“One of the most difficult hikes in the world”, the Drakensberg Grand Traverse. Multiple days in the mountains without a clearly marked trail, without resupply stations and -apart from the local shephards- little or none other humans. This post is my reflection on my Drakensberg Grand Traverse. As I’m planning for a November 2024 hike, this post is still very much in progress and I will update this over the coming weeks.
This is an overview of my experience solo hiking the Drakensberg Grand Traverse. Please see separate posts on planning for my Drakensberg Grand Traverse and my packlist for Drakensberg Grand Traverse.
Before: Reflecting on the challenge ahead
I have a recurring homesickness for the trail. For time alone. For being alone and one with nature. Away from the day to day. Not to flee it, but to explore the new, to collect more beautiful memories. It brought me to Greenland, the Arctic Circle Trail in 2020,(failed) second attempt to finish the Jordan Trail in 2021, and the Peaks of the Balkans trail in 2023. I had realised this when I did *not* hike in 2022. I missed the trail, the smell, the feeling. The good and the bad. Homesickness for the trail.
And although I have collected quite some hiking memories over the years, this time I was nervous. In a good way. But still nervous. With lots of known and unknown unknowns, the Drakensberg Grand Traverse is a formidable challenge.
[I will be adding more content after my hike]Before: A quick introduction to the Drakensberg Grand Traverse
If you’ve ever been to South Africa, you know the Drakensberg. Or at least, you’ve seen it. The Drakensberg escarpment stretches for more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from North to South with peaks up to 3,482 meters (Thabana Ntlenyana) and is therefore hard to miss.
The Afrikaans name Drakensberge comes from the name the earliest Dutch settlers gave to the escarpment, namely Drakensbergen, or Dragons’ Mountains. And it isn’t too difficult to imagine why – the spikey peaks resemble the back or teeth of dragons (depending on your personal preference).
The Drakensberg Grand Traverse is the trail that covers the key peaks of Drakensbergen, in the mountainous region between South Africa and Lesotho. 6 peaks, a collection of sheep- and shepherd trails … making it a route of approximately 210 kilometers. Approximately, as the “trail” is a loose collection of unmarked trails, with multiple options to get from peak to peak. That, the fact that the weather is notoriously unpredictable and fast-changing (the only constant is the fast change), and that the area is remote without options to re-supply make it -as some people say- “one of the most difficult trails in the world”.
Day 0 -10
[I will be adding content after my hike]A final reflection.
[I will be adding content after my hike]What I learned from a week on the Drakensberg Grand Traverse
[I will be adding content after my hike]Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments or reach out to me if you have any questions!
