KLOOFING IN THE YS RIVIER IN THE BAVIAANS KLOOF MAY 2005

KLOOFING IN THE BAVIAANS KLOOF APRIL 2005.

About ten years ago my daughters, Nicci and Jacqui had gone off early one morning with some friends and had returned late that night with tales of how they had spent the day hiking and then coming back through the river. Nicci reminded me later of how it was that she had done this in one day with a group of friends and then a second time with Jacqui and Shane. Jacqui had spilt hot chocolate on Shane’s foot so he had done the days hike with a burnt foot and no wet suite. The poor man was completely hypothermic by the time they ended the hike that night.

Since then I have yearned for the experience but never come into contact with anyone who would organise that sort of trip. Then two years ago I was jogging with Mike Perks in Grahamstown at a Men’s Retreat and he told me that Kloofing was one of the things that he loved to do. I then made him promise that he would one day include me in such a trip. Eventually he set the date for the weekend of the 9th of Aril 2005. Kloofing is a form of hiking where the first section of the hike is the climb up the mountains and valleys to a point on a river and the second section is following the river back down to where you started from.

I then persuaded Tim Gendall and Neil Langner to join us. Mike arranged that Peter Bond would make up the 5th member of the team. I was very excited about this trip as it was something completely unknown and packed my backpack a week before the hike. It looked like it might rain so I borrowed a few mattress plastics from the shop. On Friday Barbara had arranged to meet Dawn and Gail in Port Alfred where they stayed in a cottage, had dinner and did plenty of chatting. Ally had a busy schedule with a Friday afternoon party and Snoops in the evening and after that we joined Charles and Ingrid for a braai at their home. This meant that I was pretty rushed in making some sandwiches and final preparations for the hike. It was drizzling but that did not stop us having a great evening and plenty of talk at the fire with Charles, Ingrid and their family. Ally was having a ball but I thought of my long day ahead and we left fairly early.

That night it rained through the night and with that and the anticipation of the day ahead I did not sleep well and was up early to get my stuff ready. Niel was picking me up at 05.30. I woke Ally and when Niel arrived loaded her up as well and we dropped her off at Michael’s house. We then picked up Tim and the rest of the group and eventually left PE at about 06.30.

Neil has one of these double cab Isuzu’s and we had a very comfortable drive to Hankey then Patensie where we stopped at the Spar for candles and Blitz. And eventually arrived at the Ysrivier Farm at about 08.30. The river part of the hike was to be through the Ysrivier. The day started off with an ascent through the farm. Mike kept on saying that we should look out for the path however you had to use a lot of imagination to call any part of where we walked over the two days a “path”. We continued walking up with pauses to catch our breath and look back at the magnificent view of the farmlands and the valley. For a while we followed that farm boundary fence which appeared to be a tall game fence. We worked our way through the fence and into the reserve, continuing upward doing quite a bit of bundu bashing as we tried to find the trail. Finally we reached the highest point and after a short break, we began our descent. We continuously remembered to look around and to appreciate the magnificence of the valleys and the entire Baviaans Kloof.

By now we were quite scratched on our legs and arms from the thorn bushes and plants that grow in the area. Peter had a fall and hurt his hand that it was really quite useless for the tasks that lay ahead. We lost the trail a number of times as each time we found a path it would last only a few meters and then seemed to peter out. Mike then told us of how he had become lost at this section and spent three hours in the blazing sun searching for a way down to the river. But his son had told him to look out for the tree with the branches pointing either way and when we spotted this tree we knew we were on track. We then descended to a point where we could look down to the river and a pool that Mike called the bum-slide-pool. The only problem was that there were just sheer cliffs surrounding the pool. Fortunately Mike had a general idea of where we should be going to the only pathway. So at last we reached the stream and the campsite.

The campsite was a tiny clearing on the side of the stream, which would allowed us to make a fire and sleep. It was at the campsite that we first saw an insect eating flower. This flower has a delicate tubular stem, four bright red petals, which surround a brown (poo-smelling) center. Flies in particular, are attracted to the smell and become trapped in the sticky center where the plant is able then to ingest the insect. Once we had reached this point, to the finish the next day, we were in a deep gorge with cliffs on either side. There was no turning back!

We had reached the campsite at about 14.30 and so had hiked for about 6 hours. We then worked our way up stream to the pool that we had seen from on top of the cliff. By the time I got there Mike was already sliding down the waterfall. Crazy! Thought I. But intrepid Tim followed him around the side of the pool, along a crack in the cliff side, then up a tree that had anchored itself in the crack and up to the top off the fall and with a cry of whoop!!!, slid down to the bottom. He did this a couple of times while Neil, Peter & I watched without envy. After a while we made our way back to the camp and I wondered how we would do this river walking thing with backpacks the next day.

