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. [...]
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19 to 23 January 2013 I last hiked the Otter Trail, perhaps South Africa’s most famous hiking trail, circa 1994 with some friends. It was mid-winter, fairly cold and mostly cloudy. Nevertheless, I remember that it was spectacular and never really expected to walk it again. Life is too short for reprises in my view. [...] It sounded like a good idea: an unsupported bicycle tour through the Swartberge and Anysberg for me and Gaucho Pedro (Peter Groves) who was visiting from the UK. It is a good idea, except when the Karoo decides to visit a heatwave on you. Three successive 40+°C days made for murderous cycling. On day 2, the 100 [...] 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 [...] After Torres del Paine the mission was to sea kayak in the Chilean fjords. We (there were now only four) hadn’t done our homework very well, but had a vague plan to hook up with a kayak outfitter in Ushuaia, Argentina’s southernmost city on Tierra del Fuego. Shaun had the great idea to take a [...] The Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone does incredible panorama shots. These were taken on the Bobbejaansrivier (Baboon River), a tributary of the Witte River that courses down Bain’s Kloof. It was a beautiful midwinter day, yesterday.:
[...] Digitally processed images from the Torres del Paine and Los Glaciares treks and Tierra del Fuego. I have tried to select some of the better photos and give them some unusual treatment. Perhaps it works and adds drama to the scenes; perhaps it doesn’t. Click on the image below to view the photos in Flickr.
[...] I could try and describe the extreme beauty of Torres del Paine in words – but that would be futile. I would rather let our photos convey some sense of its wonder and grandeur. We walked the classic ‘W’-trail over 9 days covering some 107 km, starting at the CONAF administration HQ near Rio Serrano [...] 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 [...] 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 Panorama Route is one of the Jonkershoek valley’s classic day trails. From the bridge (Witbrug) at the apex of the circular road, where you climb the left side of the valley, to where you descend to the Swartboskloof parking area, you will walk about 17.1 km, climb through 1665 m (maximum elevation is 1267m) [...] 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 [...] Long-time hiking buddy, Peter Groves, has produced a monumental work that documents our three weeks in Buenos Aires and Patagonia recently. It is liberally illustrated with his magnificent photos. I highly recommend a visit. A guide to the 18 pages of his site follows…. [...] Climbing Jonkershoek’s Twin Peaks (“Die Pieke“) is one of the outdoor experiences in the Jonkershoek mountains. On this occasion I went with the mountain club (MCSA) on the “uitstappie“. An uitstappie is one of those wonderfully euphemistic, Afrikaans terms that could mean anything from a stroll in the park to a mission. A Twin Peaks [...] As you may know I have just returned from 3 weeks’ trekking in Patagonian Argentina and Chile. Words don’t do it justice, so here are some photos while I figure out the words and prep the GPS tracks…. [...] Unfortunately – and unsurprisingly – my words were prescient: it has indeed become an “interesting” summer in the Boland mountains. Since December Volunteer Wildfire Services Jonkershoek (VWS-JNK) has been called out at least 6 times to fires in the local mountains (“local” is a relative concept – in our case it means 290 000 ha [...] The Cape-based members of the Patagonia group are training for the trek through the Andes by taking regular walks in the Cape Peninsula’s Table Mountain National Park. Here are some photos from those walks along with some older ones… |
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