border is a few 100m away. We took the obligatory photos, and noted that Ghaz had now summited as many hiking khulus as me.

We now headed into Lesotho, on a high ridge line, target Thaba Ntso about 15m km away.

We got wet so many times on the trip, that I honestly cannot remember if it rained on us again, but I think it did. At least with thunderstorms, you do dry out and warm up again once the rain stops.

We saw fewer signs of locals than expected.

We found a decent enough campsite shortly before dark, and importantly got the tents up before yet another thunderstorm moved over. Ghaz and Hobbit braved it out with a cold supper and I used some Jetboil magic to warm me up. Thaba Ntso in the background.



The next morning, we woke early and soon reached Thaba Ntso, which at 3020m is the highest peak in the area. It looked like some of the nearby peaks might have been higher than 3000m high, but limited time forced us to abandon them. It turns out that the map does list them as 3000m high! The views from here are really great – the valley to the north is really deep. The views from deep inside Lesotho are a bit different to the escarpment – you trade off the steep dramatic drop on one side for a more complex valley and hill system that provides peaks with far greater prominence in an environment that just seems more 3D.



In the far distance, we could see KwaDuma.



We bagged the all important key saddle of Ben Mac, bagging the summit again on the way back. We got back to Tiffendell dry! Somehow, the trip managed to get in well over 1000m altitude gain, despite starting out at an altitude of 2700m.

I drove down to Rhodes, which sadly did not reveal any petrol or lunch stops. Ghaz then took over the driving on yet another dirt road...We filled up with petrol in Elliot, bought a huge bag of apricots, and narrowly escaped the Pokemon demons lurking nearby.

And then drove off to Matatiele, our over night spot before the Kwa Duma mission.

That was fun! Ben Mac was cool, but Thaba N'tso provided some really great views and was a really worthwhile detour.

17 trucks in total - previous record from PMB to Kokstad was 14.

I have posted some of my photos at the bottom of the following link:
jonathantheghaznavid.wordpress.com/2016/12/15/journey-to-the-deep-south/

Smurfatefrog wrote:

ghaznavid wrote: 17 trucks in total - previous record from PMB to Kokstad was 14.

Without knowing your definition of a truck we cannot attempt to break such an awesome record
Number of axles, carrying capacity, weight etc ?
What is the actual starting point in PMB and ending in Kokstad?
Does this only apply to one direction, or can it also be in reverse?
So many Qs to be answered!

8 tons trucks don't count, has to be at least a 10 ton truck. A horse on its own is still a truck. Starting point is the robot outside Southgate Shopping Centre in PMB, where Alexandra Road switches to the Richmond Road, and end point is the junction of the N2 and Hope Street in Kokstad. Direction doesn't matter.

Naturally this record is pure skill...

So Hobbit was supposed to do the next installment, but he has a lot to do before the upcoming double GT, so I will be taking his section of the writeup.

01001010 01101111 01110101 01110010 01101110 01100101 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100100 01100101 01100101 01110000 00100000 01110011 01101111 01110101 01110100 01101000 (part 2)

the above heading may make sense a bit later

After Ben Mac had fallen so easily, we toyed with the idea of doing KwaDuma as a day hike. Eventually we agreed to play it safe and at 4AM we were driving out of Matatiele with overnight packs. We reached Tabase Police Station before they opened, but fortunately the staff arrived by about 6AM. Soon we found ourselves squashed into the front of a police vehicle - they didn't want us to look like criminals, so we couldn't sit in the spacious back of the vehicle.

We were dropped at the base of Binary Pass (no - I did not make up the name, the name comes from the nearby Binary River). We agreed to come down one of the other clear passes in the region - there are trails everywhere - and that a name like "hexadecimal pass" may be fitting. So the passes would be better named:
01000010 01101001 01101110 01100001 01110010 01111001 00100000 01010000 01100001 01110011 01110011; and
48 65 78 61 64 65 63 69 6d 61 6c 20 50 61 73 73

Feel free to use online hex/binary and ascii converter tools to vouch for the above...

Anyway - there are a lot of trails to chose from, but as long as you keep ascending the nose of the ridge, you will be fine. The pass gains about 800m vertical over 6km, and makes Langalibalele Pass look like Ships Prow Pass - easily the most gradual ascent I have ever done in the Berg.

It was misty for the top 200m, and there are 2 minor rock bands that are easily walked through - although Andrew and Hobbit had to show off and decided to climb the rock itself. I took the easy way through.

The top felt like something out of a fairy-tale - very green, flattish, plenty of streams. Actually quite a nice spot.

We took a line straight across the valley, ignoring the peak that obviously wasn't KwaDuma. We took a low saddle through the second ridge, to find ourselves on a narrow strip of land, and spotting the flat summit that would be KwaDuma. Andrew used the contours on his GPS to pick a really nice line, and soon we were walking up the ridge below KwaDuma.

We had agreed to summit at the same time, but Andrew had to do the obligatory mock-run - I think everyone knows who would have won that foot race!

We walked onto the summit together, counting to 3 to ensure we touched the summit cairn at the same time. We shook hands, took some summit shots, and stopped for an early lunch.

We proceeded towards the key-saddle from here, dropping steeply down to 2500m. The walk to the key saddle was very scenic, but largely uneventful. I noted that rain was coming and we had overnight gear - why not just set up the tents and chill, but the others didn't like the idea, so we soldiered on.

It is funny hiking with Hobbit and AndrewP - it is rare for me to be the least fit, heaviest and least in shape member of a group. On the bright side - I am also usually not the tallest member of the group.

As we neared the key saddle, Andrew ran off to tag it while Hobbit and I has something to eat.

