Down the uMkomaas river

[Keithmuller]

An overview of the trip can be found here, with a map, as well as the picture locations.

https://adventures.garmin.com/en-US/by/2468103/umkomaas-river-adventure-ride/#overview

Starting from Hilton,  we turned off to  Sweetwater’s,  just past Cowan House, on Knoll Drive, just opposite Wicken Way  this was where we hit our first dirt, and, as the dawn was only just breaking , it was fitting that the journey was just beginning! We did not have to travel far to begin our adventures! After around 2km of traveling along flat  dirt roads we turned east, i.e. heading towards the sea, and thus down the escarpment and into the valley that is the greater Pmb area. We have just had a week of really heavy rains, and the soil is waterlogged. Only well drained  dirt roads are passable, and , mostly, the roads are well made. However, as we turned down a road on the edge of the escarpment, heading to the valley I noticed that Jimmie had stopped, he was in the lead, knowing this particular route down to the Taylors Halt road. I rode up to Jimmie and encounter the same thick mud. The road had been dug up, and the soil had been put back, but not yet compacted, nor gravelled. On top of this, cows had been on the road, and the thousands of hoof prints were like little dams. Moreover, this was the thick red clay that prevails in the area, and it had rain the previous night, so the road was one big, slushy mess! We were about 10m into the quagmire and, as  gravity was on our side , the only choice was down! Going up was NOT an option! It was simply impossible! With the only way being  down,  Jimmie left the other bike (no stand needed to keep it upright, the deep channel the wheels had cut kept it perfectly upright), and came across to help me. Between myself, Jimmie, and Nikki pushing we managed to push the motorcycle, slipping and spinning the 100 or so meters to firmer ground, where I parked, and went back up to help Jimmie get going!! If the day stared like this, how much more where we in for??

 

[Keith Barbier]

:sip: with interest  :thumleft:

 

[Keithmuller]

From this very inhospitious start we carried on down the hill , joining the tar about 200m after our muddy experience. The plan was to route past a point called “Egg Rock”, which I had never heard of, and then along a dirt road over the mountain to Baynesfield, and then take the R56 to Richmond. As we made our way along past Egg Rock, now back on dirt, the roads were wet, and very slippery. The planned route took us over the mountains, in some places with nothing more than tracks that were un gravelled… My feeling was it was past my experience level and not for big, heavy adventure motorcycles  and would likely result in a fall in the very slippery conditions, and thus I suggested we rather take another road. We settled on going though Taylors halt, and then across to Ncwadi, completely eliminating the potential problem area.

 

[Keithmuller]

Thanks 4Kays!!! The rest will follow shortly!

 

[Keithmuller]

We  then made our way along the back roads to the Ncwadi road, and from there across to Richmond. From Richmond we routed along the R56 through the uMkomaas Pass, and, on the final stretches of the climb out the pass, we turned left at a sign marked D1382. From this point we followed all the dirt tracks... I had loaded all the routes we wanted to take on my GPS, but somehow it routed us along different tracks. We eventually found a new concrete road being laid into the valley floor, and we went down this road, to follow the river as best we could!

 

[katana]

Sub. Looking adventurous already.

 

[Keithmuller]

In the valley the heat was stifling, but the day was clear after the recent rains. The river was flowing strongly, and you could see it had been in flood, with debris littered along the banks.

After a while we found a small road leading to the river, Nikki wanted to swim to cool off, but although we could get to the river, because it was in mild flood, we could not safely get into the river to swim. At the end of this dirt track we used to access this point was a water reticulation plant. It obviously purified water from the uMkomaas to the many houses in the area, but what struck me was the hugely inefficient, and costly the methods employed by our country . To supply this plant there was a dedicated Eskom power line, with its own dedicated transformer (all clearly visible from our point on the steel platform over the river where the water intake was). Inside the 'compound" was a standby generator, in the event that 'Load Shedding " or other similar “unique to SA” disruptions, such as copper theft,  occurs.... However, on the day we were there, there  was a 3.5ton truck with a huge generator on the back supplying power. This means obviously Eskom cannot supply power, and that the "Standby Power" was no longer standing by, and thus the only way was to hire an additional generator and run it at what must be considerable expense.... Only in Africa....

 

[Keithmuller]

From this point we followed the river along a dirt road that went up and down hills and valleys, until we came to the only bridge that allows traffic to cross, between the R56 road, and the main bridges at the town of uMkomaas on the South Coast. There were a few trees, and a lovely area with nice big flat rooks in the river...  the temperature was around 33, so we all went for a swim to cool off! It was wonderfully cool and refreshing to be in the strongly flowing river! After about an hour there, and now suitably cool we geared up, and mounted our steeds to cross the one lane bridge, and now follow the river on the northern banks down to the sea.

