snow search

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krazy-eyes

Race Dog
Joined
Feb 10, 2006
Messages
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Location
Johannesburg
Bike
BMW R1200GS
Friday night at 8, my friend mike and I decided to go see if we could find snow in the northern Drakensberg. We packed all the hiking gear and by 9 o clock we were gone. We arrived (by car) at 12 and set out from the sentinel parkinglot. Despite the weather forecast predicting the worst in terms of wind and snow, it was cold but not freezing, about 3 degrees. We had driven through rain on the way there, but now the skies were clear and we could see snow on the peaks across the valley!
We walked a couple of hundred metres and set up camp on a level spot. Well? it seemed level until we got into the tent. There was a micro mountain range of pebbles, stones, grassy mounds and rocks under the floor of the tent and we laughed uncontrollably when I finally said: ?its gonna be a loooong nite!? The stars were twinkling in the icy night sky against a backdrop of silhouetted mountains.
We went to bed at 3, after finishing off a bottle of Cactus Jack.
It never did get cold that night despite being very windy at times, and the warm sun woke me at 9. I got out the tent expecting to step into knee-deep snow (as per weather forecast), but there was none. Ok, to be fair there was snow?..faaar into Lesotho, but that didn?t help us did it?
After unanimously deciding that hiking around the area sounded like way too much exercise, we packed our stuff and started the long 300m down hill slog back to the car :lol: .
It did start snowing in the distance so we decided to drive in that general direction. We drove back via golden gate national park, clarens, and Bethlehem. All we saw was intermittent rain over the 450km, ranging from light drizzle to cloud break, but no snow.
Just on the other side of clarens we caught up to some people on Harley?s, it was pouring down. Just as I passed the back rider, there suddenly was mud on the road. I un-intentionally sprayed him ?six ways from Sunday?, he looked like he had just done the roof of Africa - in the rain! Poor sucker!
All the way from Bethlehem we encountered bike riders heading back, caught in the rain, I pitied them and turned up the heater and wipers some more.

packing


starry night


the next morning


snowing in the distance


blue sky


straight from katse. the lesotho highlands water outlet. note the diameter of the section of tunnel.


fat bitch in the passenger seat?
check how this car is sagging!
 
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