As Andrew returned to us, the skies opened up. And not drizzle, a proper downpour.

We took a traverse trail that skirted the SA side of the border to cut distance. The trail was fine till it suddenly disappeared. We used the gully above us to climb to a higher trail, but in the mist we were hiking blind.

The next trail died soon, so we began to hunt for the top, but found a small cliff between us - so we traversed below it for a while before finding a small gap. By now we were all starting to get soaked from the continuous rain.

Once back on top, we agreed that Binary Pass was our best bet, so we traversed directly to it (that took 8 seconds to write and over an hour to actually do). The pass is at a perfect gradient for motoring, so we motored down the pass, with the odd slip and slide. The mist and rain followed us, and by the time we were back at the road, we were all drenched and frozen.

The 5km on the road was long and felt like it would never end. My GPS taunted me with its distance remaining stats. There were vehicles stuck in the mud, and plenty of vehicles going in the wrong direction, but no one heading our way.

Roughly 12h20 after leaving Tabase Police Station, 3 water soaked hikers found the police station in the mist. We were cold, wet, and had not particularly enjoyed the second half of the hike - but we had done it. 43km in 12h20 with overnight packs that included tents - I had wondered why I felt so unfit.

The drive back to Matatiele was slow, with the heater on full, outside it was getting dark and the mist had continued - A Storm of Swords playing on audiobook.

We had booked Sunday for finishing up on KwaDuma, so instead we made our way to Swiman Hut and had a braai there.

The water had soaked through everything, including my brand new camera so there are no photos for the bits after KwaDuma. Here are the KwaDuma photos:

Journey to the deep south - part 3.1

Seeing as the Southern Berg is so far from JHB, we decided to spend a few days in Swiman Hut on the way back. Andrew had his own mission - but Hobbit wanted to do 70km in a day, so Giants Cup Trail it is!

At about 4:30AM, we set off from Swiman Hut. Hobbit had Pokemon Go open in the hopes that the Giants Cup Trail as marked on the map would include the split to head north as we planned to do. As it turns out, it didn't, but we found the split nonetheless.

It was a beautiful morning, and the sunrise over the regions south of Sani was spectacular. Sadly, without a camera, no means to capture the sight - although a photographer of ST's quality would have been needed to do this one any justice.

There was a massive storm over Rhino, but it was hot and sunny where we were.

In 2h20 we covered the 12km from Swiman to Wintershoek Hut, reaching the hut just as it began to rain.

We waited out the storm before heading off again. It wasn't even 7AM yet, and we had already made good ground, but the stop to wait out the storm had dropped our average overall pace to 4.9km/h. The rain picked up again on the road section, and as we climbed Bamboo Mountain, lightning was crashing all around us. As we crested the hill, and wishing for the hut that would provide us with shelter soon, Hobbit told me that he was picking up a muscle strain. Naturally not good news ahead of a GT, so we decided to bail, 20km in.

We walked back via the road, sitting out one round of rain at the Eland Trading Store and another under a bus stop.

We reached Swiman Hut at 12:40, 36km under the belt - so even then we were still on track to do 70+km in daylight. Admittedly easy terrain had helped, but injury hadn't.

So, baring a 70km day on the 4 day GT, Hobbit won't get his goal of 70km in a day this year. Too bad - but such is life.

We decided to take it easy on Tuesday, and headed back home on Wednesday.

Overall a good trip to the Berg.

And to those who have never been to the Eastern Cape Berg - just take some time off work, and do the road trip. It is completely different to the KZN Berg, and yet, somehow, exactly the same. Well worth a visit. I will be back, probably to do a traverse from Bushman's Nek.

Thanks guys, as always an entertaining write up of an interesting trip.

Congratulations Andrew and Jonathan on completing all of the non technical khulus. It was a pleasure to be part of several of them with both of you, and I marvel at this enormous achievement you have attained. Although I am still a long way away from completing my initial goal of all the KZN (non technical) khulus, I will eventually get there, and may then move onto the greater goal of all the (non technical) khulus. Andrew, I hope you will go ahead to complete all of the khulus.

So what is the significance of the two not so random signposts Andrew mentioned that was supposed to be revealed in the second episode but wasn't?

tonymarshall wrote: Congratulations Andrew and Jonathan on completing all of the non technical khulus. It was a pleasure to be part of several of them with both of you

Thanks!

Without input from you and Mavis on that 2012 GT, I doubt I would have ever come close to this goal, so you take a lot of the credit for this one

Let's take a shot at a list of the major players in getting me to this goal - and yes, there are lots of other people who have played a big part, but here are some of the biggest contributors:
- Intrepid for VE, because I would not have come close to this without VE. Also lots of what I learned about how the Berg works is from reading his comments and replies on VE.
- Tony Marshall for about 8000 reasons, I think I learned more from him than anyone else. The fact that I now eat tinned tuna on hikes will back this one up!
- Stijn for inspiring me to push harder when I thought Rhino in a day was a hectic route. We may not have hiked together much - but you have been a massive inspiration.
- AndrewP for a lot of reasons, mostly pushing me to go for the khulus. Also the encouragement to stop talking about big days and to actually just go out and do it! In the same way that my stats pre-VE vs since are massively different, my hiking stats pre-hiking with Andrew vs since also show a massive improvement in what I have been able to do. 35 days of hiking together totaling 825km - that average says quite a bit!
- Kliktrak and Fitness played a massive role in getting me started.
- Hobbit for putting up with me for 1989km of Berg hiking (and counting), 120 different khulus together, 40+ passes together over 52 hikes totaling 109 days.
- Hi-Tec for all the gear they have provided