Home
Area Information
Hiking Tips
Car Hire
Bookings
Help
E-mail

• Requirements for Hikers
• Fynbos Hygiene
• First Aid for Hikers
• Interesting Hiking Food
• Hiking Trail Grading
• Hiking Preparation Checklist
• Tips form Hikers

A hiking trip's menu should always come to terms with personal taste and preference, although you should look at the following: Taste, nutritious value, is it filling, lightweight, prepared easily and is the cost reasonable? 

Hikers must be fairly fit and should definitely get exercise before any hiking trail. Don't carry too many things with. Everything, even the smallest item, must be as light as possible. 

Remember: Everyone doesn't have to carry everything with - groups can divide items among each other.

CLOTHES AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS 
Cap or sunscreen 
Two sets of light clothes 
One sweater and/or a warm jacket 
Walking shoes with thick woollen socks 
Slip-on's or light shoes for use after the days walk 
Swimming suit and towel 
Rain coat (Big plastic refuse bags can also be used) 
Sleeping bag and small pillow 
Washing-line and clothes-pegs 
Needle, string, scissors and extra lace

TOILET REQUISITES 
Soap, wash cloth, toothbrush, -paste and shampoo 
Toilet paper 
Sunscreen 
Plaster, bandage and an ankle/knee guard 
Lip-ice and eye drops 
Muscle ointment (Voltaren or Deep heat), as well as tablets 
Mosquito lotion (Tabard) 
Headache pills and your own specific medicine 
Comb or hair brush 
Disinfectant, spirits, ointment and cotton wool 

OTHER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 
Crockery, sharp little knife and tin opener 
Gas-stove and gas-lamp (see that you have enough extra gas). 
One stove for every four hikers is enough. 
Saucepan, pan 
Tongs
Container to shake powder milk in
Cloth, dish washing detergent
Plastic bags
Matches, "Blitz", candles and torches (remember new batteries on long hikes)
Paper, pen and small Bible
Permit and hikers map

OPTIONAL 
Glasses, Binoculars, Camera, Mobile phone, whistle, national tree or bird list, Malaria tablets (for trails in Malaria regions)

On the following topics: 

Treatment of Sunstroke 
Treatment of Snake Bites 
Treatment of Wounds 
Treatment of Fractures 

1. TREATMENT OF SUNSTROKE

Symptoms: Hot dry skin, face flushed, feverish, but sweating stops. Temperatures rises, fast strong pulse. Headache, vomiting unconsciousness.
Treatment: Lay in the shade, head and shoulders slightly raised, remove outer clothing. Sprinkle cold water on underclothes and face.

2. TREATMENT OF SNAKE BITES 

Only 10% of South African snakes are venomous (I am not sure of the proportion in other countries), the younger snakes having a higher concentration of venom that the adult snakes. Snakes have either teeth or fangs. Fangs can either be found in the back of the mouth or in the front, and can either inject the venom into your skin or squirt it into your eyes. Problems that you will face are: 

Can you identify the snake? Most people cannot. 
Is the snake venomous? This can only be known by the identity of the snake. 
If the snake is venomous, what type of venom was injected into you? Once again, the identity of the snake will solve this one. 
How long will you live for? That depends on how old the snake was, how much venom was actually injected and the concentration of the venom. 

TYPES OF VENOMOUS SNAKE BITES

Cobras and Mambas inject Neurotoxic venom which will affect the nervous system and cause initial muscle weakness, blurred vision, difficulty in swallowing and breathing and eventually paralysis. 

Adders inject Cytotoxic venom which will cause massive swelling and bruising to the area that was bitten, and could eventually burst the skin open. 

Boomslange and Vine Snakes inject Haemotoxic venom which destroys the platelets in the blood and causes major internal bleeding in the lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen etc., and blood will also leak out of all orifices in your body, including minor wounds and bruises. 

Berg Adders are highly dangerous as they inject both Neurotoxic and Cytotoxic venom into you. 

