Graydon – ZS2DH

A different place this time – not the bottom of tank hill as per the previous few years, but tank top! Yes – and I mentioned it on air too – that I was rocking the “tank top”!

Graydon, ZU2GH, my son manned the bottom of the hill and we had a great walk in and out again afterwards. Add to that the really great experience of having the young man join us at the braai the night before and you start to realize how lucky a bugger I am!

Tank Top is at a strategic split in the routes with the 80Km riders turning down the hill (to where Graydon was) and the 9Km riders going straight ahead. The inbound path was a little overgrown, resulting in the signage as placed by the organizers being “around the corner” and it seemed inevitable that someone was going to fall. I called it in and was given permission to move the markers into a better, more visible place and I believe we saved some skin in doing so.

17 February was the race day and we got into camp on the Saturday (16 Feb) and had a great time with friends from PEARS. Missing from the usual suspects were Colin and Jimmy (ZR2CRS and ZS2JIM) who were away and Gert ZS2GS who joined us on the Sunday morning.

Sunday morning we were needed in place by 05:30 for a comms check, so those who drove out on the day had to leave very early! Eric and Isolda, as usual, had a nap after the race before traveling home.

As I have mentioned, this is one of my favorite events, but having Gray join me made it the best one yet!

The Road Race takes place a week later and is a completely different kettle of fish! Drive your car to the point, take a big mast (needed this time in the new location at the bottom of the wall) and drive home later that same day.

Sunday 24th came and went – not my favorite event by any means, but it does help pay the bills for PEARS.

June 16, 2015 was the end of a nice long 4 day weekend and we had a lot of SOTA planned. 4 peaks in 4 days and boy was I looking forward to it! The best laid plans of mice and men, and all that planning went up in smoke when no one was available to go SOTA with me. Hennie (ZS2HC) offered an alternative: Hogsback. At the time the only SOTA peak in the Hogsback area not yet activated. Challenge accepted!

A bit of rushed planning and Hennie needing to pull out at the last minute left me shattered. My son, Graydon (16), rescued me by asking if he could go with me.

Graydon is a strong hiker and I felt that with him I was safe – going into the mountains by yourself may be peaceful but it is very dangerous. Graydon knows first aid, how to read a map, and most importantly, how to behave in the outdoors. Done deal!

Saturday afternoon we arrived at “Away with the Fairies” to book in for camping and to chat with Dan – who knows the route and organizes a lot of trips up the mountain. Friendly staff greeted us and we soon had Dan pointing out where we had to go – from the very beautiful view point at Away with the Fairies.

That night was a simple plan: Pitch the tent, braai the food, hit the sack. As easy as saying it, we did it and were in bed by 8:30. The plan was to get climbing by 5am (a 4 hour climb and we aimed to summit in time for the post bulletin net at 9am) so we set our alarms for 4:30am.

We woke up in plenty of time – especially since they lock the gate and only open it again at 7:30!

Annoyed and a little worried about getting contacts at midday, we set off and started the climb from the top of the Madonna and Child waterfalls just after 8 am.

The first part of the climb is beautiful! About a half-dozen waterfalls as you amble up the side of the river in the cover of trees. While the walk itself is a stiff climb, it had nothing on what lay ahead of us.

After turning away from the waterfalls near the top of the valley we realized that this was the last water until our return – apart from what we were carrying of course. The path continued through the trees, crossing a forestry road and then more single track until eventually we popped out onto the saddle in the sun. The warmth of the sun was appreciated for a few brief minutes before we started sweating, panting, and looking for shade 🙂

We had a tea break at the base of the cliffs, just before the final ascent up the left side of the hog. The climb up the hog was steep and in places rather overgrown requiring some bolder hoping, but not enough to keep us from making it to the trig beacon by a little after noon.

We set up the dipole – with less than normal “trig beacon” at our disposal. The band was quiet and it took a while before we could hear anyone.

We broke in on a conversation as some people were signing and managed to catch ZS4L (William) as he was about to sign. One down, three to go!

Next we bumped into ZS5JY (Norman) who gave us a 5/9 report into KZN. The chase was on!

Some time passed and we were beginning to think we would have to bail when I had an idea. They monitor the Hamnet emergency frequency so I’ll see who is there. Expecting to get my head bitten off, I called CQ SOTA on 7.110. To my surprise a friendly voice came back and asked for my call sign. “ZS2DH/mobile. QRP from Hogsback. Name on this side is Dave D-A-V-E….” – you know the drill. Well Trevor ZS1TR came back with his details from Cape Agulas and seemed interested in what I was doing.

Three down, one to go – but the time was getting on and the wind was getting up. Time for another great idea: I hauled out my 5W Baofeng HT and tried to get into the Queenstown repeater hoping to catch someone who could come up on HF (or simplex) for me. Repeater contacts do not qualify for SOTA points. ZS2JO came up and we had a good chat – must have been 15 minutes or more 😉 I asked Johannes if he could come up on HF for me and 5 minutes later I had QSO number 4 in the bag and the peak was activated!

We packed up and headed back along the trail we had laboured up earlier. Going down is faster than going up because each time you fall you keep going in the right direction!

Although the wind was cold, we were very glad to reach the trees and get out of the sun. We were even more relieved to reach the waterfalls and get some (very, very) cold water to drink. It also meant we were nearly done.

We finished later than anticipated and so spent the night in Hogsback (again at Away with the Fairies) and headed home in the morning after doing some walks (Madonna and Child, Big Tree, and Swallowtail falls).

Another great SOTA outing! Thank you Graydon for making it fun!

Anyone wanting information about Hogsback, the sights, hikes, and bike trails around Hogsback – or the Amatola Hiking trail (from King William’s Town) you need to get hold of Dan via the contacts page on the Away With the Fairies – Contact Us page website.