Things going wrong is a part of life, and it doesn’t always point to poor planning. Sometimes, things will just go wrong. In hiking, this may take the form of a sudden change in weather, getting lost, or even an injury. And sometimes, everything that can go wrong just go wrong. And when it is a weekend hike, good decision-making is crucial as you must find a way to survive!
Please bear with me if this sounds like a high school composition titled ‘A Journey by Bus’. I just need to share what my hiking buddies and I experienced recently. While you may not experience this in your hiking journey, I hope my sharing will make you realise that even when things go south, they don’t always spell complete and utter disaster!
Where
to?
It had been
a while since my last weekend hike, and I was ecstatic. The company was good. It
was a mix of hikers I have seen recently (as in a year or more ago) and those I
had not hiked with in a long time. For many of us, it was a reunion of sorts,
and we were looking forward to catching up. The Mpumalanga Province, with its
rolling hills and beautiful waterfalls, was beckoning and a perfect fit for a
hikers’ reunion.
Time
When you
travel as a group, especially with common transport, the issue of time always
becomes a factor. Our group was made of people from Pretoria/Johannesburg
and Rustenburg/Mafikeng, with transport from Johannesburg. My place was the
meeting place for those from outside the province and around Pretoria.
Surprisingly, almost everybody arrived on time, only for transport to be
delayed due to traffic congestion from the South.
Transport
I’m not
much of a fan of group travel, especially during hiking trips. I‘ve had one too
many unpleasant experiences that put me off, though I still find myself doing
it. Maybe it's because I’m always amused at how adults suddenly turn into their
teenage selves in such settings. The adults in the kombi did not disappoint. All
their titles gave way to happy teens, sharing jokes and chatting gaily until
the mood was almost dampened by the traffic officer who decided to question the
authenticity of the license plate, wasting more than 30 minutes of travel.
And
then there was a trailer
Traveling
late tends to be unnerving, especially because reaching most hiking trails
involves driving on gravel roads. We had barely left the Gauteng Province when
the bright orange sun bid us goodbye as it settled in the West, meaning the
rest of our journey was after sunset. And there we were, in the dark, with
about 10 km of gravel road still ahead of us, when suddenly there was a funny
sound. Another funny sound followed just before the kombi came to a halt. A
wheel from the trailer had gone off, breaking stuff in the process. This
required some decision-making and teamwork. And dare I say, the team didn’t do
too bad.
The dirty
house
Hiking accommodation is always basic, and usually there is no electricity. Although there were no kitchen utensils, our base camp accommodation had electricity and hot water. That, in this world, is luxury. The excitement of the ‘luxury’ was quickly wiped off as switching on the lights revealed a filthy and almost spooky house with spiderwebs and dirt all over. We don’t always expect luxury, but the least we expect is cleanliness. It is easy for hikers to get agitated and dejected when they encounter such a situation. And some were – rightfully so. And when you still have three nights at a place, you can make the most of the situation or spend the most miserable long weekend far from home. Hikers know best!
Hikers are used to sharing rooms and bunk beds. The least they ask for is cleanliness.
Within no
time, we stopped talking about what the host should or should not have done,
and we tried to make the place liveable as it would be our home for that long
weekend.
The
trail
Mpumalanga is renowned for its beautiful waterfalls, and when you set out to hike, you almost look forward to being rewarded with one of those. Our hike was to include walking through some plantations and crossing streams using wooden bridges. So, we were naturally excited at the prospect of lunching by a beautiful waterfall. We love well-marked trails, and this one didn’t disappoint with the white and yellow footprints strategically placed on rocks and trees. This worked well until we came to what seemed to be a danger tape. It was confusing because there was no indication from the beginning of the trail that there would be issues ahead. And we decided to go past the tape. Our decision was based on our belief that the tape may have been for trail runners as there were markings indicating a trail running race at some point.
This bridge was hanging by a thread.
While some wooden bridges were somehow stable, some were
crying for maintenance. And yet we continued. Then there it was! The bridge in
front of us was slanted and screaming unsafe! Hikers, being adventurous by
nature, saw the slanted bridge as an adrenalin moment, testing their boots’
grip. And did we come across more unsettling issues along the way? These included
coming across a bridge that was completely broken and getting into the water to
cross the stream, having established that the water level would be safe. I have
a complicated relationship with bodies of water, so you cannot imagine what
this did to me.
This screams danger!
A few hours later, after reaching another completely broken
wooden bridge, the team decided to hike back. That included crossing the water
and the slanted bridge again, where one hiker lost her eyeglasses (what else
could go wrong?). This would have been enough to spoil the weekend mood
completely. That was not to be. Hikers found a way to have a great afternoon despite
the failed hike. In the process, we enlisted the help of one of the workers to
take us to the waterfall the next day. And boy, did we have the best time at
the waterfall. All the teens came to play freely, with everybody leaving the
place soaking wet! All gratitude to breathable hiking gear!
In the end
What was supposed to be a disastrous hiking weekend became a beautiful weekend of laughter and much love shared. With everything that could go wrong, having gone wrong, we still came back having had the best time. I cannot advise you to go over broken bridges, but when a hiking trip goes south, it is up to you to make it what you want. One step at a time, putting one foot in front of the other!
And then there was water!
NB! I informed the booking company about our
displeasure. I’m convinced the trail should probably be closed for maintenance.
Why they accepted our booking is still a mystery, but I hope they will not
subject more people to that experience!
Td