TREATMENT OF SNAKE BITES 

What NOT to do: 
Do not panic and run around as this will increase the blood circulation and transport the venom quicker around the body. 
Do not make a tourniquet (this means to tie a cloth tightly around the arm or leg) as this will kill the arm or leg below it and it might have to be amputated later, as well as concentrate the venom (if it was a venomous bite) in the area and kill that body part off quicker. 
Do not cut and try to suck out the venom as we see them do in cowboy movies, as the venom will still get absorbed into your blood stream through your gums and cheeks.

What TO do: 
Do loosen the clothing, reassure the patient, and keep him calm and quiet.
Do dress the wound with a bandage and keep it cool (in the shade). This will stop your blood vessels dilating and decrease the blood flow in that area. 
Do watch the patient carefully, if he loses consciousness, apply the ABC's (see below). 

The ABC's (these three things are useful to remember in the majority of first aid situations): 

A = Airways, tilt his neck backwards to get the tongue away from the back of his throat and stop him from choking on it. Do not put a blanket or anything under his head.

B = Breathing, look, listen and feel to check if he is still breathing. If he has stopped breathing, give him one breath every five seconds. 

C = Circulation, check his pulse in his neck, on either side of his windpipe, or listen for a heartbeat by putting your ear next to his chest. 

Once the situation has been assessed, then get help as quickly as possible. He would need to get to hospital soon. In hospital, if the snake is unknown, they would treat the patient symptomatically, that is, they would put him on a breathing machine if he stops breathing, give antibiotics if he shows signs of infection, etc. Most people that get brought to hospital for snake bites, don't know much about the snake, so the practice of giving the patient an anti-venom is only done is certain cases . (Besides, anti-venom is only housed in Cape Town and Pretoria, so anyone hiking in the Drakensberg - South Africa - and that gets bitten by a snake, will probably get brought to a Durban hospital, hence the symptomatic treatment which is given - this applies to South Africa).

3. TREATMENT OF WOUNDS

If a patient is bleeding, try to protect yourself from their blood by using latex gloves or plastic bags/packets to cover your hands. The first step to stopping bleeding is applying direct pressure straight onto the wound with a bandage, or cloth. If you see blood seeping through the bandage, apply another one over the first. Do not remove the first bandage. If the wound is still bleeding and is on the limbs (legs or arms) you must always elevate to try and reduce the bleeding. If this does not help, you could use the pressure points on the arms or legs above the wound to arrest bleeding. Pressure points are the same as pulse points, i.e. the radial pulse in the wrist or the brachial pulse underneath the bicep, the popliteal pulse behind the knee or the femoral pulse in the inside of the groin. Never use a tourniquet unless you have any amputation of a part of the limb and have tried all above methods. Also, it is important to check for a distal pulse either in the wrist (radial pulse) or in the foot (dorsalis pedis pulse) to ensure that there is still blood flowing past the wound. You should also check for sensation by either asking the patient to move his fingers or toes or if he is unconscious, you scratch lightly in the palm or on top of the foot. This is to check if the nerves are still intact and have not been severed at the site of the wound. Never worry about cleaning the wound, unless it is small. All cleaning of wounds gets done in hospital and YOUR main priority is to stop the bleeding. So DON'T think you should pour Dettol onto the wound or rinse it under the tap before bandaging.

4. TREATMENT OF FRACTURES

HEAD FRACTURES 
Very dangerous and mostly fatal. Classic signs would be bruises behind the ears or around the eyes, and fluid coming from the ears and nose. This is serious because the brain tissue would be damaged and will swell as the body tries to bring extra blood up to the brain. Therefore never raise the patients legs as this would increase the blood flow to the brain and cause even more swelling and eventually death. Never stop the fluid from trying to escape out of the ears and nose, as this is the body's way of trying to reduce the swelling of the brain. Try to keep the patient awake and get help ASAP. 

