Outeniqua Hiking Trail, 5 days in heaven.

Day 0

The two love birds picked me up in the sexy Honda Jazz nicknamed Jazzper. Still painted in the wedding graffiti we stopped at the petrol station for a fill up and pre trip inspection. Lehesta then snuck off to the shops while Leon and I talked kak in front of the car. Much amusement was had, while Leon and I stood there like a married couple in front of the "just married" written on the cars side windows.

We all jumped in and split the drive into 2 hour splits with much hooting as people coming past saw the wedding graffiti. I learned all about Jazzpers Turbo button and little paddles, sweet.

After some planning we met up with the rest of the crew with the bakkie, left a little stash of alcohol in the bakkie for the last day then went in search of something to eat. It was already dark, so there was no real rush to find the starting hut. Over beers and burgers (veggie) we looked at the map and worked out to amazing detail it turned out where the first hut was. Some of the hikers who where slightly less prepared realised at this point that they had forgotten to bring any knives or forks.
This was soon dealt with at the spur, I stepped up and ordered a coffee so they had a spoon to share and I got some sugar for my breakfast oats.

With 5 hikers and 5 packs now in Jazzper we headed off road to find the first hut which was easy enough. It was pretty late by the time we arrived so after opening the front door with a leatherman everyone went to bed. Except me, who was frigidity and did not have anyone to spoon, so chopped some wood and got the fire ready for the morning.

Day 1

The Proper start of the hike. I woke up way to early at 5:30. No ways was I going to be able to get back to sleep, so I went for a little walk around and had a little chat to a baby cow. Still no one was awake so I did some yoga and stretches in anticipation of the day ahead. Still no one awake and it was gone 7 oclock, this reminded me that someone had written in the huts log book that the wood was too big to chop with the axe. This sounded like a challenge, so I put my breakfast oats on the fire to cook and started at chopping some wood and growing a nice blister in my left hand.

By the time I had woken up everyone with my wood chopping they where in a rush and as become tradition I was the last to be ready. The ranger came around rather concerned with the pile of wood I had chopped and inquired how long exactly we planned to stop for. This of course sparked the question of our permits and our booking. Which of course we did not have and had no idea about as Waleed had done all the booking and was only joining us in 2 days time. I managed to confuse him totally by saying we payed Irene on the www. With this he pointed us to the trail and we where on our way.

It actually would have been nice to have a map. The first day was going very well. We where all finding out about our new packs and I had a new pair of Solomans I was breaking in. By the time we got to our lunch spot life was really good. We went for a little swim and started eating the heaviest of our lunch meals. Afterwards most of us went for a well deserved nap, some went exploring up the river.

The second half after lunch was pretty relentless. We did know the total distance for the day but being a newbie with my GPS I did not know how to work out the total for the day (I discovered it that night). So we where kind of walking blind as to how far our hut was. From the river it just went up and up, initially really steeply still covered by forest then breaking into an exposed jeep track with switchbacks that wound its way the side of a valley. With the hut tucked in behind a peak so no one could see it. By 5 oclock we where a little low on water and had a few people feeling sick and tired. So we split and made a dash for the hut and then came back with water to offer assistance with peoples heavy packs. The water was accepted but the help with packs was not :)

On arrival some people went straight to a well deserved bed and had a solid 12 hour sleep. The rest of us admired the beauty of our very windswept hut on the ridge of two valleys, with an amazing view of the hike that lay ahead of us.

The axe here was even better than at the previous hut. It had an older more classic look to it, was however a little wobbly on its handle. It did the job though and Johan helped me with a few pointers on my swing. At this stage I was using the left hand to help with the blister. We did a little first aid draining my blister from yesterday and plastering me up.

Was a pretty early night, as everyone did we pulled the mattresses off the bunks to make thicker double beds. Just as I was getting off to sleep I could hear something like cats fighting. Rather excited I went out and could see two pairs of eyes in my torch light. Presumably dassies scratching and fighting around the remains of our fire. On seeing me they run off but continued bickering and hissing at each other.

Day 2

A pretty early start, my knees felt crap and where slightly swollen. So I gave them a good rub down with deep heat and joined the boys in the cabin with maps and notes on the wall. Apparently the path we where meant to take had been washed away so we needed to take an alternative route.
This caused little confusion and much conversation and theories. Happily we all agreed unanimously on a decision and headed off on a lot nicer downhill stretch.
About tea time we passed another group of 5 people who where busy joining the trail. We cursed them for missing out on the first day which seemed like hell in our memories. Then stopped by a little bridge and weir for our traditional snack and swim tea time.
Nicely refreshed we cracked on and started another up hill. This was pretty nasty and remembering yesterday, I was keen so pushed on to get an idea of what lay ahead. With the plan to find a nice lunch spot and have the water boiling ready for the rest. Once again we passed the other group, this time I made sure to have the t-shirts off and keep a look out for the single ladies.
Getting close to the top I used my geographical in site to find the last possible water stop.
A little puddle of barely running water in a gorge. Thinking I had made up plenty of time on the group I sat back relaxed and started boiling the shit out of the water. Within 3 minutes Leon and Lehesta came around the corner.
After seeing the water they decided against cooking and got stuck into a number of heavy tins of food. I had some smash, with bits from the water. Was pretty tasty actually, the country herb nicely discussed any insects that had made there way into the water.

