IN
THIS ISSUE: From the Chair; Welcome New Members; Table Mountain
Hike;
Wonder Valley Cave Week-end; Imagine Out of Africa …; Photographs;
Hiking Cobber
FROM THE CHAIR: Brian Henwood
Club
activities -
As we approach autumn we expect cooler weather, later sunrises as the days
become progressively shorter and we should see the occurrence and intensity of
thunderstorms diminishing. The weather
is stabilising and becoming more predictable so it is no wonder March month is
the start of the hiking season and it couldn’t have come sooner.
Your
committee and leaders have put together a full programme of activities for the
autumn season. We have at least one
activity every weekend until the end of June.
So we hope to see our members
committing more of their weekend social time to club activities. Why not step out of that comfort zone and
tackle something different like an overnight stay in a cave or a weekend away
in a cottage with fellow hikers.
Last
weekend
Committee
member vacancy
- We have a vacancy on our Midlands Hiking Club committee for an active member
who would like to take on the ‘membership’ portfolio. The
purpose would be to promote the growth of our membership. Typically, some of
the duties would be to distribute flyers at strategic points such as at retail
stores selling hiking gear and equipment, informing interested persons of our
activities and placing notices of our activities in the public domain. Also to follow up new members and give them
that little nudge that most of us need, and generally to attend to membership
issues.
If
you would like to get more involved in our club by taking on this
responsibility please contact the chairman,
Drakensberg snakes – I read this informative article
in the newsletter of The Cavern Drakensberg Resort
and Spa and thought it worth sharing with you. The author, David Johnson,
places a slightly different perspective on snakes.
“ Snakes are not confined to the tropical
lowlands and are actually quite common in the Berg. They are often seen at The Cavern, causing
something between fascination and alarm among visitors. Nearly all are
harmless.
Most frequent, especially in the garden, is the Natal Green Snake. It is pure
bright green. It sometimes zooms across the lawn, and likes sunning on bushes,
or is often seen swimming. In the forest
a similar thin green snake, but with black mottles on the neck, will be the
Variegated Bush Snake. A brownish snake
in the water will be a Dusky-bellied Water Snake. It noses around on the stream bottoms looking
for small fish. It holds its breath for many minutes. The Red-lipped Herald is
olive rather than brown, with obvious orange lips. It likes crevices in walls
and the water's edge, looking for frogs. The Mole Snake is the biggest snake in the
Berg. It can be two metres
long, and thick, but with a small head. Its
colour varies from a rich copper to grey or black. Much of its life is spent underground. Most other brownish snakes are thin and have
longitudinal stripes. An example is the Spotted Skaapsteker,
which might be seen flowing at lightning speed across a grassland path. A similar creature, that
characteristically lashes from side to side, is not a snake at all but is a Seps - a lizard with legs so tiny that they do not touch
the ground.
Only four snakes are potentially dangerous, but accidents are rare and most can
be avoided with commonsense. The Puff Adder is the only one that is too slow to
get out of the way. But it does not
want to be trodden on, so be alert to loud huffing and puffing. Stand
still, locate the threat and back away. Berg Adders are only likely on top of the
Little Berg or higher. They like sunny ledges, so watch your hands when
scrambling up steep slopes. Night
Adders come out at night. Don't walk
outside with bare feet.
Finally the Rinkhals, that looks like a cobra. It can spit in your eye,
but its accuracy is greatly exaggerated. It will flee if permitted, or may "play
dead". Watch quietly from a
distance to see it "recover".
The Cavern
Resort is a popular destination in the northern Drakensberg
and if you haven’t stayed there yet you need to take advantage of their many
midweek specials .
Happy
hiking and kind regards until next time,
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Welcome
to new members Margaret Forbes, Iris Francis, Delveen
Hollingworth, Doug & Cheryl Roland, Kelvin &
Wendy Sparks and Wendy Stott. May you
enjoy many great hikes and interesting social evenings in our company.
TABLE MOUNTAIN HIKE Mary Webb
21
November 2010
While
driving to the meeting point for this hike, the madness of such a venture on
such a swelteringly hot Natal day loomed large in my thoughts. I am sure most of you reading this were
planning activities more in accord with the weather; however nine of us decided
to face the furnace and joined Allison’s
leadership up Table Mountain, east of Pietermaritzburg.