RIB FRACTURES 
Fractured ribs could puncture the lungs and cause difficulty and even death. The only thing you can really do is try to sit the patient up or in a comfortable position and put a jacket or blanket under his arms to "pillow splint" his ribs and make breathing easier. Also raise his legs to counteract shock. Get help ASAP. You might have to do mouth to mouth if he stops breathing.

PELVIC FRACTURES 
The patient can lose up to 2 - 3 Litres of blood internally, and considering that you only have about 6 Litres in the body, this is very serious and life-threatening. Other complications include a ruptured bladder, and you will find that the patient automatically urinates when the patient has fallen, on impact. The only thing you could really do to make him comfortable is to put a blanket or something under his knees, as this takes the weight and pressure off the pelvic bones. Do not allow the patient to urinate as a full bladder (if he has one and it is still intact) will act as an internal splint and keeps the pelvic bones together. If he does urinate, the pelvic bones have more space to move and can cause more damage. 

ARM FRACTURES 
Three things to always remember with broken bones is : a) they can severe or squash nerves and cause paralysis b) they can severe or squash blood vessels(arteries) and cause death of tissue resulting in amputation in hospital c) bones make blood in their marrow, and when broken, blood will leak out of the bone and therefore cause internal bleeding. Use the body's torso as a splint. Let the patient hold his arm against him and make sure he elevates the forearm. You can take the bottom the his jersey or jacket and fold it over his arm to keep the arm against his body. Or you can use a triangular bandage and make a sling for the arm. Please do not forget to check for a pulse in his wrist and to test for sensation by scratching his palm. If you have no pulse, please get help ASAP. and perhaps you could try to ever so slightly pull traction on the arm to try and free the artery, although this is not really suggested as it could cause more damage and of cause is very painful. No win situation there. 

LEG FRACTURES 
The same 3 points as above apply. Check for a foot pulse and sensation on top of the foot. Never scratch underneath the foot as this might tickle the patient and cause more damage as the patient pulls his leg back. Try to find three fairly sturdy straight branches and splint the leg by putting one splint underneath the leg for support and the other two on the inside and outside of the leg. Tie the splints together with cloth or triangular bandages at all 4 joints of the leg, i.e. at the top, above and below the knee and at the ankle. Always use branches that are the full length of the leg irrespective of where the fracture is. If you can only find one branch, put it underneath the fractured leg and then tie both legs together. Always raise the legs once splinted as this will slow down bleeding and treat for shock. If you see that a bone is protruding, never try to push it back, just make a ring bandage and put it around the bone, then bandage the wound. Don't forget to recheck for a foot pulse once you have splinted, in case you have tied the bandages too tight and inhibited blood flow. If you have no foot pulse, once again try to pull slight traction on the leg to free the trapped artery. Also remember that when you are splinting a leg, you should try to support it by putting one hand under the ankle and the other under the knee, and if you have someone else with you, they should put the triangular bandages underneath the leg at the 4 joints before you put the branches under the leg.

I hope that you have found some interesting info and that it will be of good use to you.

One way of planning meals on a trail is to join with one or two more people and plan a joint menu. Everyone doing their own thing, or one person doing everything, (unless he/she is a qualified chef) can result in chaos - Gerald Crawford 

