KZN - Return trip to Umsilili Falls for "unfinished business"

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A couple of weeks ago, at the end of a ride up the Valley from Inanda Dam up to Nagle we took a sidetrack to find a waterfall that I had seen in Google Earth. We managed to get to the top of the falls, and they are certainly spectacular, but it was hard to see what they actually looked like without jumping off the edge – problem with that is that there may be a good picture, but certainly no ride report.

So it was back to Google Earth to see if I could plot a track to the edges of the gorge to find a place where we could actually see them. It looked possible and so I made a few calls and put up a planning thread to see if I could find some victims, err, volunteers to come with me and do a bit of exploring.

There were a few who could not make it. Rudder, who came along on the Swinburne weekend, had a problem with her Pegaso’s brakes, and I suspect that the “movie man” took one look at the sea this morning and decided to take his longboard out !!

So the final tally was four - non-dogs WhizzBee on the KLR, Josh on a 950 and WDs Navi on a 660, and myself on the 660Z.  The plan was simple. Tar to the area, mess around and take pics, and tar back. That’s exactly what we did !
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My obligatory shot on the way out – this from the beach near my cottage with the MoMab stadium and Durbs in the background. Lovely sleepy looking “oily” sea – great for long boards I think.

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The road into the Valley from Cato Ridge to Nagle.

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The Duzi a few Kms from the Mgeni/Duzi confluence.

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Off the tar and down a side-track to the Gorge. We stopped in at the last huts to ask the locals if it would be okay to ride through – no problems this time.

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The upper Umsilili falls (got the name wrong – Not Umlililil but Umsilili ). There was a bit more water than a fortnight ago. These are about 100m upstream from the main falls.

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I took this shot by tying my camera on the end of a stick and using the delay – no way was I going to get onto the overhang.

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Navi and Josh decided to skip the walk down to the falls and just relax in the grass.

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This is why. They were entertaining the local chicks – looks like they made them really happy.

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The falls from the West lip of the gorge.

The falls drop a long way from the overhang, and it is quite weird to watch the column of water “snaking” as the breeze blows it from side to side.

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Josh on the edge.

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Josh and WhizzBee

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We then headed off over the fields and onto the road to the promontory you can see above the KLR in this pic.

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Stopped to take a pic of this natural pool in a small rivulet.

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Cappuccino on the East side with the falls in the background.

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Looking South into the Valley towards Nagle Dam.

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Thanks to the guys for coming along – I appreciate the company.

 
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