We
left vehicles at the base of the mountain, in the precincts of a local store
whose keeper was rewarded for the vehicles’ safety at the end of the day, and
set off up the immediate slope which lead us onto the table top. Short and sharp, this was the only real
exertion that the day demanded of us, and once up we were met by the most
wonderful breeze that cooled us for the duration of the hike and left us
feeling smug with the realization that this was actually the best place to be
on such a day!
The
top is a landscape of soft, undulating, green Natal grassland, covered in
flowers at this time of year and dotted with cattle belonging to the locals
whose dwellings stop at the base of the steep ascent to the top. We spent the day meandering our way around
the perimeter of the table top, able to indulge in time to enjoy scrape marks
in the rocks from long-gone glaciers, interesting sink holes which sheltered
the only trees and bushes that occur up there, insects and plants that caught
our eye, and the occasional bird. The
mystery of a trail of blood which we had picked up on our ascent was solved
with the discovery of a day old calf nestling in some bracken – concerned
mother was nearby! A dramatic view out
over a somewhat hazy Natal accompanied us all day. Allison was able to plot for us the various
stages of the Dusi canoe race, and further round we
had a magnificent view of Nagel dam and the Umgeni river.
Top marks to Allison for her choice of
lunch-spot! This was on a shoulder that
reaches out from the body of the table top and into the Umgeni Valley. Lots
of exposed rocks set with aloes, it narrowed to almost
a knife edge before the punctuation of a single, separated column which would
have taken quite some scrambling to get to. We gloried in the views of Nagel dam, in the
swifts, swallows and martins .. and
the occasional hadeda! .. which were plying the
strong winds that swept up from the valley, and generally absorbed the peace of
a truly beautiful day … well, beautiful for the nine of us who ventured out
into the brilling sunshine that morning!
Back
down at the cars by 2pm, back into the swelter and humidity of a Natal summer,
we felt that we had scored double in having discovered such a delightful area
for hiking, and having cheated the weather at the same time! Thank you to very congenial fellow hikers,
predominantly from Howick and added to by
representation from Pietermaritzburg and Durban, and to Allison for a fortuously wise choice of venue for this hike. The opinion that it becomes one of the
regular routes for the annual hiking calendar was strongly supported by all.
WONDER VALLEY CAVE WEEKEND Margie Forbes
15/16
January 2011
Participants
:- Keith Ashton (Leader), Margaret Ashton, Rose Dix, Margie Forbes, Joan
Templeton, Lee-Ann Conway and daughters Leia & Anja, Dave Sclanders, Peter
Wedge and Max Ramseier.
Eleven
of us started off on a partly cloudy morning, one with an eye patch, one a sore
knee and on crutches and one a sore hip and suspected cracked rib. (My fault!) It was
a fairly easy walk to the cave, up the beautiful wooded Van Heynigen’s pass with
the usual fun at the stream crossings, but no disasters. The scenery was stunning with the high berg
shrouded in beautiful fluffy clouds. On
arrival we all traipsed down to the stream with an absolute gem of a pool and
lots of waterfalls. Bit cold, but some
braved it, especially the two young girls with us.
The
cave was a lovely surprise. Very cosy, with straw ‘nests’ for sleeping. When the booze came out, Rose discovered that
her ‘dop’ had leaked into the plastic glove in which it was wrapped so she had
to blow it up and suck it from the ends of the fingers. Very amusing. The girls offered massages to the weary which
were accepted by some. Crystal clear
water was on tap from the many drips off the overhang.
Absolute
luxury! During the night we were
enshrouded with mist and feared the worst, but I opened my eyes in the morning
to the amazing spectacle of Sterkhorn, Cathkin Peak, Monks Cowl and Champagne
Castle bathed in a rosy pink glow like a huge fairy castle. Magnificent - a never to be forgotten
sight. It was a glorious day with not a
cloud in the sky and views forever.
Dave was very excited on the way back because
he managed to view Giant’s Castle, Monks Cowl etc and far north up to the
Sentinel all at the same time.
It was a fairly hot walk back but the scenery
took one’s breath away. All in all it
was a wonderful experience and one I would not hesitate to repeat.
