Thirteen Formative Years |
 HOLIDAYS – Drakensberg: In July 1962, I went on my third climbing trip in South Africa’s Drakensberg mountains. It was also the last time I climbed in South Africa during the 13 years that I lived there. It was the second time that I helped Dave Dodds and André le Roux plan and lead a trip. In July 1962, However, we didn’t go to the Cleft Peak / Cathedral Peak area. We went instead to the Royal Natal National Park, and we climbed in and around the Mont-aux-Sources region. As had been the case three months earlier, we took some senior St Stithians’ students with us (though on this occasion, only five – not fifteen – of them). During our final afternoon on the Mont-aux-Sources plateau, we realised that the hut was empty and we decided to stay in it. To help shift camp, we used a wheelbarrow that had been left beside the hut. In this photograph, Gordon Martin is being serenaded by André Le Roux (wearing a yellow beanie) and Dave Dodds while they jovially made their way across the plateau and towards the hut. |