BERGFREE ADVENTURES NEWSLETTER NUMBER 91 17 May 2010 MBC to Centenary Hut via Injisuthi (Killer Ridge) Central Berg SA Hikers 8 – 9 May 2010 Injisuthi – or to give it it’s original Zulu name – The Valley of the Fat Dog” lies in the Central part of the great uKhahlamba Drakensberg World Heritage Park. This is one of the areas to hike in Drakensberg range. The last section of the road is a bit rough, but with a cool driving hand, the rewards are great.. It is a great place to camp with family and friends. 13 of us met on a bright cool May morning at the Injisuthi Camp office to sign the Mountain Rescue Register, meet each other, and get ready to begin out trek up into the high regions of the berg. At this time of year the trees in the campsite are changing into Autumn dress giving a very colourful splash of colour to the camp. However, lift your eyes a bit higher, and one cannot help but feel a little intimidated by the great high massive mountains of Champagne Castle, The Monk and Cathkin Peak staring down at you. The first obstacle on this hike is the crossing of the Injisuthi river/stream. This stream has a huge, steep, rocky catchment area , and a rain up the valley can cause major crossing problems. So if it has rained recently , take the safer “high dry path” that starts at the bridge . Walking up the valley, one has great views of high peaks of the Injisuthi Buttress area high up the catchment area. Then you turn off the main path, and take a much lesser used path to head to Centenary hut. The grass is high, the path all but indistinct, the temperature in the narrow valley rises, and suddenly you realize – this could be one of those “harder” hikes. Eventually, we worked our way out of the thick river grass, crossed the river, and came face to face with “the hill’. The hill goes up , and up, and up , relentlessly , with no end in sight – blind ridge after blind ridge . Well, it was not one of my better hiking days, I think all hikers have then somewhere along the line. My energy ran out, my legs cried and wanted to turn into balls and roll down this ++++***### hill , down back into the cool river so far below. The front – tough hikers were no where to be seen , and probably never to be seen again, who in their right mind would come back down this miserable hill to see who had died on the way up ????? To the rescue , 2 compassionate hikers , also very tired and worn out , but happy to see someone worse off than them , who gave much encouragement and who did not think it was a good idea for me to roll into a ball and roll down into the river. Another rescuer, in the form of Keith who came back to see if his wife was o.k. Keith , on crutches due to a knee injury, with great force ripped my backpack from me, and carried it up the next steep bit to where he had left his pack, Elaine who had also come back to see what the tail end guys were doing, then took my pack further up to her pack. Centenary hut was built many years ago as ago as a base for Mountaineering activities in this remote area. Unfortunately, over the years it has been vandalized, unkept, unused , and in general in a pretty poor state of repair. The building is solid. Windows broken , but still a good place to be in, in very bad weather However, the views from this hut are some of the best in the world. Sunsets and sunrises are incredibly. One can see from Cathkin Peak North, to the massive of Giants Castle in the South. All below lie a myriad of valleys of the Lower berg. The effort to get here , from which ever route you take are well worth it, PROVIDE and this comes with the territory – THE WEATHER BE GOOD ! After breakfast , a quick group photo, and note the warm jackets – mornings are now getting colder. A little while later, it is “stripping off time”, as the sweat starts to build up in the warmer morning sunshine. The views from along the Cloudlands ridge are really mind blowing, and one needs to slow down, sit down , look around and take in this magnificent scenery. Dropping down off the high ridge , down back into the Injisuthi Valley, the views are just as spectacular. One always sees more coming down a big hill than going up, because one has a panoramic view of all that lies around you , the clouds, the valleys and anything else. One must just remember to stop now and again to look and savour the moment and the scenery.. A great scenery hike. PS- following a bad week at home following this hike, I eventually ended up at the doctors for treatment of a sever stomach infection and virus, as well as severe dehydration . This probably was the start of the infectiuon on this hike. So one never knows what may strike you when you are feeling fit and strong. A medication of strong rehydrates, a good mineral and energy tonic, and some other pills seemed to sort the problem out. Take care on a hike - it can be very debilitating not seeking medical help early. Bergfree Adventures www.bergfree.co.za ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~