After a suitable rest we headed on and much to our surprise within 1 hour where in our camp.
We sussed out the hut and got the better room before the other group arrived. Then I took my sleeping bag and book for a little walk into the forest. Found a nice little spot of ferns and had a nice nap and laurence time in the middle of Knysna forest. I would like to say I woke up to the sounds of Knysna lorries but I actually woke up to a insect bite and then found a tick.

Taking this as a sign for a shower I headed back to our camp and tried out the cold shower with some lovely glitter shower gel.

The other group had arrived by now and took it upon themselves to light the fire. Which was good cos there was no axe and they where way more afrikaans than us. I set about making some bread dough for supper.

As the sun was setting and I was about to eat my dinner we got the call from Waleed that they had arrived and where starting the 2km walk in from the forestry station and bringing beer!

Leon and Johan set off to meet them and give a hand. I eat up as quickly as I could and head after them. Within 500m it gets tricky as the road splits into 3, I released the sun was setting and I have no torch and am not wearing a tshirt.

So I go back and get a tshirt, cellphone and some torches, as they had not taken any torches either. Slightly nervous I tried to work out which path they took and the sun was set and it was dark. I could hear voices and when I shone my torch around I though I saw there lights, but there where lots and they where all over the forest weird, you crazy people. Turned out to be a spectacular amount of fireflies. The sound of Waleed laughing got louder and louder and they came into view, we cracked up a beer and life was good.

No one seemed paniced as we arrived back in camp, seems I was the only neurotic one that early in the evening.

Day 3

It was an amazing evening so I pulled the mattress out of the cabin with its sweaty snoring occupants and made a little bed on the balcony. I did however wake up every time any went got up for a pee, feeling kind of vulnerable as I always do with my arms trapped in the cocoon of my sleeping bag.

With the two new members of our party we got up pretty early and got going relatively quickly. I think this was the longest day so we where all pretty focused.
Our first stop for the day was at another amazing river with some classic pools to swim in. Was really good to cool off and have some amazing photos taken with a spectacular background. The unofficial couple used now as the prefect opportunity to nip back into the forest to look for a "lost pair of sunglasses", luckily they where able to find them. :)

The rest of the day seemed pretty uneventful, I did spot some lorries as will came up to Millwood the rain had just started and they where bouncing around from branch to branch. Every now and again revealing there red under wings. It started raining properly, as we climbed up to Millwood Waleed and I where at the front and got totally soaked, just as much from the water that collected on the undergrowth as from the rain. Waleed was talking about buying a new pack the whole morning so in the afternoon we swopped packs so he could try out my new pride and joy North Face pack. His pack actually did not feel so bad though and was lighter than it looked.
On arrival at our hut Johan was there with his bakkie and the brandy and coke. This was a very welcome site.
I got the fire going then jumped into the shower with a bottle of tassies and some more borrowed shower gel. This would count as a top moment of life. Its pissing with rain we have just hiked 18km, I am in a warm shower smelling like sea spray and drinking a perfect bottle of tassies, from the bottle. Pure bliss.

Coming out of the shower Johan had cracked open the brandy and coke, the catch being you had to earn it by splitting some of the big logs. The axe at this hut was very industrial, clearly the original wooden handle (or shaft) had broken possibly many times. So they had got a piece of scaffolding pipe and welded the axe head onto it. Probably doubling the weight of the axe. Thinking they had solved the problem, someone had managed to buckle this scaffolding pole just below the axe head. I can just imagine the kind of jarring they got back when they did this.
The end result being the axe had a chunk of its head missing and its head was at a rather awkward angle. This together with the same problem with the wood as at all the huts.

When the wood gets delivered in a pile obviously everyone takes the nice easy ones to split leaving the bigger and bigger ones. By the time we got there, there is a full pile of wood but they are all over 50cm in diameter.

So the challenge to split wood was challenging and the brandy and coke was well earned. The social lubricasy of the alcohol got pretty loud and friends where made.