At the campsite Mike crossed the stream and began dismantling a lightning struck tree for firewood and we carted the branches across to the camp area. I saw Tim doing the same a little further upstream. So in a short while we had a huge supply of wood that would last us for the evening and the next morning and still leave plenty for the next group coming this way. Mike’s wife, Barbie had made us a supper of mince, rice & potatoes. Mike prepared the supper for us as we sat around the fire. He even made a pudding which tasted delicious. I took one of the mattress plastics and made a kind of makeshift roof in case of rain in the night. Tim and Neil took their chances and slept under the stars. Early in the evening we saw that it was clear but still anticipated rain.

We were all pretty clapped from the day’s walk and were in our sleeping bags fairly early. We tried to find an area where there were no rocks but Peter seemed to position himself to sleep just where he would be uncomfortable for the night. Neil found a corner under the trees and seemed to settle in well. Tim settled for a downward sloping patch, which would have no shelter but he seemed content. When we settled down for the night the stars were shining in the little area of sky that we could see through the gorge and the trees but by about midnight it began to rain light showers. Fortunately nothing to really wet us and we were able to have a reasonable sleep. Peter was heard to ask if it was time to rise, to which Mike replied “mmmmm 02.00am?” I for one, had a good night’s rest. In fact much better than I would have expected from the Spartan conditions that we had.

We woke at dawn and soon were heating up water for breakfast and coffee. Packing up for the day’s hike was to be quite a task as we had to use all available black bags to insulate our sleeping bags and clothing. Mike had warned us that if water got into the fabric, our packs would become so waterlogged that the packs would weigh a ton. My big mistake was I did not pack the mattress plastics well enough, thinking that they would not retain the water. What I should actually have done is to have left the plastics in the cave and weighed them down with stones for future use by hikers.

We started the morning hike with prayer and requested guidance and safe hiking. We had put on our wetsuits and walked in either sandals or running shoes. We left the camp at about 08.00. The first part of the hike is spent on the sides of the river trying to maximise the time spent out of the water. You are able to move much quicker out of water than wading through the river, even though you have to climb over rocks and push your way through bushes and branches. We crossed the river often and were soon sweating and looking forward to our first swim. Mike had done the same walk a few weeks earlier but it seemed that most of the hike was unfamiliar to him. The river is confusing and there are no landmarks to assist with pinpointing exactly where you are at any point. From here the hike became a blur of walking, swimming, bum-sliding, climbing and jumping. Each time we would have to swim we would toss the backpacks into the river and they would float ahead of us. The backpacks have sufficient buoyancy to remain floating even if tossed from extremely high cliffs.

I am able to remember a few highlights such as the first really high waterfall, which required a jump. We tossed our bags down and Tim launched himself into the abyss. Peter and I were much more cautious and eased our way down a crack in the cliff face before jumping into the pool. We did a lot of bum-sliding and jumping down the lesser falls.

The problem with sliding down a fall is that where the water hits the pool below, it becomes like a washing machine and you are unable to see if there is a rock or if it is clear to jump into the pool. Mike told us that he had once broken his foot on such a slide. This made us extra careful. When you are in this gorge there is no way out except on your own feet. It would be impossible for a fellow hiker to carry you out and no helicopter could ever possibly get to you. It is important that you continuously look up and back. Otherwise you will miss the splendor of the cliffs that surround you at all times. The river is very narrow and the cliffs are quite imposing and magnificent. At no time is there any riverbank to speak of so you are always searching for a scrap of pathway to substitute walking through the water. But the chance of finding any path that you do not have to fight your way through is slim.

After a while we came to a fall which was impossible to jump into the pool below and we had to make our way down by means of a rope. Mike had a rope in his bag but when we got there we saw that there was already a rope in place and so he tossed his bag into the pool below. Neil was the first to descend. Holding onto the rope, he worked his way down, with the water forcing him down as he slid and climbed through the fall. Just as he was near to the bottom the rope snapped and he tumbled the final few meters slipping and sliding into the water below. He came out unscathed but had now to retrieve the rope from Mike’s pack and try to throw it up to Tim who had climbed down as far as the rope would now allow him. Then as Tim strained to grab the rope from Neil, the rope that he was holding onto also snapped.

