Three Sisters hike
The Three Sisters trail at Kleinmond is described as "challenging" and "moderate" on various websites and trails apps, opinions determined by the abilities and experience of the respective authors, I assume. I would advise that you be conditioned for hiking and be...
Up the Cascades
Cascades is a perennial summer outing on the Mountain Club's calendar. Either members scramble up the gorge, skirting the waterfalls, or they abseil down the gorge through the waterfalls - often doing both in a single weekend. I have abseiled it before, but this was...
Erdvark Trail
Central Karoo The Erdvark Trail is located roughly 45 km west of the Karoo National Park. It winds up and through the foothills, valleys and tablelands of the escarpment, where the Karoo's Koup ramps up to the Hoogland Karoo, in a great circuit some 67.8 km in length....
Rod’s Trail, Betty’s Bay
Rod's Trail is an easy 9 km circular, scenic walk that follows the base of the Kogelberg mountains above Betty's Bay, then meanders down to the coast to return along the beach than forms part of the Betty's Bay Marine Protected Area. Gain in elevation is negligible....
Spanning the red stone arches
Red Stone Hills One of the great advantages of being "retired" is that my time is my own. So, when Leonie invited my to join her and Sonja to explore the arches of Red Stone Hills after our almost-abortive hike at Gamkaberg, I accepted with alacrity. On a previous...
Gamkaberg Plan B
As much as I respect the conservation work that CapeNature does with limited resources, their treatment of hikers especially leaves much to be desired. Leonie had booked an MCSA outing to do the Tierkloof Trail which cuts north-south through the Gamkaberg back in...
Fonteintjiesberg
One of the gaps in my Mountain Club (Stellenbosch) portfolio is the annual hike up to Fonteintjiesberg and Brandwacht Peak, using the club's Thomas Hut as a base. Finally, I joined Leonie's scheduled trip, expecting a major uphill slog with a full pack. As it...
Swartberg Pass over the years
Completed by Thomas Bain and his team of convicts in 1888, the Swartberg Pass is now 136 years old, a national monument and a testament to Bain's road-building skills. It winds through 23.8 km and the bulk of it traverses the Swartberg Nature Reserve, linking the...
Cape of Good Hope Trail once again
Once I wrote, a bit arrogantly, that life was too short to repeat a hiking trail. I have since broken this "rule" many times and this trail, the Cape of Good Hope Trail, is increasingly responsible for these "transgressions". The trail is like an old friend, familiar...
Fairy Glen – Plateau – Kasteelkopnek trail
The Kleinmond-Palmiet area features many scenic trails which are not managed by CapeNature, but by the Overstrand Municipality and volunteer organisations. Many of them originate from the vicinity of the Fairy Glen picnic site near the Palmiet River bridge. This...
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