I think i might quit school and become a mountain woman, seriously, nothing is more rewarding than climbing to the top of a mountain, which is exactly what i did this weekend. Ok from the beginning...
This is my last weekend before school starts- i know, longest vacation ever- so the Michigan State kids and i planned a weekend get away in the Drakensberg Mountains about an 2 and half hours away from the University. We took this bus called the Baz Bus that drives backpackers across the country and they dropped us off at a hostel called the Amphitheatre Backpackers. side note: amazing hostel, a pool, hot tub, awesome food, fully stocked bar, sweet hammock made of wood, all 8 of us in a "mixed dorm".
We got there Friday afternoon and four of us rented mountain bikes to go on a "leisurly bike ride" and see some of the mountains. Wrong! not very leisurly at all. Started off with a huge hill and then the guy told us to make a left to get onto a dirt road to a dam we could swim in. As i sweated through my tshirt and held on to my handle bars as tight as i could i bounced down this rocky road and all of a sudden i was sorrounded by horses, sheep and goats. We continued on throwing our bikes over fences and dodging mounds of poop until we got to what we thought was the dam, but it definately wasn't. Lost in the mountains of South Africa, what to do, what to do. We back-tracked past Old McDonald's farm animals and hopped some other fences to follow a canal home. It was beatiful, sweaty and an adventure, to say the least. We followed a main road home and drank a Liter of water and then a fruity cocktail:)
Day 2 of mountain adventure consisted of actually hiking up a mountain to a waterfall. Not just any waterfall, the second largest waterfall in the world, Tugela Falls. We drove 2 hours to higher up the mountain so we could make the peak hike in one day instead of 4. With a guide we hiked and hike over rocks and water into the clouds. At some points the clouds were so thick you couldn't see 3 people in front of you or the mountain, and other points you could see forever into the valley of green mountains and rivers. It looked like a painting- picture
s to come if i can figure it out. The first large obstacle of the hike was a portion called The Gully. For about 45 minutes we climbed at about an 80 degree angle over boulders. I felt like a bear a little bit, or squirrel, either way i felt hard core. When i got to the top it was amazing, but the hike wasn't over. We had some cheese sandwhiches and continued along the top. We arrived at the top of the waterfall and stuck our feet in the warm water. You couldn't see all the way down because of the clouds but my ears definately popped we were so high. We continued along the top until we got to the decent called the "chain ladder" portion of the hike. Of course, being hardcore that i am, i jumped right on and scaled down the 50 meters to the platform below. It was literally just a chain ladder attached to the mountain and swung against the side. Intense, to say the least. After that we hiked the rest of the way down. 12 km in total, lots of hours beautiful views.
The day was exhausting and after relaxing by the hammock we all fell asleep. This morning we played an intense game of ultimate frisbee. Highlights of the game include: my bloodly lip and me scoring the winning touchdown. I know... also pretty hard core.
Hey if you want to mail something to me, my address is:
Laurin Katzenstein
University of KwaZulu-Natal
B 238 Malherbe Residence
Private Bag X01
Scottsville, South Africa
3201
p.s. there is no spellcheck on this thing so i know there is a lot of typos, oops, too lazy to fix it.
This is my last weekend before school starts- i know, longest vacation ever- so the Michigan State kids and i planned a weekend get away in the Drakensberg Mountains about an 2 and half hours away from the University. We took this bus called the Baz Bus that drives backpackers across the country and they dropped us off at a hostel called the Amphitheatre Backpackers. side note: amazing hostel, a pool, hot tub, awesome food, fully stocked bar, sweet hammock made of wood, all 8 of us in a "mixed dorm".
We got there Friday afternoon and four of us rented mountain bikes to go on a "leisurly bike ride" and see some of the mountains. Wrong! not very leisurly at all. Started off with a huge hill and then the guy told us to make a left to get onto a dirt road to a dam we could swim in. As i sweated through my tshirt and held on to my handle bars as tight as i could i bounced down this rocky road and all of a sudden i was sorrounded by horses, sheep and goats. We continued on throwing our bikes over fences and dodging mounds of poop until we got to what we thought was the dam, but it definately wasn't. Lost in the mountains of South Africa, what to do, what to do. We back-tracked past Old McDonald's farm animals and hopped some other fences to follow a canal home. It was beatiful, sweaty and an adventure, to say the least. We followed a main road home and drank a Liter of water and then a fruity cocktail:)
Day 2 of mountain adventure consisted of actually hiking up a mountain to a waterfall. Not just any waterfall, the second largest waterfall in the world, Tugela Falls. We drove 2 hours to higher up the mountain so we could make the peak hike in one day instead of 4. With a guide we hiked and hike over rocks and water into the clouds. At some points the clouds were so thick you couldn't see 3 people in front of you or the mountain, and other points you could see forever into the valley of green mountains and rivers. It looked like a painting- picture
s to come if i can figure it out. The first large obstacle of the hike was a portion called The Gully. For about 45 minutes we climbed at about an 80 degree angle over boulders. I felt like a bear a little bit, or squirrel, either way i felt hard core. When i got to the top it was amazing, but the hike wasn't over. We had some cheese sandwhiches and continued along the top. We arrived at the top of the waterfall and stuck our feet in the warm water. You couldn't see all the way down because of the clouds but my ears definately popped we were so high. We continued along the top until we got to the decent called the "chain ladder" portion of the hike. Of course, being hardcore that i am, i jumped right on and scaled down the 50 meters to the platform below. It was literally just a chain ladder attached to the mountain and swung against the side. Intense, to say the least. After that we hiked the rest of the way down. 12 km in total, lots of hours beautiful views.The day was exhausting and after relaxing by the hammock we all fell asleep. This morning we played an intense game of ultimate frisbee. Highlights of the game include: my bloodly lip and me scoring the winning touchdown. I know... also pretty hard core.
Hey if you want to mail something to me, my address is:
Laurin Katzenstein
University of KwaZulu-Natal
B 238 Malherbe Residence
Private Bag X01
Scottsville, South Africa
3201
p.s. there is no spellcheck on this thing so i know there is a lot of typos, oops, too lazy to fix it.
Wow, Laurin, that hike sounds awesome. What an adventure! Glad you are making the most of all of your moments there. I love reading about it, keeps me feeling young :)
ReplyDeleteKaren
This is from the girl who can't parallel park!
ReplyDeletedad