BERGFREE ADVENTURES NEWSLETTER NUMBER 176 MHC to Impendle Nature Reserve Impendle Central KZN 14 April 2013 The Impendle Nature Reserve is a very little know EKZN Wildlife Reserve situated above the Inzinga and Umkhomas River Valleys. Due to high open nature of the land, there are good views of the high southern berg, as well as down in to the aforementioned river valleys. The reserve is not high on anyone s hiking list at is mainly the preserve of the flower hunters and some birders. There is some wildlife , but not much , consequently there are no proper paths to follow , and one has to use ones initiative as to where to walk, and if an animal track is found to follow it , if it is going in about the right direction. The beauty of this type of hiking is that one does not know what to see , or to expect. From the high places , great views of far away, and deep into the valleys, from the low areas one has to have great fortitude to force a passage through the long grass and clumps of bush that may be to big to walk around. This going into  no where land is not every bodies cup of tea, but the sweat and the rewards can be very satisfying. Everyone should have at least one go at a exploratory hiking day  but go prepared, and hopefully your leader will get you in and out on a happy note. *************************************************************************************** The day started out cool and clear, and the first leg was to follow an old vehicle track up past the offices, and over the hill behind the field Rangers quarters. As we ascended the hill , the and looked back over the grasslands , the Impendle Mountain was the dominant feature in the background, with long rolling valleys headed up to the Drakensberg Escarpment. Our western horizon featured several well known peaks such as Giant s Castle, The Hawk , The Tent, Mashilinga Pass, Redi Pass, Redi Peak ,Thaban Ntlenyana ( highest peak south of Kilimanjaro) and then Hodgson s Peak and The Devil s Knuckles to the far south. 3 4 5 6 Pics 3 , 4 Rolling grasslands with Impendle Mountain in the background Pic 5 & 6 Looking towards the Southern Berg with a few of the peaks mentioned above in the far horizon Well , sooner or later a tea break was called for , and luckily jus up the hill was arrow of Protea trees which offered some shade, and good views. It was interesting to listen to some of the comments on the walk so far, especially the part about  no paths and long grass  well I had been here before ( see Newsletter 170) , and knew that the  best was still to come. 7 Pic 7 Tea break amongst the Protea trees From tea, we had a slight climb onto the crest of a rock banded ridge, and walked down to a view point to look down into the river valley. The valley was steep all the way down to the river, the top part of the valley was formed by huge rocks that held the soil back from eroding into the river, then a very dense, steep sided bush that kept the soil in check , before it tumbled down to the meandering river. A long way to get a glass of water !!!. 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pics 8 & 9 Huge rocks hold the cliff face in check Pic 10 A quiet moment to reflect on the  FAR and NEAR Pic 11 The river is far away !! Pic 12 & 13 The hill does not look so high , BUT it is so high !! Having pondered over the  high spots and the low spots , it was time to find a lunch spot. Easier said than done, the area is a grassland area, and water and shade don t really go together  without a long walk of course. However , across the valley , and a bit up the hill a few trees seemed to be growing in a small stream bed, so we decided to head for there. A clear stream of cold water trickled down a rocky stream bed, and so Protea offered shade from the sun. So , packs off again , some boots and socks off and hot feet cooled in the cool stream , and a leisurely lunch break was taken. 14 15 16 17 18 Pic 14  Heading for the shade and the stream Pics 15 , 16, 17, 18 - lunch spot , with a clear shady pool for water. Well , as anyone will know, if you lunch at a stream , and you have to go over the hill to get towards home, the first thing after lunch is a  good pull up and over the hill . WE did that, and as we pulled up and over , the grass got longer, and thicker, and more rocky. A lonely Wild Dagga Plant gave some colour to the moment, then we had to drop down over the other side of the hill. The drop was steep , the going rough, but got rougher as we forced our way around the top edge fringe of a large clump of bush. Needless to say , there was no real path , just an animal track here and there, and some of us got up nice and close to some thorny bramble , and others seem to miss it. Finally we arrived at a road  thank heavens for the road, and head  quick steps, and twinkly toes (boots) back to the cars. 19 20 21 Pic 19 Lonely Wild Dagga plant Pics 20 , 21 - Where is that path ?????!!!!!! Back at the cars, our intrepid hikers surveyed their bush wounds , some had and some did not . Now , how did some get so wounded, while others seemed to be scarless ? Then the long trouser ones  un backpacked straight into the car. 22 23 Pics 22 Scared and unscared Pic 23 Happy to be back at the car. An interesting days outing, with great weather, the bush bashing was probably not too everyone s liking , but a new area visited, experienced and ticked off. Well done to all the hikers for a brave effort. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If anyone is interested in a hike planned especially for you , feel free to contact me Bergfree Adventures www.bergfree.co.za ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~