Thanks
to Midlands Hiking Club for having me as a guest, to Keith and Margaret for all
the organizing, to Dave for his endless knowledge, Rose for her friendship and
endurance and to all who made it a special weekend. Thanks also to the weatherman for being
totally and utterly wrong!!
Footnote from Leader
Keith on behalf of the group: - Thanks to Max for going the extra mile to sort
out some of the transport problems at the last minute. It
was also great to have Lee-Ann along with her two young daughters sharing their
first overnight sleeping experience in a cave and loving every minute of the weekend. Also thanks to Dave for his support and
enhancing the group’s mountain experience.
IMAGINE
OUT OF AFRICA…………….
Christie Exall
Go no further than the WAGENDRIFT
DAM & Nature Reserve just outside the town of Estcourt
in Kwa Zulu Natal. The area is breathlessly beautiful and lush. Six
hikers enjoyed this weekend with Brian Henwood, being the leader. Amongst them Libby’s delightful granddaughter
Natalie.
Late Friday afternoon we pitched our
tents right on the water’s edge on lush grassed camp sites. The camp site is
spotless with very good and clean ablutions. After making ourselves comfortable we relaxed
with a beer and enjoyed a braai followed by a swim at
dusk.
Though rain was predicted, Saturday
morning was cool and lightly overcast as we drove off to meet Linda and Jeff in
the MOOR PARK Reserve about 10kms away to the South of the dam. We ventured
onto the FURROW TRAIL which follows the course of an old irrigation furrow,
built in 1903. We sighted quite a lot of game such as Zebra, Wildebeest, Impala
and Blesbok. Towards the southern side of the dam we came
across exposed fossilised trees. Then a steep climb took us back to the
road. By this time most of us had bleeding cuts and scratches due to
plentiful thorn trees in the area and now pesky flies descended on us in large
numbers.
Lunch was enjoyed halfway up the
mountain also to the south of the dam. Jeff
called it a “koppie” but I think he changed his mind
about that after we set off again after lunch!
By now Brian wanted to get to the
top of this “koppie” but we settled for a steep climb
up to the krantzes, which we followed for ages, or so
it seemed. This “koppie”
rises to 1 549m above msl and is known as Makhabeni Hill. Information
provided by KZN Wildlife says that the Guiness Book
of Records describes the area as the site of the first known settlement in
Southern Africa, around the eleventh century.
Natalie, who is only eight years
old, became the star of our hike. She just kept on going, never complained! She
completed the hike, which was long and taxing on the steep mountain slopes.
Libby just kept on going, carrying her granddaughter’s backpack as well, loaded
with nice pieces of wood and rocks which caught Natalie’s fancy.
Our hike was longer than we
anticipated, our drinking water was running low and we were getting hot and
tired. Linda and Jeff treated us with glasses of cold
orange juice back at the cars…….bless your souls! What
a wonderful gesture, it was just what we needed!
Once back at the camp site we
quickly changed into our costumes, jumped into the water and oh….what bliss! Again a wonderful braai
was had with dark clouds and rumbling thunder threatening. S o it was off to bed in our cosy tents.
We woke up next morning at 06h00
with the sound of Brian’s tent poles being dismantled. I looked out of my tent
and I saw that the sky towards the south-west was very dark with heavy clouds
and big rains looming. We broke camp in
record time and so a wonderful weekend came sadly to an end with everyone
leaving early.
Thanks again Brian, Libby, Jeff,
Linda and the most important member of the team, Natalie. Natalie I really
enjoyed your swimming with me!
PHOTOGRAPHS
Photographs
of all our hikes may be found on our website www.gohiking.co.za.
HIKING CLOBBER
At
a recent Social Evening we had a most interesting demonstration by Colin Ric Hanson of hiking clothes manufactured under the name of
“Second Skin”. He brought a selection
of shirts and shorts for both men and women, track suits, jackets and a variety
of garments to be worn next to the skin to keep the body either cool or warm,
depending upon the weather conditions, and most importantly, dry. Anybody interested to seeing these items can
contact Colin on his cellphone
082
454 9548 or e-mail him at colinrh@mweb.co.za.