Cracken Wolf
Thoughts from the top of a mountain.
What do you do when you are on the top of a mountain — or worse , in a valley — with no real clue which way you should go….??
Your eyes inevitably look towards the leader.
The person / party that is best qualified to make an informed decision , with the best chance of making it to the overnight campsite.
It is either the person with the most experience, or the person who has walked the route before.
Either way , as soon as more than one opinion of where you are gets thrown into the location/ map reading/ distance, topography- stew — things start getting tricky. People start veering off in different directions , and not only is energy wasted but valuable time.
A few other things I’ve picked up from this weekend’s hiking trip in the Cederberg mountains , from Algeria — to the Wolfberg Cracks .
Buy the best Map you get your hands on. Our route was unmarked, and the contours of our $2/ R20 map was to say at best — Sh*&T — not according to scale, and definitely not always correct.
Technology exists for a reason — to make our lives easier. Buy a GPS. It would have saved us a lot of time bickering whether we are actually at LangKLoof , or whether ALL the ‘valleys’ are long ( Afrikaans — ‘lank > lang(er) > lang(ste) ’.
Shoes — probably the most important piece of equipment to spend your money on. All your problems will seem small , once a blister on you right big toe starts to deepen and grow in size.
He who shouts the loudest — isn’t always the one that is heard. In heated discussions, after backtracking up a ravine , it is he who stays calmest — that is able to propose the clearest alternative route.
The Journey is as important as the destination. Don’t forget to take in the lanscape , the experience , and thrill of reaching a peak. Some don’t ever reach the top , but they don’t stop trying.
pS. We never reached the Wolfberg Cracks, or saw the Wolfberg Arch, but we discovered the most amazing landscapes on our way back through Middelvlei , where an unearthly landscape of surreal looking rocks, green grass bushes, and trees, welcomed us. A laid out pathway of boulders , meticulously placed, took us through a semi burnt down forrest , to a crystal clear pool, where we relaxed, swam , and forgot about the fact that we didn’t make our planned destination.
@andriesbekker — Mobile Sales Consultant, Entrepreneur
