NATAL DRAKENSBERG

Use a kitlist to check off the items you need for your hike, especially if you are a newcomer or haven't hiked for some time.

Develop a packing system for yourself and try to stick to it so that you always know where things are. If things can get lost in a handbag, you can imagine what can get lost in an 80 litre backpack!

Your sleeping bag should go inside your backpack. Buy a proper stuff-sack to compress it to fit, if necessary, and seal it inside a large rubbish bag to keep it dry. Since it is the last item to be used each day of a hike, it makes sense to pack your sleeping bag at the bottom of the upper, main compartment, although some people prefer to put it in the bottom compartment.

Group your clothing into functional groups (e.g. sleepwear, warm-wear, next day's clothes, etc.) and seal them in plastic bags as well. Except for your rainwear and a jacket, the rest of your clothes can go in the bottom compartment (or the bottom of the upper, main compartment - whichever you prefer).

Pack your food into the side pouches and the top of the main compartment. Your rainwear and jacket will also have to fit into the main compartment.

Do not fill your water bottle at home - do this when you get to the starting point of the hike. Water bottles are prone to leak because of the decreasing air pressure outside as you drive to the higher altitude of the Drakensberg.

Make sure you do any major adjustments to your backpack in advance of your hike. This involves changing the height between the hip-belt and shoulder straps so that the hip-belt sits on your hips and not over them. You will probably have to do this if you borrow a backpack. Most of the pack's weight should be carried by your hips. It is difficult to make this adjustment on some internal frame packs, and you don't want to delay the group just as everyone is ready to start walking!

As a backpacker, your feet are your greatest asset! Take good care of them, and never walk around barefoot unnecessarily. Stubbed toes, thorns, cuts and snake bite can ruin your hike!

Cut your toenails before you go on a hike! This little exercise in personal hygiene can save you a considerable amount of discomfort when going downhill. Hikers have been known to lose long toenails either during or after their hike, besides destroying their socks!

Do your boots up properly, lacing them all they way up to the top as intended. Tie your laces with a firm double bow, and cover them with gaiters (either the anklet or full-length type).

Before you start hiking in cold weather you may feel comfortable in your warm jacket, longs, Balaclava and gloves. If you are going uphill, within a few minutes you will want to stop and remove most of this extra clothing, to the extreme annoyance of those with more sense! If you have any consideration you will just have to put up with the discomfort until the leader calls the first stop! Look to the more experienced hikers in your group for an example and heed their advice.

Rain-wear can make you very hot and uncomfortable, especially in summer, regardless of how breathable the fabric is claimed to be. Avoid wearing it in mist, intermittent light drizzle and short, light showers, but always keep it handy at the top of your backpack.

Keep a jacket in the top of your backpack so that when you make a longer rest stop in cold or windy weather you can keep yourself warm. Remove the jacket as soon as you are ready to start walking again.

Pick your feet up, especially over uneven ground. This will reduce damage to your boots and the chances of stumbling or twisting an ankle.

A major fall while wearing a backpack can be catastrophic! Stay focused and concentrate on your walking. Watch where you place your feet, always choosing the firmest, most solid-looking option. Beware of loose rocks, pebbles, wet clay and overhanging tufts of grass. If you cannot avoid these, try to use them only to steady yourself, and don't transfer all your weigh to them. You should aim never to fall, since each such event could cause an injury.

Never step on wet black rock - it is almost always slippery, so you are virtually assured of an ignominious fall! The same can be said of wet clay.

When a path is so overgrown with high bush and grass that you can hardly make it out, you should slow right down and feel your way through it with your feet.

As much as possible, try to walk with a natural gait that is comfortable for you. The less rolling, teetering and tripping you do, the less energy you expend, and you will expose your ankles to far less strain.

Modern backpack designs allow you to make frequent and easy adjustments using lock-buckles. If your shoulders are feeling sore, transfer more weight to your hips by tightening the hip-belt and slackening off the shoulder straps. Do the reverse if your hips are getting sore. You can do this on the move - there is no reason to stop! Frequent adjustments are almost as refreshing as a stop anyway.

It is usually better to swing your arms freely at your sides. However, you will need to lift them  to clear porcupine grass, brambles and rocks. Where there are a lot of these obstacles you can tuck your thumbs under your shoulder straps to support your arms with the minimum of effort.

Don't encumber yourself with hand luggage, and don't tuck your hands away somewhere (e.g. under shoulder straps or in pockets) so tightly that you cannot get them out in a hurry should you need to arrest a fall.

It is better to take lots of small, low steps than large, high ones when going uphill. Zigzag your way up a steep hill; this flattens the climb and also reduces soil erosion.

You are much more likely to slip or lose your footing during a steep descent than a steep climb, so take special care going downhill. Increase the gap between you and the person immediately in front of you. Don't brake yourself on gravel, clay, sand or dry grass - make use of bedrock, large boulders, roots and grass tufts instead. Crab side-ways on grassy slopes - braking is easier and you will be able to arrest yourself better if you do slip. Zigzagging downhill will flatten the descent, reduce soil erosion and save you a lot of wear and tear on your knees. A really steep descent can be almost as exhausting as a steep climb. It certainly requires a lot more concentration and you will still work up a sweat!

