Tseketseke Hut

Hut repair done as part of the VE trip in June 2012:

tonymarshall wrote: While the guys were out cutting trees and climbing Tseketseke Pass, the ladies also cleaned up the inside of the hut, levelling the uneven earth floor and removing broken window glass, bits of wood and superflous rocks.

A before view of the inside of the back window of Tseketseke hut showing the rusted corrugated iron sheet and wooden boards used to try to block the window opening.



The same before view from the outside.



The rusted sheet was cut in half, and the two halves were used to completely close the back window opening.



The before view of the front window opening.



The wooden floorboards on the right in the above picture were used to make a swing shutter for the front window. Witchiwoo admires the new window shutter which can be partially opened in warm still weather, or kept closed in colder, windy weather.



The proud VE team (Intrepid, ClimbyKel, tonymarshall, diverian and witchiwoo) ready to depart from the newly renovated Tseketseke Hut.

www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/drakensberg-trips/55444-ve-berg-trip-2.html

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Hut repair / improvements done as part of the VE trip in August 2014:

www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/drakensberg-trips/55606-ve-berg-trip-5.html

1. Outside and inside door latch improved with wire. It is now possible to easily latch from the inside and outside without twisting or needing to pull hard on the wires. Please always ensure that the door is properly latched when leaving the hut (photos of the latch by tonymarshall).




2. One black plastic rubbish bag full of pine needles was collected from the pines about 1km upstream from the hut and spread out over the floor in the furtherest part of the hut. This is an experiment to test the suitability of using pine needles to cover the floor for dust control and for additional comfort. More will probably be added in time.


3. The front window shutter that was constructed in 2012 was repaired and one of the broken wire hinges was replaced. This shutter may be replaced with something else in the future.


4. A new latch for the front window shutter was constructed. It is much easier to latch the shutter now. Please make sure it is properly closed when leaving the hut.


5. A pole from a dead pine tree (cut down in 2012) was carried to the hut and stashed there. This will be used to build a ladder later for painting the hut. Please leave the pole as is.


6. A temporary notice was put up in the hut informing visitors of the efforts to maintain the hut.


The notice reads as follows:

Welcome to Tseketseke Hut!

The hut was built a long time ago and the area has since been declared a Wilderness Area, which means it should be free of any structures. The hut is however still here, and members of Vertical Endeavour are undertaking some basic maintenance of it in co-operation with KZN Wildlife.
Vertical Endeavour is a community-driven website on mountains with an emphasis on the Maloti-Drakensberg Mountains.
The work is being done entirely on a volunteer basis.
Should you find any tools, ladders, or any other material in the hut, please leave these as is, since they are needed for future work and will be removed when no longer needed.
Please make sure you leave the hut clean, and that you shut the door and windows properly when you leave.
Should you wish to know more, visit us at:
www.vertical-endeavour.com

Enjoy the hut and the special location that it is in!

Hut repair done as part of VE Berg Trip 7, August 2015:

www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/drakensberg-trips/55879-ve-berg-trip-7.html

tonymarshall wrote: We carried back several pine tree trunks to the hut to use to make a ladder for the painting of the hut, and as we approached the hut could see that the highest section of the roof had been painted with red primer by Neil.



The next morning some of us built the ladder, while the others continued with painting. Here Neil paints the roof, having climbed up using a rope; many thanks to Neil and SA Climbing Academy for the donation of the paint.



With the ladder completed, the steeper sections of the roof could be painted. In the photo below Merv on the ladder paints the roof, while Lorinda paints the hut door. Rusted areas on the sides of the hut were also painted with red primer, including the rusted sheeting used to close up the back window in 2012.



The inside of the sheeting used to close the back window was also painted, to hide the rust, as the rest of the hut inside is galvanised and the rust was an eyesore. The ladder was stored inside the hut to use again when we paint the hut it’s final colour, which will be a dark grey. We also nailed some of the remaining old floor planks to the beams along the front and back of the hut, which can now be used as seating or shelves, and put some nails in the poles at mid height in the hut to use to hang packs or clothes on, as can be seen in the photo below. A group of youngsters who passed by to ascend and return down Tseketseke Pass had left some of their gear in the hut earlier.

intrepid wrote: Some additional photos of the hut related work:

As far as I know EKZNW has specified a very particular grey which NM has already procured.

EKZNW wanted "charcoal grey". The exact colour will be as per attached, which is the closest we could get it with the type of paint we will be using.