Fish River Canyon Day 3 – (Ai-Ais/Richtersveld Transfrontier Park – Namibia)

Note, jumps in altitude not accurate.This Day 3 recording of the Fish River Canyon Trail was another hard day of hiking for group #251 of 2023. The temperature soared to 38.5 C and was even hotter over dark bands of rock. As mentioned in the previous Day 2 recording in this Wikiloc profile the start of the recording was at Zebra Pools but in fact the overnight for night 2 was at the foot of the canyon’s Table Mountain and so Day 3’s actual walking route was from the foot of Table Mountain to the 50km sign at the foot of the impressive Kooigoed Heights where a quality spring, large pool and flat camping areas were found making it an ideal stop for night 3 in the canyon. The initial plan for the group was to push to Bushy Corner where the idea of shade and a water tank filled regularly by marshals (these tanks will only be provided in severe drought years) seemed like a no brainer push for Day 3, this was however not the case. Day 3 started out early at around 06:40 with the hopes of beating the heat and covering a few kilometers before the sun rose over the canyon walls and buttresses. The first section of Day 3 involved leaving Table Mountain behind us but looking back before turning the next corner at Boulder Crossing its always clearly visible. After passing Sphinx Rock and the dry Wild Geese Pools the 30km sign painted on a large rock becomes visible. The terrain from the 30km sign is pleasant gravel as it stays close to the Western edge of the slope. At this point a sign “H2O” and an arrow made out of rocks for fellow hikers to see was a good sign that it was time for breakfast. The water was a small pool but it was sufficient to use for cooking and to spare the quality water we had filled our water bladders with at the spring near Table Mountain. After breakfast “Pink Rock” was reached and its aptly named as it is a large pink boulder in the river so it’s a landmark which isn’t easily missed. A large pool was found after Pink Rock but everyone had sufficient reserves to push on to Bushy Corner. It was now after 9am and the sun was starting to reach into the canyon. We could all feel the Mercury rising and so the group made use of the favorable terrain to cover a few kilometers. A tight corner is turned around kilometer 35 on the river (32 walked) and the views around the large rock cairn are some of the finest of the day. Soon Vasbyt bend is reached and the terrain here is fantastic to cover some distance. The prominent Renosterkop and the “Rock Pinnacle” are clearly visible right ahead of you on this stretch. Vasbyt in Afrikaans means to bite down hard is a figure of speech which the English equivalent is probably “bite the bullet” meaning to hold out or keep going. Luckily the name Vasbyt Bend probably comes from the fact that the trail tightly hugs the Western edge of the river on firm gravel, a more literal meaning of the word Vasbyt. Fortunately it wasn’t a section that required extra mental stamina as our group had initially thought when looking at “Vasbyt” on the map, we were pleasantly surprised by the terrain and covered the ground in good time. Not long and the 40km sign was reached for a break. It was just before this sign that we encountered the first group of other hikers on the Fish. They had departed a day before us and had one or two that were struggling in their party, but they were determined to finish in 5 days to return to work on time. For the rest of the day we pushed ahead and fell behind this group as we huddled in the shade out of the intense sun. After rounding the corner at Baboon Mountain and Dassie Ridge a large cave was spotted and a short way on from the cave a fair-sized pool at kilometer 43 on the river or 38 hiked. It was at this point that the heat began to get unbearable with heat mirage forming in the distance and the air was stagnant in the canyon. Any form of breeze or shade was a welcomed sight, heat traps were appearing over substantial sections and we had to push through them to not get caught. Some in the group made for the pools to cool off while others stayed under a shady rock. After a substantial break it was a unanimous decision to push for the sanctuary of Busy Corner and call it a day. In the heat we felt it only fitting to reap the rewards of having pushed the extra kilometers on days 1 and 2. Bushy corner was in sight down a long corridor of canyon. The 2km odd push to reach it seemed never ending in the blazing heat. Eventually we did reach the corner at around 13:00 and it wasn’t the oasis we had all been dreaming about, our expectations far exceeded the reality of this place. We managed to get a small section of shade just down from the shortcut intersection and water tank. It was here that we had lunch, some of the exhausted members of the group passed out and slept to recover. The water tank at the corner was near to empty and the water inside was more than lukewarm at lunch time, but we were extremely thankful for what was there and commend the water marshals who provided this much needed resource in 2023, a big thank you for this from all who hiked the canyon in 2023. We figured that the amount of water in the tank would not be enough to sustain our entire group for the evenings cooking preparations and to refill for the next day without leaving little to none for other passing groups. After a considerable break at Bushy Corner it was decided that we would push for a rumored pool with sufficient water at the 50km mark. This was about 4 kilometers from Bushy Corner and while 4km is not usually a tough ask, the heat made it some of the hardest of the whole trail. Leaving Bushy Corner we opted not to take the first shortcut, it was said to be steep and hot amongst the jagged rocks and it doesn’t cut out much of the trail anyway. This advice and a list of water sources was given to us at Ai-Ais by a group that had just finished the hike the day before we started, such useful information and we are eternally grateful for the valuable tips and water sources. Consider paying it forward and doing the same with any useful info you may have if you have just completed the canyon. In dry years it can be a life saver to share information about water sources. Leaving Bushy Corner in scorching temperatures and following the same Day 2 strategy of walking a kilometer and then resting in any form of shade the 50km sign came into view across the river, such a relief. All that needed to be done was cross a large medium sized boulder field to get there. The pool at the 50km mark was substantial and there was even a spring where clean water flowed up from the earth. This was courteously marked by a previous group with a stick and a strand of toilet paper on it showing the best place to drink from. The campsite in this location was ideal with flat sandy sections (this might not be the case when the river is higher) and easy access to the large pool and spring water. The campsite was reached around 17:30 giving plenty of time to relax before setting up camp and calling it in for the evening. The Kooigoed Heights towering above and the near to full supermoon rising behind them made this a special and enjoyable place to camp. After 2 days of pushing further and further ahead to find reliable water the group although tired and worn out could feel a sense of relief that the worst was over. The canyon had most certainly opened up and the terrain was easier than the first 40km, the forecast also showed a cool 33 degrees centigrade for the next day which is far more manageable than 38/39C. The group also knew it was a relatively easy 7km push to the long-awaited Pink Palace the next day and that the rest of the canyon would be straightforward, its small mental wins like these that really help morale when the going is tough.