No Fixed Abode: Footprints in the sand

Fri 17 Jun 2016 - Fish River Canyon Walk

The baboons running along the thatched roof woke us so we managed to get to breakfast at a reasonable time and we ate with the same English lady as last night, which then meant timings were pushed back as Yvonne had another opportunity for a natter. With an efficient check out, we were on the path adjacent to the dry river bed just before 10am and set off for a relatively easy hike along part of the canyon floor, which is normally the last stage of the 5 day hike through the Canyon.

The cloudless clear blue sky allowed the sun to warm us and take the chill out of the wind blowing down the canyon. Within a km of us leaving we spotted several hikers coming towards us laden down with their kit who appeared as if they had been on the 5 day hike. Getting closer to them we could see they were more than adequately dressed for desert conditions and most importantly wearing gaiters to prevent sand in their boots - a lesson which will be well remembered if we ever go desert hiking and would have been a good idea for today. They grimaced a smile or strained a nod as they pounded past through the deep sand knowing the end was in sight soon. We found walking in the deep and soft sand tough going, so when the terrain changed to smallish boulders we happily hopped across them.

The trail wound along the wide, dry river bed, apparently there are only a handful of days the river actually runs down here, with impressive granite and sandstone rock walls towering above us on either side. Following a bend of the river bed the wind dropped and we plodded across deep sand which had several animal footprints and, using the technique that we learnt from Jannie in Bushmans Kloof a few days ago, we could tell these were recently made, likely this morning. We soon discovered walking on the crystallised sands was much easier and we followed these whitened paths along the edge of pools of water. We saw plenty of signs of baboon leaving their footprints around the water’s edge, astonishingly similar to ours, and several areas of animal spelt. This was a busy place when humans aren’t around.

Reaching our time duration for half way we settled on a remarkably comfortable granite rock, snacked and enjoyed the warm sun and serenity of this place. As there wasn’t a circular route to be had, we turned back but walked along the opposite side of the river bed and canyon then unexpectedly heard yells of hello. We spotted two young hikers clearly on the 5 day hike and yelled a hello back. From a distance they eagerly enquired how far to go and Glenn gave them an encouraging 45 minutes, which wasn’t quite true, it was longer, but from their response it clearly put a spring in their slog. We marched on leaving them behind and started to follow a well defined path through the wide sandy river bed, clearly a route for the longer hike, to make good progress back to the Springs hotel.

The finish line of the “Wildrun” event was still up and we caused some hilarity as we marched under the inflatable arch with a few hand claps from the hospitality team. We decided on a quick beer and found the bar and restaurant area littered with hobbling and bent over competitors who had finished the 5 day/200km desert endurance event. The English lady, who’d heard her husband was suffering and would be walking today's leg, was still waiting for her husband to come over the finish line.

After a quick dip in the mineral watered swimming pool to cool off we left the resort to make our way on more unmade, gravelled tracks across an endless landscape of sand, distant mountains and quiver trees to our overnight stop at the Canyon Roadhouse, a funky farm like structure in the middle of nowhere with a bright red roof and all manner of old vehicles spread about the place, even inside. At dinner we tried Oryx steak, another type of antelope, and, ironically, a dessert of Baked Alaska.