have clear roads;
not all roads
lead to the desired
destinations; and not
all straight roads
lead to good destinations.
***
We set out early in the morning to hike up to the Nandi falls, in the Drakensberg (KwaZulu Natal). We were ready for the challenge, and we managed to get there before the sun even touched the horizon.
There was a mist or fog layer that hid the mountains from us, and the initial cold soon gave way to a warm and pleasant morning. And we first needed to walk through some thick overgrowth that kept us away from the waterfalls.
Inside this forest of sorts, I found two small birds, what I presume were the mother and child. The deafening silence of the forest was beautiful, and it gave one some time to reflect on life and all its miseries but also all of its beauty. In fact, are some of life's miseries not what gives life its beauty?
And soon we found ourselves in just such a misery, a failed hike, a path that disappeared and us getting lost, but which yielded in spectacular beauty...
So please follow along with me on this virtual journey as I take you with me on this failed hike, but one that yielded the beauty of the Drakensberg mountains, and the Sterkspruit Falls in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.
Through the Mist We Seek
The intended destination of the morning's hike was the Nandi Falls, the bigger "sister" of the Sterkspruit Falls. We never arrived here as we soon found ourselves in some trouble...
But more on that later.
As I noted above, we began the hike Early the morning, as this is the ideal time to start your hikes. We all felt a keen sense of joy, that we would conquer this hike like we also do when hiking. We first entered some woody and forest areas. As noted, I found some birds hidden in the silence of the forest - they did not make a noise.
But as soon as we emerged from the forest, we entered into the mist. This was initially a sad moment, as the mountains in the area are spectacular and the very reason for these hikes! But we remained hopeful, that the clouds would soon disappear, and that the mist would clear up as well. Even though we could not see too much, that which we could see was already spectacular, breathtaking, and beautiful.
We knew the most picturesque views hid behind the thick clouds and the cold-ish mist. We remained hopeful, because what else can one do when nature does not reveal itself? We could not ask customer service for better weather, could we?
We walked deeper and closer to the mountain, which would eventually lead to the waterfalls, at least the ones we were after in the first place!
Along the way, we found these ingenious walkthrough contraptions, intended to keep livestock and cattle out of the nature reserve. I am sure it also kept the few wildlife inside of the reserve as well; so it might have a double intention... (See the photograph below.) You walk in a kind of triangle shape to get through the narrow passages.
And then we saw a strange-looking sign - not the sign itself, but the name on the sign... We thought we were walking toward the Nandi Falls....
A Side Quest That Became the Main Attraction
We decided to explore, as waterfalls are my fiance's favourite thing to view on hikes. She does not hike for hike's sake; she hikes to get close to waterfalls! It did not take much convincing as she was already in front, going towards the waterfall!
And soon, we were treated to only the top of the waterfall...
We almost lost @urban.scout as she decided to inspect. The most amazing rush of water fell in front of our eyes, what an amazing sight to behold. As we got closer, the size of the waterfall revealed itself even more.
This was not the initially intended destination, but we used the opportunity to "recharge" our batteries so to speak. We drank some water, had a snack, and admired the incredible views. The sound of the crashing water was loud but beautiful.
And while waiting for a while, the mist started to clear up, the clouds moving away, revealing yet another spectacular view (see the photographs below).
The funny thing at this moment of the hike, in retrospect, we did not know of the "disaster" waiting ahead for us. Nothing serious or bad happened, it could have ended much worse, but if we only knew that the Sterkspruit Falls would have been the main attraction we might have spent more time admiring its beauty. And in writing this post now, I am again amazed at the beauty of this side quest, this unintended find on the path toward our destination, and I cannot help but get a bit philosophical about this moment. (The poem or aphorism with which I opened this post with is a testament to this.) Not all roads lead to something spectacular, sometimes the side quests are the destination. Sometimes the non-linear road is the one with more worth. It just shows again that we should appreciate all of life, even the side quests!
Greeting the Views
As we decided to get back onto the main track, to hike towards the other waterfalls, we were treated with the mountains slowly revealing itself to us.
The first photograph in this post is also of this "revealing nature" of the mountains. The pathway looks like it is walking to the mountain top itself, as you can only hop from the path to the mountain top!
The longer we hiked, the more picturesque the views became. The mountains now revealed themselves entirely, and we lavished in their beauty. I think we even hiked through one of the rivers leading to the Sterkspruit Fall coming from the Nandi Falls, the very waterfalls we were intending to visit.
It is really breathtaking, literally and figuratively. We could spend days on end in the mountains and never get tired of its views. In fact, we got so lost in the views and the beauty, that we never saw that we somehow lost our tracks...
The Main Quest Disappears Like the Mist
While we were lost in the views, taken by the pure beauty of our surroundings, we saw some indications that we were on the right direction. We were still high with and on hope, that the next waterfalls would be just straight ahead...
We never realised that the path we were on just disappeared...
Sure, we saw that it got bushier and thicker as we trekked onward, but we just thought that the path did not experience a lot of traffic. And we saw the board indicating that the falls were just ahead.
But as we walked deeper into what has now become wild nature, we lost the very tracks we were on. I tried to stay behind, as a kind of landmark of where we were coming from, and two others walked onward to see if the path magically appeared again.
But none of this materialised.
The other two were gone, and I was alone with @urban.scout waiting for their calls. There was no way to contact the others, and I knew a couple of things from hiking, never move when you split the group. This always results in disasters. So we remained, waiting for the others to return.
Luckily, we had some spectacular views to relish on.
The views we could enjoy...
The pathway we came up with, which was not much to begin with...
The only way up - revealing no pathway...
And then we heard the shouting, someone found a pathway. I hate to "bundu bash" when you are not prepared for it. I hate to walk away from pathways into "wild nature". This all screamed danger for me, but we did not have a choice. I trusted the others and we moved onward...
A Pathway Revealed Itself: A Succesfully Failed Hike, Perhaps?
I was so relieved when I saw the pathway...
The unintended bundu bashing or hike through uncharted territory (no pathway) left most of us extremely tired. We hiked for longer than we intended, our water supply was beginning to get low, and we were left with a decision: try and get to the Nandi Falls, or call it a defeat and try next time? The majority vote came through: We needed to turn around.
It was the first hike we did that did not go as planned, but in the end, the Sterkspruit Falls became the ultimate destination of this hike; at least, it did for me. Some others in the group did not like that the hike defeated us. But such was life at that moment.
Not all roads lead to the ultimate destination. Sometimes, the ultimate destination is the defeat, the side quest, or the hike/adventure itself.
In the end, we saw the most beautiful waterfall, the Sterkspruit Falls, and we could count this as a highlight of sorts. Along the way, we saw the most beautiful mountains, and we could say that we survived another hike, even though it did not go according to plan!
Postscriptum
I hope that you enjoyed this virtual adventure and hike with me to and through the most beautiful Drakensberg Mountains, the Sterkspruit Falls, and the failed hike to the Nandi Falls. I know I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though some of the people in the group felt otherwise.
Not everything in life is about winning, and that realisation in and of itself might be a form of winning.
Keep well, and safe travels!
All of the musings, meandering, and thoughts are my own, albeit inspired by the magical views we saw on the way. The photographs are also my own, taken with my Nikon D300.