3 Provinces/ 3 Provinsies in a Suzuki Grand Vitara

[MarnoK]

On the long weekend of 9 August , I got invited to join a couple of friends in Wakkerstroom to enjoy a weekend away. The Agenda for the weekend was relax and explore, and leaned towards 4x4-ing a lot.

In our arsenal was a colt 2.8TDI, and a classic Pajero (decently old, but modded and reliable), an then myself in my Suzuki Grand Vitara (Slightly "modded") I have been to places like de Wildt and Hennops with these guys before, I managed the tracks with decent ease, but it posed no challenge at all for the beast that is the modded Pajero. This trip would be different...

The plan was to tackle 3 Provinces on the Saturday as it was about 50 km from where we stayed. We had a friend who was feeling a bit under the weather and a couple of people not to keen for hectic 4x4 days decided to keep them company at home. This meant the colt stayed behind and it was only myself and the Pajero heading out to the track. The driver of the colt automatically became the spotter for the day, and it worked out a treat in the end. At 3 Provinces a spotter really helps you get trough some tight situations...or should I say tunnels (More on that later)

Getting to the trail we did the standard sign in and air down. In my car was myself and my girlfriend. I have been on numerous 4x4 trips and many overlanding trips as a youngster with my parents, she on the other hand was introduced to the hours of shaking around in your seat not to long ago, and this was her first time accompanying me on a slightly longer track. The track in general is very rocky and shaky and has the potential to give you a core workout to stay upright. For someone not used to this feeling I could see the constant shaking and rattling take a toll as the day progressed.

The first "obstacle" we faced was a slight cross axle, which by de Wildt or Hennops standard would maybe warrant some sort of pointer, sign or indicator on the map; however this was just "standard road" on the 3 Provinces trail. This is when I started to realise what I've gotten myself into. But with the Pajero in front; and the last resort of being towed up the mountain in the back of my mind, I said to myself "here we go". The first hill gave an indication of what the trail would be like. lots of loose rocks on steep inclines. The Grand Vitara does not have conventional lockers, it has a center diff, but this only distributes front to back 50:50. The real magic is in the traction control system it has. I have a 40mm lift kit installed, and man was I glad I had that! this is paired with a stofpad radiator and belly plate, I managed to get up the hill without doing any damage. "I've got this" I thought.

As we continued the route went up in difficulty. at this point I was glad to see the mighty Pajero lift a wheel once or twice and the driver having to try a bit to get it up an obstacle, a contrast to what I have seen at the local tracks. but I decided where he goes, I go...or at least I will try to go. for the most part it worked. I went up all the obstacles the Pajero did, I had to choose wiser lines, and did have to use a bit more momentum and trickery here and there. A lot of stop assess go, stop assess go, stop assess go took place, but I made it up the obstacles. While doing these harder obstacles (By far the hardest my vehicle has had to work) I had to resort to some new skills. I learned and implemented the "manual diff-lock" trick of having the hand brake slightly engaged while going up which seemed to help quite a bit going up some of the obstacles, especially the ones where I get half way up, hit a step, stop and have to start again on a loose rocky incline.

There was a point where we went downhill on what I can only describe as a scree slope. My GV's low range is not super low, so keeping the wheels going under the engine is not easy on such steep and slippery terrain, I had to just slip into the ruts and scalextric down. The vehicle really just moves in the direction it wants and I can see how a little bit too much speed would end you up in a BAD situation. I managed to control it all the way down. I repeat steep rocky terrain!

My first ever 4½!
If you've been to this trail, you'll know this obstacle is pretty daunting. it is a steep slab of rock steps, the entry to which is blocked by a stream. Think 2 Gert se klippe stacked on top of eachoter, with quite a few more steps and more technicality required. We were there in the dry season, which I believed is what made this obstacle possible for me, but that wet on the tires before climbing up the steep rocks just makes it a bit more interesting. The Pajero went up the obstacle first and made it look relatively doable, he did just fit brand new rugged terrain tires, had a torquey diesel compared to my 2.4 petrol, and had diff-lock. But I decided, let's see how this goes...worst that could happen is I back out and reverse down right!? After crossing the stream over some rocks sticking out to try and keep my tires as dry as possible, we spent a minute or two assessing and choosing a line of attack. I always get myself in these situations by thinking, "let's just see if I can get up the first step" and then just repeating that thought over and over. I got up the first step, then the second, then the third, then got out to scope where I was and where I needed to go, then the next step and the next, and then I was at the top! I was absolutely ecstatic! I will admit, this obstacle is probably a lot harder if the stream at the bottom is flowing a bit more, but I still made it up what is considered a hard obstacle, I sustained no damage, and was able to drive my GV back down and get to the other side.

I had decided to give the girlfriend a chance at the wheel, she had proven herself at the local tracks and was keen to give this a go. The problem with the 3 Provinces trail is the basic obstacles are rated 3-4, and it is hard and harsh with loose rocks and boulders. If you make mistakes there is a decent chance you'll pay, be that with paint or dents. We were met with yet another, you guessed it...steep rocky hill. I thought this is fine, let's give it a go! with me in the passenger seat giving Driver! Driver! Passenger Passenger! Throttle! Throttle! Go! Go! Go! we got to a point where her skills and my nerves had met an end. I got out to assess the situation properly and realised this hill was indeed a proper obstacle, and not as I thought on the way to an obstacle. After a couple of minute of me standing outside trying to guide we agreed that this was as far as her capabilities could take her for now, and I got in the driver seat. I tried and tried and reset and reset and struggled and struggled, until finally I managed to mount the boulder that has been holding me back. I realised I had to keep the momentum going and gave the vitara the beans. At this point I implemented the good'ol left right good night, which seemed to in tandem with lots of revs keep moving me forward! The comments when I got to the top were "I didn't think you'd ever make it up that hill, but then I looked around and saw a dust cloud with the sound of a screaming Suzuki, and there you came!" This was Ecstatic moment #2 for me, as the GV had proven itself again.

