BERGFREE ADVENTURES NEWSLETTER NUMBER 113 9 May 2011 MBP G.T. - Re-Supply Team Drakensberg Mountains Giant’s Castle Central Berg 30 April – 2 May 2011 South African Hikers Durban based MBP Club annually do the Grand Traverse hike along the top of the Drakensberg Escarpment. This is a 12 day extreme hike, and part of it is due to club members being willing and able to take re-supply food to the top of the berg at or about the half way point at Giant’s Castle. Without a re-supply , the hike is nearly impossible. So on Saturday 30th April , the volunteers met at Giant’s Castle camp, to collect the re-supply food, and head off to climb Bannerman’s Pass to meet the traverse team. The walk to Bannerman’s hut was done in good weather, and the visibility of the high was good. The group met up at Bannerman’s hut, and those who were going up to the top of the escarpment had a good lunch, re-set their packs, and set off for the summit. Bannerman’s Pass is a fairly difficult pass , with a lot of big broken rocks making the going difficult. Some of us who were not going up stayed at the hut for the evening and following day. Sunrises are always good at this hut, and the very early sunrise throws a very distinct red/orange tint onto the massive rock formation of the mountain. For a brief second, Spare Rib cave was blazed in an almost unreal orange glow. Later that morning I decided to go up to Spare Rib Cave. My companions at the hut felt like having a relaxing morning at the hut , so stayed behind. From just below Spare Rib one looks up to the daunting task still ahead of you, then back down the pass into the far away horizons of the lower part of Giant’s Castle Reserve. Spare Rib Cave is on the left going up. This is the only cave available for hikers at Giant’s Castle. The cave is 3/4 of the way up Bannerman’s Pass, it is a wet cave in summer, and a cold cave in winter , with water quite a far way below the cave. So having the capacity to carry extra water from the crossing point on the stream below the cave is very essential. One does not want to climb back down to the stream from the cave to fetch water. The cave is large , with fairly reasonable sleeping areas. The views from the cave a really stunning – worth the climb just for that. On a long week end, one can meet a lot of hikers in the berg – so ones solitude may have to be shared with others. Well, sometimes the people are so nice , they can be seen as old friends. Indeed, the lack of privacy in such a hut means that one has to put up with a lot of give and take. On arriving back at the car park , the trees at the picnic area certainly – and in a beautiful way , telling us that winter is on its way. The re-supply went off well , the traversers were in good spirits, however they had already had their share of NOT so good weather. However, having more food, and a few “goodies” from family at home in their food packs lifted their spirits. Another great motivation was that so many friends and family were prepared to the much need food up the mountain to them. WELL DONE THE TRAVERSE TEAM , AND THE RE-SUPPLY TEAM. Just a word of caution at this time of year. The grass is getting very dry. The chances of “run away” veld fires is very real . PLEASE do not light matches under any circumstances in the berg. EVERY HIKING party should always carry a spade to bury their “toilet and toilet paper” - FOR THE SAKE OF YOURS , AND OTHERS WHO SHARE THIS MAGNIFICENT DRAKENSBERG - LEAVE NO TRACE THAT YOU HAVE BEEN THERE . Enjoy our World Heritage site – don’t destroy it Bergfree Adventures www.bergfree.co.za ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~