Harkerville Coastal Hiking Trail is variously described as “more spectacular than the Otter Trail” and “the best two-day trail in the country”. I have always been somewhat sceptical about these claims, but I have to admit that after doing it, there is some substance to them. It is seriously spectacular – but also fairly difficult. [...]
|
|
|||
|
Kevin lead an MCSA hike from Botmaskop along the watershed to Saaltjie, the north-eastern rim of the Jonkershoek valley. It was the reverse of a route previously hiked. A pleasant morning that left me with stiff flanks. It must be because of all the cycling … This video will not play on [...] Some of the benefits of being a mountain club member are that you get to go to places that you would not normally be able to explore – and camp out there – and share the mountains with like-minded people who also know what they are doing in these lofty places. Although this hike uses [...] So there I was in bed, sleepily easing into a lazy Saturday morning with no particular plans or obligations when an SMS pinged in on my ‘phone: would I like to join the mountain club party that was heading up that morning to the Dwarsberg plateau to overnight under full moon? Somebody had withdrawn at [...] Square Tower Peak has attained a degree of notoriety in the Stellenbosch Section of the Mountain Club. When a club trail leader from Cape Town called Stellenbosch’s Paul Verhoeven asking for directions down from the peak, the helpful reply went something like this: “What are you doing of up there? Nobody ever goes there!” Well [...] The tree where the leopards sharpen their claws Katedraal is the Afrikaans name for the Second Ridge Peak, one of the thin, serrated ridges that line the eastern rim of the Jonkershoek valley south of the Pieke(Twin Peaks). The Mountain Club’s Stellenbosch section tackled it as yet another cold front made ready to pounce. [...] Henge with roof When Paul bailed from our planned hike I was so desperate to get into the mountains again that I did something that is not recommended and is potentially stupid: I went hiking alone. It was the first hot day of spring, 34°C or so, and crystal clear. Cape Point was clearly [...] There are many easy walking routes around the granite inselbergs of Paarl Mountain, most of them ideally suited to leisurely outings with a young family. Paul and I decided to get into the outdoors again for the first time after our return from trekking in Patagonia. It was one of those fine, sunny winter’s days [...] The first of our treks in southern Patagonia during April was the classic circuit at the northern end of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (Glacier National Park), in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province. The 5-day circuit of 53.5 km takes one to the glaciers, lakes and forbidding mountains of the Andes, through southern beech forests, and to [...] Here’s an easy yet spectacular walk for the family. The 7-and-a-bit km hike takes you through a 400 m rise and fall in elevation, from the Palmiet River valley, through an old indigenous forest to glorious views above Betty’s Bay. Photos and a Google Earth track follow… [...] Water on rock Slanghoek Pile – the name is evocative. Of what I am not quite sure (slanghoek is Dutch/Afrikaans and translates roughly to “snake corner”). An MCSA outing, the hike there and back is 16.4 km in length and climbs and descends 1272 m. The walk up comprised two sections: the first was long with a [...] Bakoven from Kasteelspoort In all the years of walking on the mountain I have never climbed Platteklip Gorge. At Peter’s suggestion we parked at Kloof Nek and tackled the 15.4 km circuit up Platteklip, through the valleys of Isolation and the Red Gods, to the reservoirs and down Kasteelspoort, and back along the Pipe [...] Aka The Return of Gaucho Pedro This 3-day hike was like old times again – hiking with Peter Groves, my erstwhile hiking buddy who is out from the UK on holiday. Peter is also known as “Gaucho Pedro” after his escapades in Patagonia last year. The Hottentots Holland section of the Boland Trail is a [...] The Mountain Club’s plan was to head up to Perdekop in the hope that, it being midwinter, there would be snow on the peak. Instead an unseasonal black south-easter raged, clouding in all the peaks around Franschhoek. So, plan B was activated. It amounted to a very pleasant 13.5km circuit of Scherpenheuwel, which [...] In typical MCSA Stellenbosch style: a couple of koppies (little hills) on this uitstappie (outing). The numbers tell the story: 12.25 km maximum slope: 58.2% minimum elevation: 240 m; maximum elevation: 1405 m elevation gain: 1472 m; elevation loss: 1008 m moving average speed: 2.2 km/h (this number is a clue that it was pretty tough going). [...] Assegaaiboschkloof looking east on a clear day The mountain club’s plan was to walk from Franschhoek to Jonkershoek along the watershed via Emerald Dome and Victoria Peak. We would ascend Fortsnek and cross Noordkloofpiek, the scene of last year’s firefighting. It promised to be a long, hard, but spectacular, day. But an unseasonal south-easter [...] The route to Slanghoek Peak curves south and east up the Witte River valley. Slanghoek from Slanghoek Peak A fairly level and scenic walk from the car park at Eerste Tol on Bainskloof Pass of 12.5 km to a saddle below Slanghoek on Mountain Club property, known as Springstygbeugel1, almost traverses the Limietberg range [...] Twin Peaks Last Sunday I hosted some of the Patagons and other hiking buddies at Jonkershoek for a day hike – “not too long, too high and too hard” was the request. So I thought it would be nice to follow the eastern watershed from north of Twin Peaks to Botmaskop – not too [...] Also known as “Wessel Reloaded” 5 days, 52.2 km (55.1 km according to my GPS recording), 18 hrs 27 min moving time at a moving average speed of 3 km/h Yet another tunnel We all agreed afterwards that Oorlogskloof is probably the best hike in South Africa – mainly because of the care and [...] Swartkop to Hangklip and beyond We took the Old Mule Trail up to Blockhouse Gap where two old blockhouses, apparently built at the beginning of World War I to guard the eastern approach through the nek to the naval ammunitions magazines that scar the high valley above Simonstown, slowly weather away. From there a [...] |
www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from ralph pina. Make your own badge here.
|
||
|
Copyright © 2013 ralphpina.com - This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License except where otherwise indicated for some photos. Kindly attribute by linking to this site. Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa 92 queries. 2.263 seconds. |
|||
Recent Comments