Powder cool-drink for e.g. Game, Clifton or any Vitamin Cocktail 
Chocolates and sweets like Super C's or Vita C's for energy 
Nuts for e.g. peanuts and raisons
Dried fruit, biltong (dried meat) and "droë wors"
Cheese wedge's and Yoghurt
Instant soup and sauces
Pro-vitas and rusks
Any breakfast cereal or muesli
Tin tuna, sardines, Vienna's and meat
Dried mince (It can be dried in a microwave)
Smoked and vacuum-packed meat can last for up to three days
Eggs or powder eggs
Salt and other spices
Coffee, tea, sugar, powder milk and "Hot Chocolate"
Jam, Syrup and butter (useful tubes are available for this purpose)
Tubes can be bought at any hiking store like Cape Union Mart or Trappers Trade
Fresh fruit and vegetables for e.g. apples, carrots and oranges
Instant potato for e.g. Mash potato
Vegetables for e.g. onions and potatoes
Mixture of ingredients to bake bread or "Rooster koek" on the fire
Dry vegetables - available at any big supermarket like Pick 'n Pay 
"Meal in one" or similar meals 
Pudding for a long hike: Instant milk pudding mixed with powdered milk and water in a Quickshake is a great dessert snack. Put in a cold stream to set - Lida Pretorius 
Pudding for short hike: Woolworths ginger cake slab with instant custard mixed with hot or cold water - Lida Pretorius
Fresh bread rolls

The grading of hiking trails, especially if that grading is for comparison purposes, is extremely difficult and should take into account many diverse factors. Some of the factors will be aesthetic by nature and therefore subjective whilst others will be physical and therefore more objective.

Depending on ones personal views, experience and fitness these various factors will make one hike more interesting and pleasant than another. These variable characteristics of a hiking trail are innumerable but some of the major ones are:

availability of water, closeness to urban areas, difficulty of ascents and descents, distance from home, facilities at the overnight stops, indigenous forests or plantations, marking of the trail, mean height above sea level, number of days, open grassland or bush, season, total climb or descent, total hiking distance, type of path (sand, rock, scree, boulders), weather.

You will notice that I have placed this list in alphabetical order so as to give no intimation of prioritising them. Many of these factors are inter-dependent on one another, the right combination will make a hike great, whilst the same hike with a different combination turns the same hike into a very unpleasant experience.

PHYSICAL EFFORT
In my attempt to grade the hikes, I have concentrated on the objective, namely physical expenditure. Please note this has been done in pure lay terms. I'm sure that the medical and fitness specialists would shoot down a great deal, if not all, of my suppositions. However, as I have now started this attempt, I shall continue.

With my grading system I have limited my attributes to:
total hike distance, total ascent, number of days, type of trail (hutted, tented, wilderness).

I would have also liked to include two other factors in the evaluation, but unfortunately either through lack of information and/ or time I have not be able to do so. These would have been:
mean height above sea level, and the type of path i.e. sand, boulders, scree, gravel road etc.

LIMITATIONS
Please bear in mind that the accuracy of the grading is very much reliant on the accuracy and scale of the maps produced by hiking trail owners/operators. Even then the standard contour interval on a 1 : 50 000 map is 20m which when you say it doesn't sound that high, but if you think of it as climbing up a 6 or 7 storey building it seems a lot bigger.

The other factor is how far apart do you take the reference points. For practical purposes I've used 250m intervals (it doesn't sound as far as a quarter of a kilometre) but it would have been preferable to use no more than 100m.

If there is anybody out there that would like to donate an accurate handheld GPS to assist me in increasing the accuracy of my plotting, I would greatly appreciate it!
Finally before I explain the grading formula, it must be borne in mind that the grading can really only be used to compare the overall difficulty of one hiking trail with another and cannot be used as a comparison of the lasting impression. The pains in the legs and chest disappear far quicker than the memories of the views etched into the brain.

I hope, that if nothing else, this exercise has raised some interest regarding this subject, and whilst I know it could raise a great deal of controversy it could lead to greater minds than mine perfecting the idea.

Your backpack should always be packed to keep the load as close to your centre of gravity as possible. This lessens the "backward pull" you get when the bag is incorrectly packed. Pack as illustrated in the diagram above.

