Originally, the name “Grand Traverse” was given to a multi-day backpacking trip across the top of the Natal Drakensberg escarpment from the Amphitheatre in the north to Bushman’s Nek in the south (or vice versa). This is a distance of over 240 km at an altitude of around 3 000 metres. Participants (GTers) often refer to it as the backpacker’s equivalent of the world-famous Comrades Marathon – an apt comparison in terms of the camaraderie, mutual support, and endurance required for both.

The Grand Traverse was conceived by the Mountain Backpackers Club to be the ultimate backpacking challenge for wilderness backpackers in the Natal Drakensberg. There was to be no fixed route, the intention being to develop individual leadership and give returning GTers something different to look forward to each time. As with any multi-day backpacking trip onto the escarpment, tents, stoves and full hiking gear were to be carried. The only compromise was to be two resupplies en route.

Every year now, many disparate groups do a Grand Traverse of the Natal Drakensberg. These traverses vary in distance and number of days, and there are even commercial enterprises which offer a slackpacking version for those who feel they are not fit enough to carry their own full load. Engaging the services of porters and guides pushes up the cost considerably and, unfortunately, repeating the same route and using the same campsites every time has a negative impact on this otherwise pristine environment.

Trail runners have adopted the concept of the Drakensberg Grand Traverse and turned it into a race. To compare times against one another, they have set a fixed route and other specific requirements to make the competition fair. Trail running, though, is a very different activity to wilderness backpacking, and the two have little in common.