Conserve your energy by conserving your height. You expend precious effort gaining height, so don't gain it or lose it unnecessarily. If you have a choice, a slow, steady gain in height is a better option than a short, steep climb. You should even try to conserve your height for each step that you take. Over rough ground, try to step on firm boulders and ledges that will allow you to level your path as much as possible instead of bobbing up and down.

Once a group is underway, try not to disrupt the pace of the other hikers. If you maintain a steady pace you will feel more relaxed and you will not irritate those behind you with a stop-start type of progress. You can also use your momentum to help carry you over some obstacles or up short little rises.

If you are feeling tired, don't just stop! Besides the potential for causing a multi-hiker pile-up, you may lose the rest of your group if the leader is unaware that you have suddenly dropped out! You will also never develop the fortitude needed for more difficult hikes. Rather decrease your pace and push yourself onwards at a reduced speed. When the leader sees the gap between you and the person in front of you gradually increasing, he / she will know that it is time for a stop.

 

	If the person in front of you has an erratic pace, the gap will allow you to enjoy a steadier pace yourself. The more erratic their pace, the bigger you should make the gap between you.
	If the person in front of you stops suddenly, you will have time for a more gradual stop yourself. It takes a considerable amount of effort to bring yourself to a sudden stop from 4 km/h with a backpack, and a sudden stop may even cause you to skid and lose your footing if your braking surface is poor.
	You can avoid whip-lash from branches and other vegetation that are swung aside by the person in front of you.
	You will have more time to plan your own footing and avoid making the same mistakes as the person in front of you.
	You will have better warning of snakes, brambles, projecting or loose rocks, overhead branches, clay and other potentially hazardous things ahead. This will give you more time to get your footing right, duck or twist yourself around obstructions - or select a better route.

When boulder-hopping across or along a river, take care when transitioning from sand or gravel back to the boulders. Sand and gravel stick quite well to wet boot-soles, making for treacherous conditions when you step onto another hard, smooth surface like that of a river boulder. Rather wriggle the soles of your boots in some water to wash off the dirt before stepping onto more boulders, or if there is no water immediately available, tap your boots gently against some rock to knock the excess dirt off.

When wading across a river you should wear either your boots or a pair of good, strapped sandals (e.g. Rockies). You can easily lose your footing and get very wet if you stand on a sharp or slippery rock with bare feet, and if you stub your toes the rest of your hike will be miserable!

When climbing up a small ledge, make sure you can see where you are putting your hands so you don't get bitten by a berg adder or worse! When climbing down a ledge, always face into the climb (as you would on a ladder) because this allows you to make better use of your hands and feet. Never face outwards because you cannot anchor yourself properly and your backpack may get caught on the rock behind you.

 

	The standing stop - this is often used to allow other hikers to catch up or negotiate an obstacle, or to observe the scenery, draw attention to some fauna or flora, etc. This presents an ideal opportunity to catch your breath and drink some water. Make sure you can reach your water bottle yourself without having to remove your backpack or ask someone to pass it to you. If you can find a high enough ledge or boulder to rest your backpack on and thus take the weight off your shoulders while still standing on your feet, all the better! The standing stop usually lasts only a minute or two.
	The sitting stop - this may be used when a large group has become quite spread-out, or a particularly strenuous section has just been completed. It allows the slower members to catch up and relax a bit themselves, although the folk at the back will always have shorter rest stops than those in front! If you select a suitable boulder or sloping patch of grass, you can sit quite comfortably while the boulder or slope takes the weight of your pack off your shoulders. There is usually no need to remove your backpack; in fact, it can make a very comfortable backrest. In any case, removing your backpack and then putting it on again can take a considerable amount of effort, although the boulder or slope may allow you to do this from a sitting position provided your backpack doesn't get away from you! The sitting stop is usually for 5 to 10 minutes or so, but during this time the leader or one of the other fitter members of the group may scout ahead for the best route.
	The refreshment stop - here you "dismount" (remove your backpack) and have a snack, eat your lunch, take a swim or have a catnap. You will even be able to explore a bit without being encumbered by your pack. This type of stop is usually for at least 30 minutes.

When you remove your backpack for a rest, always lie it on a clean rock or grassy area with the hip-belt and padding uppermost. If you place your pack the other way up in some filth, spear-grass or mud, you will transfer these to your clothing when you put it back on. In rain, it is better to have a wet hip-belt and padding than muddy ones!

Never sit on your backpack! Besides potentially crushing food and equipment like billies, stoves, sunglasses and torches, you can bend the frame and make your pack very uncomfortable. You will also place the stitching under unnecessary strain, and perhaps puncture the shell with sharp stones, thorns and thatch grass.

One of the reasons people take up backpacking is to get away from the over-crowding and rat-race of modern society, so don't crowd the other hikers in your group by tail-gating them (see above), sitting on top of them, putting your stuff on top of theirs, etc. Spread out, make use of the space around you, and let the others do the same!

