Mnweni Magic Q2 2017

This is the official thread for the Second quarter of the Essence of the Dragon 2017 photo competition.

Theme: Mnweni Magic

Criteria:
Something that captures the quintessential Mnweni. Ideally something that makes it unique from other parts of the Berg. Examples would include: the view across to the Mnweni Pinnacles from Mnweni Pass, the view from Ledger's Cave, views of Mponjwane and the Rockeries, perspectives of the Cathedral Range from the Ntonjelana area, views of the homesteads (the ones at the end of the Ntonjelana Road with a classic mountain backdrop for example), and shots of the AmaNgwane themselves. General rules and criteria that govern the competition should also be noted.

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Album for submissions: www.vertical-endeavour.com/gallery/drakensberg/featured-images/mnweni-magic-q2-2017.html (entries must be posted on this thread and in the gallery with a proper title and description)
Start date: 01 April 2017
Last submission date: 30 June 2017
Last voting date: 16 July 2017
Prize: Looking for sponsorship

AdrianT wrote: Just a random question, I voted once for the photo above, 5 stars Yet the rating is 3.9. Just curious how that was calculated? Software bug I am assuming?

"19. The competition is governed by overall rating of the images, rather than the number of votes. This means you don’t just vote for your favourite one, rather, you give each entry a rating. The rating is done in the applicable gallery album by means of a 5 star system, where 5 stars is the highest rating and 1 star is the lowest. The gallery software is set to calculate weighted ratings according to Baye’s theorem, rather than a purely arithmetic average, which means the total number of votes for all images in the entire gallery on the site (not just the applicable album) is taken into consideration in the calculation. This means, for example, that less votes for an image will be assumed to be less credible than if it had more votes. So each rating as well as the number of ratings for an image is important. This helps prevent a situation where an image can get a top rating by just one or two votes, and it also helps reduce the chances of having a tie."

My entry is called Of Dreams And Dragons.

Gallery Link:
www.vertical-endeavour.com/gallery/drakensberg/featured-images/mnweni-magic-q2-2017/of-dreams-and-dragons-1542.html



I had first intended to find something else, since elinda had already posted her fine entry featuring this aspect of the Mnweni Pinnacles. I was drawn back to this however since it is one of few places in the Berg to which I have strong, personal connections. The Mnweni Pinnacles have always captured me. The sight of them fills me with both awe and terror. Truly they do justice to "The Barrier of Spears".

It doesn't surprise me that John Hone also had a fascination with them. Some years ago Serious Tribe and I set out to find "Ian's Kitchen" - the place where he camped with his friends and waited for that perfect shot, which he talks about in his book Encounters With The Dragon. The area is not far from the place where elinda took her shoot, though closer to the edge and more to the left. ST and I did not manage to find the exact spot of Ian's Kitchen, but ever since that trip, whenever I see the Pinnacles, especially from that angle, I am warmly reminded of John. I regret that our friendship was cut short by his passing on. His interest in and support of VE still means a lot to me. Even many years before I knew him, I was inspired by the work of the old Berg Watch, which he was very involved with. Berg Watch left a marked impression on me in the days when I was relatively new to the Berg, and definitely inspired some of the founding objectives of VE.

The view in my shot also features two fascinating, smaller pinnacles, namely the Umkulunkhulu and the Inkhulu. They are hidden gems that are not often seen, seldom talked about and are rarely featured on photographs. You can only get a good view of them from a limited number of places, and the rest of the time, if they can be glimpsed at all, you have to really know where to look for them. In addition, they often are camouflaged, even when you look right onto them, and it takes a certain lighting to bring them out. I stand under correction here, but the Umkulunkhulu (which is the tall, slender one of the two) refers to God. I think the spelling may be a bit off, and I suspect that it was the climbers name for it, rather than coming from the locals, but the name does add an extra dimension of fascination for me.

All four of the pinnacles are challenging climbs. In fact the two main Pinnacles are very long and serious routes. None of these are climbed regularly. In my mind the two main Pinnacles have always had a place among the three classics Tooth, Column and Western Triplet. They scare me and attract me at the same time and I know I simply have to climb them. Not because I want to conquer them, or to prove anything to myself, but simply because they are the perfect kind of summit that cause a reaction in my weird brain chemistry and deeper spiritual notions. For me, they are the place where dreams and dragons dwell together.