We had lunch and the discussion of "Helshoogte" started. I made it very clear that I have achieved more today than I could imagine, and that I am happy with that. pretty much a quit while you're ahead mentality. There was a lot of look what you've already done, how hard can it be, and you at least have to try it to see if you can or cannot type of talk. I had made up my mind, knowing my limits have already been reached, pushed a bit and then reached again in that day.

We proceeded after lunch to the fork in the road. One way goes to Helshoogte, the other Waterpanne. I immediately voted for Waterpanne. The Pajero forged ahead to Helshoogte. The Pajero has a lift (not sure how much, but it is decent) Brand new tires as mentioned above, and decent bull bars and bash plates. He went over the first part with ease, then the rocky ascent starts. He made it up about 20 or 30m before realising how relentless the climb is. He drove out onto the side path trying to get around it, but the top section is seemingly unavoidable. This was my internal "I told you so" moment. The Pajero was parked at the halfway mark of the obstacle, and the driver and passenger of the Pajero walked the rest of the obstacle just to see what it was like. I had seen enough and the day was already pretty long so I decided to not tempt myself and stay with the car and wait for them. needless to say we all then agreed to go with Watterpanne. Watterpanne in the dry was pretty casual, I am sure in the wet it is slippery and pretty sketchy.

We drove up to the 3 provinces beacon and braved the wind, it was absolutely howling that day. The view is amazing from up there, but the wind chased us back to the cars. We then finally started making our descent.

The map showed one or two more unnamed grade 4 obstacles, and one called "Tonnel" which is also graded at 4½. As we descended, we got to the unnamed obstacles. They were quite tight and technical and do require skinny thoughts. I remember thinking mistakenly "I see why they call it Tonnel" being so tight, not knowing the actual tonnel is still coming up. With these descents we had to pack one or two rocks to get the GV down one of the big steps and avoid a pinnacle lice boulder bellying me out. but other than that I made it down fine.

We then got to the actual Tonnel! and it made sense...the 4½ grading was realised. it starts with a big drop into an off camber turn, proceeds to a tight rock step, then to a heavily rutted section where you are required to ride up the side of the wall and straddle the rut. As the Pajero went down the first step, his back wheel lifted just a slight bit too much for comfort. I thought for sure he is going to roll over, the vehicle settled back and as he moved forward it evened out again. At this point I had to decide, am I going down this and committing (because there is no way back once I am in) or am I backtracking, and going up a couple of steep sections that looked incredibly hard. I though "I am here now, might as well give it a shot" and so I committed to going into die tonnel. With expert guidance from our now dedicated spotter of the day, I managed to get down the first step without any of the drama the Pajero went through. This highlighted to me how good line choice and listening to a good spotter can make a hard obstacle way less daunting. The plan was; the Pajero goes a bit, then I follow, then he goes a bit and I follow and so forth. just in case I get stuck or need a tow up or down something. at the second step I needed another rock or 3 packed to avoid bashing my belly on the rock step, but made it down the obstacle without any damage or any major drama.

It was smooth sailing from here and we made it back to the farmhouse before 17h00.

my summary of the route:
it is a very consistently tough track. I would definitely recommend having some experience before tackling this track and unless you have a real proper rig, not going alone as you can get caught up, a couple of obstacles have decent risk of rolling a vehicle. There are MANY steep hills with loose rocks where you will scramble for traction, diff locks are a big bonus. I made it up without them, but my vehicle had to work extremely hard to get up and over. Take a camera! the views are spectacular, we went in winter so it was a bit dry and I cannot imagine how beautiful it must bee when it is lush and green! That said, I cannot imagine myself going up this track if it was wet. this track in the dry is a challenge even for a decent capable rig, in the wet it will be a feat.

In the end I am extremely happy with my vehicles performance on the route and have fallen in love with it all over again! it was not easy, but the things worth doing never are.

I will be posting some of the videos of this trip in the coming weeks on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Weekend4x4

[faniedup]

Thank you for the nice report, we arrived on a Friday when the heavens opened up, and did it in the mud on the Saterday, very nice scenery and trial.

[Cats]

Are you living in the future or should your report start with 9 August? Today is 28 August, so your listed 9 September date seem a bit out?

Nice report back! Or then report "future"?

CATS

[MarnoK]

Are you living in the future or should your report start with 9 August? Today is 28 August, so your listed 9 September date seem a bit out?

Nice report back! Or then report "future"?

CATS

Thanks for pointing that out! It was indeed 9 August

[MarnoK]

Thank you for the nice report, we arrived on a Friday when the heavens opened up, and did it in the mud on the Saterday, very nice scenery and trial.

That must've been an adventure! some of those mud holes look like they would be a lot more interesting when they actually have mud in them!