Expect the unexpected

Photo by stuckincustoms

In a previous post, I detailed some of my packing thought processes. In particular, I mentioned that we didn't pack any tents. We had no lightweight hiking tents, and the weather in the Cederberg is generally pretty dry in December. Nothing to worry about, right?


The hike had been going well until then, we stopped at a dry riverbed to set up camp for the evening. We made dinner, I accidentally tried to pick up the camp stove before it had cooled (I still have the scar), and we rolled out our mattresses on the lovely soft riverbed sand and went to sleep.

Sometime later, I was awakened by a huge rain droplet hitting me smack in the face. A look up confirmed that the cloudless starry night had turned into some very angry looking thunderclouds, and we were going to be in for a hell of a storm. We woke everyone and, as the downpour started, we all crawled into our survival bags, pulled our backpacks in with us, and went back to sleep.

We didn't, however, think about getting out of the riverbed.

Some time, and one flash flood later, everyone got the hint and moved up to higher ground. We didn't lose anything or anyone, and all in all, we were in reasonably good spirits when morning rolled around. The rain gave no indication of letting up, so we hunkered down, built a mostly waterproof fort out of emergency bags and tarps, and made breakfast.

It rained for a while, and I no longer recall what we did to get to the next base, but so much for it never raining in December.