Day 330 / 95

Date: 8 March 2023
Sleeping location: Near lake 25.8108S 31.0990E, South Africa

Distance (km today/total/total Part 2): 61 / 20383 / 5546
Estimated climb (m today/total/total Part 2): 1400 / 179800 / 61800
Moon: shy
Day in three words: The Barberton Bastard

I slept badly, due to heartburn that was possibly a result of eating too much sausage, so I woke late and as usual when leaving a nice place took my time in packing up. Eventually I rolled out at 12 after getting a few pics with Detlef. He was a good guy, very no-nonsense, practical and helpful* and my stay with him was very restorative for both Maggie and me. 

 

Getting out of town involved some bastard steep hills, but soon I hit a bigger road and began a long gradual climb through the suburbs and industrial areas. The road was quiet, smooth and wide with a big shoulder, but the potential calmness was disrupted by Maggie’s gears randomly jumping around. I’ll give this a bit of time to settle down but I’m sensing that it’s going to need a bit more than blind hope. After the top of a climb was a very fast and technical descent into a big landscape of forested hills, then a gently undulating road through the same. It was sunny and pretty hot on the road, and at one point I passed an unsquished but motionless, coiled up, snake that was just a foot from my foot. I have no idea if it was alive and basking in the sun or dead, but subsequent research suggests it might have been a juvenile Puff Adder, so probably best not to think about it.

I came over a small rise and saw the town of Barberton backed by wall of big steep mountains which I knew I had to go over via a dreadful climb. I scanned for a potential route but couldn’t see anything sensible, which is probably because the road was not sensible. I stopped at a petrol station to take a late lunch, fill up my water and drink 2l of ginger beer, then began climbing. My first view of the road was another of those "is that seriously the way we’re going" moments - it looked like someone had drawn a very straight, very steep line in a random direction up the side of a mountain, and it was an absolute beast, 600m in 6km with a section of 4km at 12% in the middle. The gradient was fairly steady but it was relentless and tough and I was glad I had fresh legs. On the way up I was passed, very slowly, by an older lady on a mountain bike who was doing 6kph to my 5kph. We had a brief chat before she “sped away”, then her husband Nick, who was driving up as he was currently too injured to ride, went past and slowed right down to chat. After learning about my journey he offered me a place to stay back in town, but there was no way I was coming up this hill again.

Once past the long straight section the gradient mellowed out a bit and the views back down to the plain below and the other mountains became increasingly excellent. With sunset and the summit not far away came a minor disaster - another puncture in my “puncture proof” tyres. This one had come via a tiny thorn through the (comparatively weak) sidewall, which at least meant it was easy to diagnose, remove and stick a spare inner in. Nick came past again then asked if I was ok, re-offered a bed for the night, gave some advice on where I could camp, then gave me his business card and asked me to text him to let him know I was safe. A really lovely and helpful guy, like so many South Africans have been. 

 

With the sky turning a deep orange I had a short descent over into the mountain range proper and a rolling sea of forestry plantations - perfect wild camping terrain. I had thought about heading down to a reservoir but there were “no entry” signs and it’s never a good idea to ignore those. Instead I took a random path down through a cleared section, which lead to a dead end with just-about-level ground and lovely views. It was a nice spot, pretty well hidden and very quiet apart from the noise of crickets and frogs. After I’d set everything up the full moon peeked up from behind a hillside and I watched him clamber, moving slowly but perceptibly, upwards until he was free to move across the sky. It's rare to see that and it was a beautiful experience. So far I've been in SA for twelve nights, slept in almost exclusively excellent places and paid for accommodation just three times.

*I had no signal overnight and he tried to call me a couple of times to make sure I was ok, which was very sweet