Sometimes things go wrong

 

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