2007 was my Year of the Veld Fires. Over the long weekend of 22-24 September 2007, just 3 months after the episode at Sehlabathebe Lodge, I came face-to-face with another veld fire, but this time under far more dangerous circumstances.
I had planned a 3-day long weekend route that was to Vaalribbokkop Cave via Steilberg and Three Pools Cave on the Saturday, then to Zulu Cave via Hospitalspruit and the Mhlwazini valley on the Sunday, returning via Hlatikulu Nek, Breakfast Stream and the Sphinx on the Monday.
As we drove in to the Monk’s Cowl entry point, we could see a large veld fire burning along the contour path in the Injasuti Wilderness Area just south of Monk’s Cowl. It was the height of the windy season, and somehow a veld fire had been started and was slowly making its way in a north-easterly direction against the prevailing wind. At ground level, in amongst the grass roots, there is little or no wind, so a fire can slowly creep against the wind. When the wind drops for a moment, the fire flares up and flames can be seen from a great distance.
We were not too concerned. The first day’s route took us along the contour path above the hotels and resorts, below a ridgeline which hid the fire from us. Only when we reached the Stable Cave area could we see that the fire had reached Blind Man’s Corner and was heading towards Hlatikulu Nek, a good 7 km or so from us as the sober crow flies.
The next morning we left Vaalribbokkop Cave and headed down Hospitalspruit to begin our steep descent into the Mhlwazini Valley. This route passes through a magnificent section of forest. We could see that the veld fire had now passed Haltikhulu Nek and was heading towards Intunja. We stopped on the Mhlwazini River near Eagle Gorge to have lunch at the lovely pools, chutes and waterfalls there. The wind was howling up the Mhlwazini Valley, somehow making the sharp right-angle bend down at Eagle Gorge where the river that flows through what we call Phil’s Pool joins the Mhlwazini River.
We suddenly became aware that the veld fire had split and was now making its way down the Mhlwazini River towards us. In fact, it was already approaching Zulu Cave, our destination for the night. Despite the gale-force wind opposing it, we could make out its steady progress in our direction.
We decided to move downriver and wait it out at the confluence of the two rivers in Eagle Gorge. There is a large expanse of bedrock and river boulders there which would allow us to stay well away from anything combustible. Things were starting to look serious though. We changed our synthetic, technical shirts out for cotton T-shirts. Cotton absorbs a lot of water and we could wet the shirts easily if things became a little too hot. We could also wrap the wet T-shirts around our faces to reduce smoke inhalation if necessary.
We needed a plan of action though. We realised that if the fire appeared on the ridgeline downstream from us, we could be in very serious trouble very fast, because the wind was blowing from that direction. We decided that if we saw flames on this ridge, we would set fire to the grass in the “V” of the confluence of the two rivers, and then we could wait it our there with the rivers nearby. There was a nice firebreak above Eagle Gorge along the contour path below Indanjane, so our fire would stop there, and it would also stop when it met the one coming down the Mhlwazini. We also considered climbing the very steep bank covered in long green grass to our left, and try to make our way back to Vaalribbokkop Cave, but this was an unknown without a guaranteed outcome, and just as well we decided against this.
The fire was still moving downstream towards us and had now reached Eagle Cave, less than 500 metres from us. Every time the wind dropped, flames 3 to 5 metres in height leapt skywards. Every now and then, as a tree burst into flames, these reached even higher – perhaps 10 metres or more. Then we saw flames on the ridge above and behind us.
Standing in the river bed, I lent forward, flicked my Bic gas lighter, and got the flame against some dry grass. Even petrol would not have burnt as fast. I thought I would have to walk along the bank and light several patches of grass, but as I stood up, the fire instantly spread out sideways both ways, and forwards in the direction of the wind. I stood in amazement as the fire burnt away from us faster than a horse can gallop. It even darted across the river into the long green grass we had thought of climbing through. To our horror, this seemed to burn more violently than the dry grass, and now the fire was also headed up Hospitalspruit towards Vaalribbokkop Cave and Culfargie. We had not counted on that happening, but it would have happened without our intervention anyway.
In less than 5 minutes, our fire had reached the fire break below Ndanjane, 2 km away. In less time than that, it had followed the wind upriver to Eagle Cave. There was nothing left to burn anywhere near us. We were safe, but I was concerned about the fire which was now making its way towards Culfargie. I expected it would stop when it reached the top of the cliff faces above Culfargie in the vicinity of Stable Cave. I was pretty sure there were no other hikers in that area, but times have changed since then and now you can expect there to be trail runners just about everywhere in the Monk’s Cowl Wilderness Area.
We donned our backpacks and started heading upriver towards Zulu Cave. I was expecting the going to be easy now that we were walking on bare, black soil most of the way. I was wearing full-length gaiters, but the others started saying “ouch” every now and again, and then the tip of the stem of a high weed scalded its way into my knee and I realised we were going to have to be very careful to not burn ourselves and our kit on twigs and overhanging branches.
We reached Cat Cave and found most of the beautiful old yellowwood trees smouldering. The bushes and trees in front of Zulu Cave were also still smouldering. It was a very smoke-filled night, with glowing embers everywhere and the popping of wood fires and the occasional cracking and thud of branches to keep us awake.