So here was Mike, Peter and myself stranded at the top with only a short piece of rope left. Tim had landed safely in the pool and from where he was, decided to climb up the cliff face back to where we were waiting and so bring Mike’s rope to us. If he had not done this we would have had a very dangerous bum-slide to the bottom or would have had to try to find an alternate route around the cliff. Once Tim had got the rope to us, Mike threaded it round the remaining piece of the original rope and we were able to climb down through the waterfall. Personally I found the climb down scary and had to hang on for dear life. Tim had the privilege of doing the trip twice. Once the last of us was down. Mike untied the rope and pulled it down for future use.

The next really high fall demanded a compulsory jump so Peter & I had to overcome our fear and launch ourselves down a really scary rock to the pool below. Of course once we had jumped we realised that it was really not that bad. It was just a mind over matter thing.

The next waterfall was to be scariest of all. Neil, Peter and Tim got there just before Mike and I. And all we saw was Tim, sliding from the rock next to the fall and into the narrow crevice where the water was rushing down. He held himself there, backpack still on his back but the force of the water building up behind him became too powerful and it forced him through the gap and he slid, tumbled and fell to the bottom. Amazingly he was not hurt and surfaced with his normal grin that we had become accustomed to each time he surfaced from a jump or slide.

Mike then showed us what should happen at this fall: There was a steel pin that had been hammered into a crack in the cliff, to this was tied a series of webbing. This was not sufficient for our climb down, as it did not reach the bottom of the cliff. So what we did was again double the rope that Mike had brought along. Neil then worked his was across to the webbing and looped the rope through the webbing so that the combination of webbing and rope was long enough for us to climb down to the pool below where Tim was by now waiting for us.

Neil was first down. He somehow made it into a section of the waterfall and from there was forced down to the pool by the rushing water. Then it was my turn. I was terrified. I was wearing sandals which were slippery and so just getting into a position where I could grab hold of the webbing took all my strength and nerve. I then began the descent by wrapping the webbing around my right hand and easing my way down step at a time. I rested a few times as my shaking legs and arms could hardly stop me from falling down to certain death. By now we had been hiking for five or six hours and so apart from being scared I was also exhausted. Eventually I was able to swing into the actual waterfall where the pounding water was, strangely enough, quite comforting as I thought that at least from here I could slide down if I lost my grip on the rope. This was not to be and the encouraging shouts from Mike, Tim and Neil helped me down to safety and the pool below. It was now Peter’s turn and I could see that he was having an equally tough time getting down but he too made it even though he swung against the cliff face with such force that he smashed his had against the rock and so now had hurt both hands. Mike brought up the rear and seemed so able and confident. He then retrieved the rope and we pressed on.

Once we were through this section it was a case of swim and walk until we reached the weir where an aqueduct had been built many years ago and the last few hundred meters to the farm yard. This section was probably the worst for me as I thought that my clothes and sleeping bag were saturated and this had caused my bag to have become extremely heavy. At this stage I could hardly lift the backpack up onto my back and even when I had it strapped on, became so off balance that the slightest slip led to a fall from which I would struggle to stand again. I was to find out only after I got home that it was the mattress plastics that were full of water (my clothes and sleeping bag were dry) and had added the extra weight to the backpack. This combined with the fact that I was so tired led to me really battling to keep up with the rest of the group.

We reached the Isuzu by about 15.00 (a 7 hour hike today) and had a relaxed drive home with a stop at the Patensie Spar for a cold drink. And that was our kloofing trip. I would say that it was one of the toughest days I have spent hiking. I have had a number of tough days, carrying two bags, the ascent of Kilimanjaro, long days in the Fish River Canyon, etc and this can be counted in the category of extremely tough. The question that we asked each other “will we do it again?” Not this same route in the near future but certainly I will be part of the team next time Mike organises a trip.

Thanks to Mike for putting the whole hike together and to my fellow hikers (Neil, Tim and Peter) for their company and continuous support even when I was holding the group up.
On the Monday after we returned from the trip I felt that I had a sore on my toe. It was either where the sandals had rubbed or where I had scraped on a rock. But by that evening I was in agony and had to go to hospital for antibiotic and pain injection. It only started healing at the end of the week meaning I had to miss running for the week. Of course we all had scratches and bruises on our legs and arms as well as being stiff and sore. When I spoke to my daughter Nicci, she again reminded me that they had done all of this in one day. Starting in the dark and getting saturated from the dew and ending having to walk along the weir and through the aqueduct at night. Scary to say the least!

Peter Giddy
10 April 2005.