If you put your toiletpaper in a empty aqueous cream container and use from the inside, it will not only stay dry and clean, but is also easy to access -- Mariëtte 

I found it helpful if hiking through snow to put my stockinged feet into a plastic packet before pulling on my boots. The plastic packet stops the wetness of the snow from seeping through to your socks, keeping you warm and dry. -- Stewart Sutherland 

Try and pack in a small non-stick pan. This is great for frying those mammoth bacon & egg breakfasts, cooking your bully beef etc... without anything sticking and making a mess. You know how lazy us male hikers are when it comes to cleaning pots. -- Adam Wesson 

Make sure u carry a extra pair of shoe laces with you incase one brakes,then you have a problem! -- Jonathan Van Der Merwe 

No need to take a pillow with, a dri-mac (indispensable on any hike!) turned into it's own cap with the drawstrings pulled tight works wonderful, saves space and is light! -- Venessa-Anne 

Be careful of wearing thin nylon silk stockings underneath other socks on very long hikes, the stocking rubs into your blisters and as soon as you take it off you take the skin with it. Believe me, we tried it in the army. -- M Rossouw 

Film spool containers work well for: Your own mixture of coffee, powder milk and sugar. Just enough for one mug at a time. Fill up with margarine, place in cooler. Enough for two slices of bread. Can be obtained for free at any photo-developing outlet. -- Marchand Rossouw 

I was reading some of these tips and was thinking that maybe it is not such a good idea that people keep recommending cotton clothes and cotton sock liners. Cotton is about the worst thing you could be wearing. Depending on certain conditions, it would actually be better to wear nothing at all, than wearing a wet cotton. Cotton absorbs the moister and it also holds it in. It takes a very long time to dry. If you are using cotton sock liners, you feet become wet and then your skin soft and increase the chance of blisters. If it is cold, then the cold will act on the moister of the sock and chill your feet and toes. Anyone who has hiked in a cotton t-shirt knows how wet it gets at the back under your pack. There are plenty materials on the market that are much better. Polyprop (thermal under-ware and socks), from “Helly Hansen” and “Thermatech”. Locally made products are; the “Wick Dry” shirts from Cape Storm and “Power Dry” by First Accent. Hope this helps. -- poj 

One way of planning meals on a trail is to join with one or two more people and plan a joint menu. Everyone doing their own thing, or one person doing everything, (unless he/she is a qualified chef) can result in chaos. -- Gerald Crawford 

To keep matches dry, the container in which you get camera spools works pretty well. -- Hadrian Roberts 

Walking with blisters is torture, so make sure that you wear shoes that are comfortable with thick socks. Thin nylon silk stockings underneath against the skin is a winner against blisters. -- Esta van der Hoven 

Sort your food so that you have a little plastic bag with food for everyday, otherwise you can end up eating all your food on the first day. -- Lana van Niekerk 

To be effective, sunglasses must block the ultraviolet rays, which are high energy rays that can cause damage to the eyes. -- Jack Horn 

Hikers are advised to layer the clothing. What this means is to wear a undershirt, shirt, vest, jacket. If the temperature drops, you wear everything. If the temperature rises, start taking the clothes off, one layer at a time. Even in summer in the desert, it is advisable to have a vest or jacket in your pack. If you are stuck outside overnight, the temperature can drop considerably and you will feel cold. -- Niel Coetzee 

It's good advice to get up early so that you can start walking while it is still cool. -- Willie van der Hoven 

Few hiking trails ends at the beginning (circular route). Therefor transportation is very important. See to it that you know exactly where you start and end and organize your things in advance. -- Willie van der Hoven 

A thin pair of cotton or woollen sock under thick loopstitch socks prevents blisters. Nylon socks do not absorb sweat and will result in sore feet. A thin film of Vaseline on the feet helps to reduce friction. If blisters do appear, cover immediately with plasters. -- Esta van der Hoven 

A word of warning: Never dry boots close to direct heat, they will harden and become extremely uncomfortable. -- Dries van Rooyen 

Discuss the trail that you are going to do. Getting a map and a permit is indispensable. Personal experience and knowledge about the route is a recommendation. -- Carina Stapelberg 

The most effective precaution against wet clothes and sleeping bags, because of the rain, is to pack everything in plastic bags and then into your backpack. -- Santie Vermeulen