Day 4

Woke up in some what of a panic. All the festivities of the previous night and my shoes and socks where still in a damp pile outside where I had left them (this is my clothes normally end up at home to). So I got a quick little fire going to dry them out, and they where quickly joined by a bright yellow pair who had also had a similar fate.
Kind of a sad start to the day as the two (official) couples left us in the bakkie.
This was possibly the nicest day of the hike. We started on a kind of easy climb mainly on jeep tracks which was nice so you could easily chat with someone next to you. By this stage we had worked out that the other group had a map so Leon had kindly written notes for me in my journal. This way we knew what to expect, where the water was on route and where to stop for lunch.
The lunch stop for today was the best you could have hoped for. We followed the steep track down to the river where there was a rope to assist with cross, it was not needed as the river was low. One girl from the other group was ahead of us and we could see her clothes spread on the rocks on the opposite banks. She was fairly far off in her bikini making her way up the river to the left. We crossed the river found our spot and then went swimming. The other couple peeled off and went into the deeper pools to the right and I had some Laurence time towards the left, taking some cheesy self portraits in the water and looking for otter tracks on the river banks.

After about 30 minutes the other group arrived and we all went to the deeper pools and took turns jumping off a rock into the deepest pool. The rock was probably about 3m above the water and the pool maybe 2m deep. So nothing spectacular but fun enough. It was scary enough standing up there knowing you had to jump.

We had made really good time in the morning so was decided to have a nice long lunch. After about 20 minutes of playing with the petrol stove we decided it might be good on Everest but was crap in Knysna.
My pasta with olive pesto was magic lunch and I got the sleeping bag spread out and had a lovely hour nap. Waking to the feeling of the sun burning my skin as it made its way over the valley.

I had the drop on the couple who I woke to find on a nice flat rock at the waters edge engaged in a little spooning. Very sweet it was.

The route from there was pretty steep up initially following the river then up out of the valley. We got lost once missing a switch back and I headed up what looked like a path that was washed away. It was in fact not a path, and the solid advice of a woman brought us back on the correct path. Sooner than expected we popped out of the forest to our last hut, this one with a rather dramatic water butte on a large metal platform.

It was our turn to light the fire today and luckily haven given up on the petrol stove we where able to play with burning petrol. This did very little to get the fire going but was rather amusing for certain members of the crew.

The thing I loved about this hut was the kettles. Proper old kettles you put on a fire. We cooked a great meal that night.
I had pap and 2 packets of soya vita mince. Then a bottle of tassies (I did not carry for 4 days do not worry) and the best pot of rooibos tea I have ever had. Combination of kettle, Knysna rain water and an open fire.

Entertainment for the evening was watching someone doing the washing up in the rain in his black bag. I then explained that living in Ireland you cant put a black bag over your head every time it rains and did a little dance in the rain. I think you had to be there to get the vibe though.

Day 5

This is the day of the hike actually, cos you get into the best forests and there are elephants. Sadly as is always the last day you just wont to get finished and go to Spur for a beer.

We where warned that the first bit before tea was the killer.. 700m climb. With this in mind we set a good pace and did not stop much until we got to the top. Some members who where not so perking in the morning had a few words when we got to the top. They where concerned that we left them too far behind and if something had happened they would have been lost for every. To this we pointed out (taking the piss of course) that they could have blown there whistle and we would have been straight back to help them. Apparently they had been blowing there whistle and only the group behind us had heard.
Good to know who has your back.
After a few photos and admiring the view all was forgiven and everyone cheered up. Its an amazing view up there, you can see Knysna heads and back across the valleys we came from.

As we came down from the trig beacon that marked the highest point we entered the elephant walk part of the route. Joining up with the day walk. The forest is more foresty here with nice moist muddy ground lots of ferns and that lovely smell to it.
We did come across a set of 4 elephant tracks. Now I am no expert and have no idea what they are meant to look like. They where pretty convincing, they where a lot closer together than I would have guessed, looking into the forest I liked to think I could make out the path the elephant might have taken through the trees. Its a lovely thought, we did say if someone was faking the tracks they should rather fake the dung cos that would be a lot more tricky.

Amazingly we hit a gravel road and started running for a downhill section that was how strong the pull to Spur and beer was. The last bit to the hut was rather disheartening on my GPS I could see the car was 800m away but the track we where on seemed to spiral on and on rather than taking us directly to it.
We did manage to arrive there before 12 as per the plan, and after signing in the guest book jumped in a steaming hot shower.

After an impromptu yoga session on the grass in front of the shower block we headed to the spur. Mitchells beer has never been so sweet, the food as normal at spur was crap, luckily that is not why we go (not to change the topic but we go because of chico the clown and there birthday club).

The next plan was to split the drive between the 3 of us. The person who did not drink a liter of beer to go first. This worked for about 20 minutes where we stopped for snacks. I bought a pile of redbulls and the driver bought a cosmopolitian with calendar full of fancy boys.

So driving duty was switched, I downed a redbull did some pushups and was driving a golf on the garden route. I am embarrassed to say I was enjoying every second of it. Trying to be responsible I waited until the owner had fallen asleep before breaking any major speed limits, he may have woken a couple of times with me swearing and hooting at BMW drivers doing stupid things.
This driving had made me thirsty so redbulls to share become redbulls for me and I needed to be prised out of the drives seat when we got to Riversonderend.