The Truth About Hiking In The Drakensberg
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- čas přidán 3. 08. 2024
- Some brutal honesty about what it is really like to hike in the Drakensberg mountains in South Africa. A lot of this information can apply to any wilderness or mountainous area.
Link to Drakensberg forum: www.vertical-endeavour.com/ - Sport
Excellent advice that applies equally to all remote and mountainous regions. Please please please tell me you carry a PLB and/or sat phone? BTW altitude sickness is not related to fitness - slow acclimitiation helps. As you said everybody should research this and know what to do. Love your passion for this wonderful and uber challenging part of the world:) First aid courses should be updated (even if it's online) since the techniques keep changing. Well done, thanks.
Thanks! Yes, you are correct about altitude sickness; I'll pin your comment to help people take note of this. I admit that I do not currently carry a PLB nor a sat phone. The subscriptions work out to be quite expensive in South Africa, but I have recently been discussing the possibility of sharing the costs between several hiking friends and co-owning the PLB as we so often hike together anyway. If we ever needed it, the cost would totally be justified...
@@RoughingItWithRuth I'm so glad you're considering getting a PLB. Priceless if needed. We used to hire one and now own one since we often hike in remote areas where you see nobody at all. Do you discuss emergency plans on your trips - so responses are automatic when it counts ? We discuss what to do in an earthquake as we're crossing major fault boundaries - probably pray, lol!!! Ciao
As a new CZcamsr who wants to do hiking vlogs...I needed this video...I've only done easy hiking so far...
@@zamanokhwe8339 Congrats on joining the CZcams hiking family! Easy is different for everyone; I would LOVE to see your hikes!
@@RoughingItWithRuth I only have two so far...nothing compare to yours...you're a pro...
I am new to hiking. Your video is so incredibly helpful. Thanks Ruth 😊
I'm glad it helped!
You forgot to mention how ADDICTIVE the DrakensbergMountains are... I've been twice in 4 months and going back again in June... I want to go back every two months. So much to do there. You've covered a lot thank you
You're absolutely right! Maybe the addiction is the most dangerous part ;)
Thanks Ruth. Although this is an old video. Always good to be reminded x
Thanks! Good to know it is still helpful 😊
Thank you Ruth. This is such good advice.
Glad it was helpful!
We have a couple of terms we use in the US to separate the two. Hiking for long walks with minor peaks. Mountaineering for technical scrambling and extreme peaks. Based on your videos it seems like much of the range is closer to the latter. It’s a very different set of gear and skills than just long walks. Beautiful area, but it should be respected. Great video. I spent the better part of my 20s and 30s looking at doing the Colorado 14ers(peaks over 14k feet). Seems similar to your beautiful range there.
Thanks Mark! Great distinction in terms :) I really hope one day I can see some of those beautiful American mountains myself!
Ruth I totally agree with you about hiking alone. It's never a good idea to hike alone especially in a rough area like the drakensberg.
Thanks!
awesome footage! looks like a rough but fun trip
Thank you! It was definitely fun :)
Awesome video, thx heaps!!
Thanks!
Excellent video!
Thank you!
3:25 wow that's insane. Cheers for the video thumbs up & Subbed!
Thanks!
Love the berg. you made some good points.
Thanks Steven!
That area makes for a very uncomfortable place, beautiful but still uncomfortable. I can see how someone could be drawn to an adventure like that but it certainly isn’t for everyone. I’m sure this video will serve as a great source for someone considering such a trip. I would say you covered almost every issue one might experience in that location. All the words in the world can’t replace actual experience so it definitely makes perfect sense to go with someone that’s been there before. On a side note, how long were you there? The size and bulk of the packs shown in this video really struck me. I’m sure everything in those packs were absolutely necessary to make such a trip. Another informative video. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and encouragement to your fellow backpackers.
Thank you Richard! The footage in this video actually comes from 2 different trips (both 4 days and 3 nights long). It does always amaze me how differently different people approach backpacking. Some people really take the bare minimum, and then others take a huge amount of luxuries. I quite enjoy the contrast between the 2 styles :D
Well said Ruth
Thank you :D
Great video! It's like being a foreign exchange student for a few mins! It looked like an amazing trip, even if it was difficult!
Thank you! I feel the same way (about the exchange student thing) about your channel!
That area looks beautiful. I really liked all your advice about backpacking that area. Thanks for sharing and I really like your channel. 😃😃👍
Thank you, Jason!
I have just discovered these mountains via a British gardening programme :-) The mountains might be remote but they look pretty crowded, to be honest. Here, in central Europe, you can hike in the less touristy mountains for hours on end without meeting a single soul. Strange, isn't it ? Cheers!
Sounds amazing! Parts of the Drakensberg are very remote as well, where you are not likely to meet any people, but I tend to always go there with a group of people for safety reasons. I would LOVE to hike in Europe one day!
@@RoughingItWithRuth Please, do so :-) You might like the less obvious hiking destinations in Europe such as Romania, Ukraine, south-east Poland.
The gardening programme presenter interviewed two British botanists looking for some native plants in the Drakensberg; sadly, the knowledgeable couple was later murdered in the oNgoye Forest, what a pity indeed. Cheers!
@@pertelote4526 Oh my goodness, that is a very sad tale 😢
I may have gone to the top of the burg alone 4 times this year and I’m only 18. Sorry it’s just too fun
Keep enjoying the berg but be safe, maybe a gps communicator, and her point about rescue being potentially days away is very valid with rescue-chopper availability at the moment in this country. Love solo hikes myself as well, just saying bru, anything can happen.
Thanks for the great video. What is the safety like regarding the locals(shepherds etc) in the area? Warm regards
Hi Clint. I haven't had any issues, but some areas are more prone to problems than others. Check out the Berg Alert thread on vertical-endeavour.com for the latest updates.
@@RoughingItWithRuth are there ways to avoid these areas as we drew up a map of all the problem areas and got the information from vertical endeavour and it shows many areas. Would you recommend that we do this journey with more than 2 people (safety in numbers)?
Have you ever used a guiding company? I'm looking for personal recommendations for a Mafadi summit.
I have never used a guiding company; I've just planned the trips myself. I have seen some good reviews online of 'Drakensberg Hiker', but have not tried them personally.
What would you say about attacks in the drakensberg
Attacks do happen sometimes, unfortunately. I also check the hiking forums (vertical-endeavour.com) for the latest news about problem areas. I also only use a red light when on the top of the mountain so that it cannot be seen from too far away. I carry mace with me, hike with a group of people, and try to setup camp out of sight of high traffic areas whenever possible.
Ok thanks you
Hahaha Ruth I love your energy. I look forward to your clips... I've done Drakensberg a couple of times and this clips is super true. Share your Insta page pls
Thank you Lerato! I don't know if it's a good idea to admit this, but I actually don't have Instagram, ha ha ha ha ha!
Guess what. I went to mweni. First time. On my own. With equipment never tested. No gps.
Glad you had a good time 😊
Lucky you
Escarpment is a mess, tents get cut up and shoes etc get stolen
This has happened for sure, but I have never experienced it. I have spent numerous nights on the escarpment and have never had issues like that. I do always check online forums beforehand to see whether there have been any recent reports of that sort of thing.