Fish River Canyon

Hi Ruth,

Fantastic video! Thanks a lot.
It adds a bunch of information that is hard to come by otherwise, like how damn cold you'll be on the shuttle

From the video it looks like you used the Sawyer Squeeze filtration system. How did that work for you? Were you able to get a decent amount of water without too much effort?
We had three different filtration systems in our group and all of them were major disappointments. Neither the MSR SweetWater nor the Katadyn Vario nor our Sawyer Squeeze were able to pump more than a few millimeters before clogging, and by the second day we switched to drinking the water with purification drops.

We didn't pre-filter the water through a cloth though, so maybe that made the difference. I thought of doing that but at that stage I was so gatvol for the filters that I didn't mind the brown water

Hi Zekrates,

I have done the fish five times and have never taken a tent. Its the most awesome experience to sleep under the stars. You will see shooting stars and loads of satellites in the sky at night. It did drizzle once or twice but then I took the ground sheet, that was underneath me and put it over me, no big deal.

When sleeping out in the open, I found a down sleeping bag (-7) perfect. If there is a breeze/wind, its better to have a warmer sleeping bag. It might be a different story if you sleep in a tent.

I have never needed purification drops, but then the water was always flowing when I went. Friends of mine went recently and they didn't need any either.

You don't need a GPS for the route. Buy the detailed map and follow the route carefully by taking note of the curves of the river to know where you are. In the beginning the canyon is still very narrow and you won't make much progress, so don't stress if you only manage 10km. That part is the best of the whole Fish. Later on it flattens out and you can do 20-30km per day.

Enjoy!

From the video it looks like you used the Sawyer Squeeze filtration system. How did that work for you? Were you able to get a decent amount of water without too much effort?

Zecrates, I will probably do a whole video review of the Sawyer Mini Squeeze at some point (the punch line is: I LOVED IT!), but here is the pertinent information in the meantime:

1. It is not a fast method for filtering water. Ralph and I shared the Sawyer Mini Squeeze and we eventually had the entire process pared down to a fine art, but you can only squeeze the water through the bag so fast. What really helped was doing a big round of filtering when we pitched camp (we're always a bit at loose ends and need something to do to pass the time anyway, and sitting by the river filtering was quite relaxing). You can also fill the squeeze bags with dirty water in the morning (if you have used up some of your supply for breakfast, etc.) and only squeeze them through the filter when needed during the day.

2. I am REALLY glad that we took the filter. Some people in our party drank straight out of the river the whole way and were fine, but the last 1.5 to 2 days the water was quite scummy and unappetising (our faster team did do a slightly different route around Lost Bend, so possibly we had worse water than the others did). No matter how gross the water looked in the puddle/river, it always came out of the filter crystal clear and delicious! Ralph and I ended up filtering water for the 2 other women hiking with us on the last day, and they also loved it. The water that came out of the Sawyer Mini Squeeze was much clearer than what came out of someone else's Katadyn pump filter (to be fair though, that filter may have been malfunctioning).

3. The entire set-up is quite light and easy to pack. I would definitely take the cut-off bottom of a coke bottle with you for scooping water out of the river and into the bags, and you NEED to take the backwash plunger with you as well.

4. Ralph and I tried several different methods for filtering/backwashing as the murky water does slow down the filter significantly after a while. Having an extra cloth over the scoop/cup as a pre-filtering step didn't really make a difference and we gave up on that after a while. The best seemed to be to filter 2 squeeze bags (1 litre), and then do one strong backwash (remember to only backwash with clean water), and then do another 2 bags and so on. When we pitched camp in the afternoons we would often start with a backwash session.

5. Be careful not to over-tighten the filter onto the squeeze bags, as this can force one of the rubber rings on the filter into the neck of the squeeze bottle and cause dirty water leaks. You might even end up losing the rubber ring inside the squeeze bottle if you're really unlucky.

6. It does require some effort to squeeze the bags, especially if you're doing large volumes of water.

7. The best way to use this filter in terms of minimal effort is probably as an in-line filter with a water bladder (provided you don't mind contaminating your water bladder). We drank straight from the filter (attached to a Squeeze bag) several times, and sucking/squeezing water through it is fairly easy. You could then also dispense clean water from your bladder for cooking/etc. This idea is theoretical though - I haven't actually tried it out as I don't own a bladder.

I hope that answers your questions I really did love the Sawyer Mini Squeeze and will almost certainly be adding it as a permanent feature in my packing list

I also need to make one of those contraptions that Ralph was wearing to hold my camera. Brilliant piece of kit.

AdrianT - I think Ralph bought that harness and camera bag from an online camera place. It did seem to work really well - he always had his camera to hand and his photos are amazing (see below, taken by Ralph with his SLR - Ralph, I hope you don't mind me sharing these!)

Lovely photos indeed

In areas with heavily silted water I've just poured the water through a t-shirt into a pot, to get the really big particles out. Then let it sit for 10 or 15 minutes for the silt to settle to the bottom, then transfer slowly into a water bottle. Those little water purification tablets you get from Cape Union Mart work like a bomb and I've been using them since I can remember. I've unfortunately got a very sensitive stomach and I've never some a cropper with them before.

Generally I just add the tablets and try to avoid drinking the last 50ml or so. I've tested (EDIT: not "tested", but drank litres upon litres as my only water source of course) those tablets drinking nice silty water from the Umkomaas, Buffalo River (really silty) and many others, Bivane, Zambezi, Umzimkulu, Usutu, Umkomazana, Olifants, Steelpoort, Umtamvuna, Crocodile, Mzimvubu, Bushmans - I think you get the picture.

AdrianT wrote: I've tested those tablets drinking nice silty water from the Umkomaas, Buffalo River (really silty) and many others, Bivane, Zambezi, Umzimkulu, Usutu, Umkomazana, Olifants, Steelpoort, Umtamvuna, Crocodile, Mzimvubu, Bushmans - I think you get the picture.

Every time you write silty I misread shitty.
Also, you only mention "testing" water from those rivers, no indication of result... so can we assume...

Sorry I didn't mean "test". I meant I drank all water, as in litres. I drink on average 4 - 5 litres a day.

I'm doing the Fishriver river hiking trail next month with my family. I didnt find any information on VE for this trail, would appreciate any information you feel is important that I should know. A track for my GPS would also begin great.

Mod, can we poste a track for the Fishriver on VE?

Hi Riaang,

I have some info on the trail, ill look for it tonight and post what I have. If you get new tracks or info please let me lnow. Im planning to do it in late September early October.

Kind Regards,

Hi Riaan,

Will mail you.

Sabine