2 March 2009

2 March 2009

It was a gloriously quiet morning when Andre picked me up at Bob and Louise’s home to take me down to Stormsriver Mouth for the start of the famous Otter Trail.

Down in the National Park, I spent some time sorting out my permit and then, as I was about to depart, I ran into some friends. Petrus, his sister Soekie, Mitchell and Benjamin were all guides who worked with my in Stormsriver. They were now employed by SANParks.

By the time I got going, the sun was high and I had a tough 13km ahead of me. It felt weird to walk with the sea on my left, but that was the concession I had to make for permission to walk the Otter: Their route ran in the opposite direction.

After a rocky 4km I reached the well-known waterfall and spend about half an hour enjoying the scenery and eating the snacks Louise had packed for me. Ngubu hut was still another 2km further and unlike conventional Otter hikers, I had to skip this overnight stop. My day would only end at the second hut, Scott. And that was another 14km further.

Apart from adapting to the change of direction, I now also had to contend rougher terrain that I had been used to. The trail was continuesly going up, then down, then up, then down. And I mean UP and DOWN! Sometimes as much as 120-140m up the steep escarpment, just to drop right down again to sea level! The path surface, too, waa rocky and uneven, testing my leg muscles and bare feet to their limits. It was slow going but the scenery was spectacular.

By just after 5pm I made it to Scott hut and decided to take a break before finding a campsite. I had promised SANParks not to sleep in the huts as they were fully booked by paying hikers.

However, before I could leave, the hikers arrived. We started chatting and soon they insisted that I share the facilities with them, so I made my sleeping spot in the Lapa, next to the fire. And just as well, for before bedtime, it started raining. I had quite a comfortable sleep under the roof, out of the rain.


3 March 2009

To get going in the morning, when I had a lonely sleep on the sand, out in the open, is quite easy. But when you are among people it is not as simple. Having company on a trip like this, and being able to share breakfast is great, so the day normally starts slowly. It was past eight by the time I left Scott hut. Like yesterday, the climbs and descends were continuous and exhausting. I had two rivers to make through, but that was simple enough. The sandy mouth of the Elandsbos river was spectacular and I took a break, just soaking up the scenery. A few hundred meters further, I passed Oakhurst hut, normally the third overnight. Now it was 14km to go to Andre hut, the last stop on the trail. After ascending the steep escarpment, the terrain become more even and the view was incredible. But, as with most hiking trails, the last short stretch to the hut was tough. I inched my way down to sea level, along probably the roughest downhill on the trail.

After 10 and a half hours of hard walking, I had reached Andre hut. But it was worth it, for as I walked into the camp, I spotted two familiar, weary looking faces. My two old friends, Chummy and Alan (Cape to Kosi), whom I had met before Stilbaai, had now also reached the same spot. It was a warm, jovial reunion. The other hikers on the trail had all had a rough day and we saw hardly anything of them, so the three of us had the Lapa to ourselves for the night.

Bedtime on this night was not an early affair, as we had many experiences to share. Our routes are more or less the same but here and there, we had opted for different local options. I would have loved to spend more time, but we were now traveling in opposite directions. They had applied for access through SANParks head office and were aloud to walk west to east. I applied locally at the Tsitsikamma National Park and had to do the trail from east to west. So our paths just crossed briefly and I had to accept that we probably would not meet again along our journeys, unless I got held up for an extended period of time, somewhere.


4 March 2009

Again, departure was put off to the last minute and after saying our farewells, I was off towards Nature’s Valley, only 9km away, but a good 4 hour’s walk. The morning passed relatively easily and, knowing the sense of humour that all hikers seem to share, I was starting to suspect there was a surprise in stall for me, somewhere towards the end of the trail. It was just too easy and no trail could end like this. And I was right!

The drop down to the beach was simple enough, but a narrow ridge cut across the beach like the scaly back of a dragon. It was only about 2om high and about as wide, but the path that went over it, was hectic! My pack is fairly wide and it bumped against the vertical rock face a few times, almost sending me over the edge, down into the sea below. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got safely down into the long beach to Nature’s Valley.

From here it was only 2km to the restaurant where I treated myself to a dagwood burger while waiting for Andre. By mid afternoon I was back in Stormsriver Village, resting my aching feet. The truly gave my feet a run for their money but I was happy that they had held out. It was reassuring to know that my soles had recovered so well since the initial tar-damage.