Injisuthi Lower Cave 11 – 12 June, 2022
“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul." John Muir
Report and photographs Dusty Shaw
Injisuthi one of the most stunning areas of Ezemvelo situated in the central berg with amazing sights of grand peaks towering way above you making one feel insignificant and probably why it’s such a great leveller of who we are and our purpose in life. Injisuthi was my very first outing to sleep over in a cave so I was looking forward to lead other fellow hikers on this hike but unfortunately the sight of snow on the escarpment high above(1) may have deterred the interested parties that had put their names down. Never the less Melanie and I braved the cold and what a lovely two days we had.
The tar road through Loskop was potholed and the dirt road following was recently graded, it then becomes tar once again when you enter the park. Due to the latest heavy rains there has been a lot of wash a ways on the road but were being attended to by the park officials.
Our hike started with great anticipation and the first water crossing was the main Injisuthi river which we crossed without any incident it ran clear and strong (2). A cable was in place as a safety measure should you slip but luckily we did not have to test this.
The path leading from the water crossing to Injisuthi cave was overgrown and one had to watch closely that you did not end up following a game trail (3). The next three water crossings we did not have to take our boots off and were able to cross quiet easily on stepping stones (4)
On arriving at the cave (5) we found it clean and warm as it had a northerly facing aspect, inspecting the walls we found some bushman paintings (6), we made ourselves at home and got prepared for the night and the expected cold (7). As the cave has no water for drinking and cooking we had to walk back down the path about a 100m to a beautiful pool which must be amazing to swim in during summer (8). After having supper of mountain house lamb fettuccine, chased down with sherry we got ready for bed (9). There was a cool gentle breeze throughout the night but we were warm and toasty as we had come prepared.
The following morning we were greeted with the morning sun shining brightly on the Greater and Lower Injisuthi Buttresses with Scaly peak on the right (10). After a quick breakfast and a cup of coffee we packed up and headed back down.
On the way back we saw a “Ghost” high up in the mountain top (11) but it was just the sun peaking through a hole. Looking back at the direction from whence we came from I couldn’t stop admiring the beauty we are so fortunate to have in South Africa (12). On our last water crossing by the cable Melanie slipped and splashed into the water and everything got wet sadly she did not want to do it again so I could get a photo, a quick change of clothing and she was ready to go.
Overall it was a great adventure and a humbling experience till next time.