 

[Keithmuller]

We followed the river all the way to the Town of uMkomaas, about 30km distant. Interestingly, the altitude at the river was 150m, the altitude at the highest point from there to the coast was around 465m. So, in 30 odd km the river only fell 150m.

At the town of uMkomaas we found a restaurant to have a bite to eat. By now it was around 12.30, and we were hungry. We had assumed we would be in uMkomaas by around 9.00 to 10.00, for a late breakfast, but now it was lunchtime! We had a tasty meal, and re strategized our route home, as we had planned quite a bit, but seeing the time, we decided to edit out many of the roads and planned stops, to get home at a decent time. We were now going to follow the uMkomaas river on the Southern side from the coastal town of uMkomaas, heading inland, and, at the same bridge we crossed earlier, and swam at, we would once more cross, and then go upstream on the northern banks, thus following the river on both Northern and Southern banks.

We left uMkomaas and made our way back inland, however, I had changed maps on my GPS (a birthday present from Shirley!), and the tracks4Africa maps on the GPS did not have any roads marked that we had wanted to follow  (their claim to fame is that if someone has driven the route, and verified it, it appears on their maps, thus enabling users to be sure the roads marked actually exit).Realising my mistake, I swapped maps, at a convenient stopping point, that just happened to be a side road  heading north from the main tarred road we were on. We obviously took this road, heading north, until we could bump into the uMkomaas River, and then head west again....

After taking a road that we discovered had a dead end (looking at the Garmin maps) we then headed north west whenever possible. Not too long afterwards, still on interesting dirt roads we found our original intended route, and followed the river again. Not too far from the one lane bridge we encountered a beautifully made steel suspension foot bridge, that obviously linked communities on both sides of the river... Jimmie wanted me to save the coordinates so he could come back with his dirt bike and cross it! There were bollards preventing anything as wide as our adventure bikes from crossing, so this was not an option for us!

 

[Keithmuller]

While admiring the bridge 3 youngish African males appeared, wanting us to take a picture of them with us! This was duly done to much enthusiasm and laughter from us all!

It was interesting to note how much more friendly the people are in the more remote and isolated communities, not that this is particularly isolated, but money is obviously not abundant in these areas, so one would assume that they do not travel out as much. We saw many elderly walking the roads, one old guy in particular appeared quite wobbly, and even with his walking stick, progress was slow...  non the less he was friendly and waved as we went by. The children would all run out of the Khaya's to see what the motorbikes were, and those people that were  on the sides of the road, young and old, would all wave and smile, so different from the communities near the cities, where the roadside manner is very different...

At the bridge we again stopped, and had a swim to cool off... By now the first clouds of an approaching cold front were drifting across, but the valley floor was still warm and muggy. After a much quicker swim, we were again on our way, and, once we reached the tops of the valley the temperature dropped from 30 in the valley to a very comfortable 20.5 on the ridges.

From here we decided to head home, and made our way to Mid Illovo, then Eston, and across to the Camperdown interchange on the N3, and then a quick freeway trip home.


It was the end of a very enjoyable, and relaxing day. At no point did we feel pushed for time, or to accomplish anything more than simply seeing things we had not seen before, to go along roads never travelled by us before, and to simply enjoy the amazing scenery, sights, and sounds and aroma’s.

On a closing note, I am once more amazed, and dismayed at the burgeoning population in SA, particularly here in Kzn. The path we are on is one that will surly end in misery and  carnage, it is simply unsustainable, and frankly reckless. On a more positive note, there is still amazing scenery to be seen, and roads to travel that we would simply never travel were it not for the ability to experience them on these adventure Motorcycles, it’s truly been a life changing experience, one that  I am  enjoying immensely!

 

[Keith Barbier]

Thanks  :thumleft: lekka

 

[JonW]

Nice RR, thanks for sharing  :thumleft:

Umko Valley always a good ride

 

[philgil]

Nice RR. Thanks for sharing.

 

[landieman]

looks like a couple of nice routes in the banana republic

 

[throttle jockey]

Awesome and scenic can you please attach a map file so I can do it next time I am in the area?

 

[keithk]

Wow ! that looks great, however i think I might know who will not be doing that agiain  ;D

 

[JonW]

Has Mr Nel gone from an XRR to a 525 and now a GS1200? He's definitely losing the plot  :laughing4:

 

[Pilchie]

Thanks for sharing, great adventure

 

[EssBee]

Nice RR Keith!

 

[Keithmuller]

Has Mr Nel gone from an XRR to a 525 and now a GS1200? He's definitely losing the plot  :laughing4:

The 525 is alive and well!!! There were issues with it a while ago, inlet valves needed replacement, but I know its running well now....

The bigger adventure bikes are definitely a different type of riding, but I think Jimmie is enjoying it!!! Hope so, we normally have a lot of fun together!