Once at your overnight destination, take the trouble to choose your campsite or sleeping area carefully (if you have a choice). In a cave, use a groundsheet to mark off your area and try to keep its top surface clean to protect your expensive hiking equipment (e.g. sleeping bag, backpack, warm clothing, etc.) from the dirt. There is absolutely no need to grovel in filth! Take care to respect the "clean areas" of other group members as well, especially by not walking on their groundsheet and bedding or spilling food or drinks on these.

After claiming your sleeping area, one of the first things you should do is collect water. Especially if the water is out of sight of the cave, you will not know where the other members of the group have washed themselves, so your should rather fetch water before any bathing takes place! Washing should take place below the point where everyone collects water. The leader may allocate these areas, especially when there are inexperienced hikers in his / her group.

You can make a pillow by using your sleeping bag stuff sack and filling it with some spare clothing items such as your jacket and your clothes for the next day.

Always make sure that at least one other person in the group knows where you are at any given time, should you need to answer a call of nature, collect some water, etc. This is especially true during refreshment stops. It is all too easy - particularly with a large group - for someone to be left behind by accident!

When breaking camp after an overnight stay in a cave, allow yourself at least 1 hour for the task. Unless you have developed an efficient routine you will probably need closer to 1,5 hours. Get dressed, pack your backpack, and prepare and eat your meal and hot drinks all at the same time, otherwise you will waste a considerable amount of time. Allow at least 1,5 hours to break camp when tenting. Novice hikers may need up to 2 hours for this task! Remember - you don't need to hurry, you just need to have a good routine and manage your time well. Certainly there is no time to day-dream or sit and stare into empty space!

Do not use bath or dish soap in the streams and rivers, even if it is biodegradable. Soap reduces the surface tension of the water, and insects such as pond skaters will drown! You will find it unnecessary to use bath soap, mainly because the water is usually so cold you will freeze trying to wash the soap off yourself! A quick duck in and out of the water is usually about all that is tolerable! You should wash your dishes thoroughly with dish soap to avoid getting stomach bugs - especially on long hikes - but make sure that none of this lands back in the stream. Similarly, brush your teeth and rinse away from the stream, using your mug.

If you have any left-over food from supper or breakfast, bury it. It looks very unsightly to throw this outside the cave, even if you think you may be feeding the local fauna. Your left-overs do not constitute their natural diet and the only reason they will eat them is because nature has imbued them with a natural instinct to clean up after us messy humans!  Also avoid putting scraps of food into the stream when you wash your dishes. Work on the principle that another group of hikers may be using the cave immediately after you. In high season with popular caves, this is often the case.

Matchsticks, cigarette butts and candle wax all constitute rubbish and must be treated as such, so take them back home with you. It is unlikely that there will be any smokers in a backpacking party, but it is amazing how many smokers don't consider their cigarette butts to be litter. Similarly, many hikers don't consider matchsticks to be litter either. You should rather use a gas lighter than matches anyway.

Remember - what you carry in with you, you must also carry out. Do not bury your rubbish. Keep it in a plastic shopping bag or empty container and discard it when you get home. It is preferable not to discard your rubbish in the bins back at the KZN Wildlife office on your return, because unlike urban areas which have specialist waste contractors, KZN Wildlife must deal with the rubbish themselves and you don't want to add to this burden unnecessarily.

Urinate far from the cave or campsite, in the open where the rain will eventually wash away any traces, and not on any paths or stream beds. Women folk who are obliged to use toilet paper for this purpose must use a trowel to bury the paper properly, not just place a rock on top of it with the paper sticking out from underneath. Unfortunately it is often all too easy to recognise when a woman has passed by because of this disgusting habit!

Defecate far from the cave or campsite as well, in the open and also not on any paths or stream beds. This task is best done during daylight hours! Use a trowel to dig an appropriately-sized hole, or use the heel of your boot if the ground is soft enough. Ensure that all your used toilet paper ends up in the hole as well and doesn't blow away. Then cover the hole with the soil you dug our, press the area down firmly with your boot, and if there are any convenient, loose rocks lying around, place one or more of these on top of the spot where you squatted. When you have finished, there should be no obvious evidence that you have been there.

Be careful when venturing out at night to answer a call of nature! Preferably let someone else know where you are going, even if it means waking them up. In mist or snow, without any lights in your cave or tent to use as a bearing, it is frighteningly easy to become disorientated and get yourself into trouble. In bad weather this could spell disaster!

You should start the remainder of your clean-up as soon as you get back home. Put your boots, bedding and tent out to air and dry. Discard your rubbish and empty your backpack of used clothes so that it doesn't start to smell. The rest you can do at a more convenient time!

Regular hikers generally start re-packing their backpacks as soon as their equipment is clean and dry again. With the exception of their sleeping bag (this should be left unpacked so that it can loft properly) and clothing, most equipment can go straight back into your backpack, thus simplifying packing for your next hike.