hike

Cathedral Peak, Drakensberg – Doreens Falls

I´ve been spending a weekend at Cathedral Peak Hotel and they give You a certificate and a medallion for completing their benchmark hikes “Cathedral Four”.

As You might guess that was a no-brainer as soon as I learned about it 😀

Here´s the first:

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Peace // Claes

Devils Peak from Newland Forrest

To avoid getting into the traffic of Cape Town I planned my hike up Devils Peak to start from the east and Lance dropped me of at the Fire Station in Newland Forrest just before 10:00 in the morning. This being the day after my India Venster hike I expected some soreness in my legs, early on during the hike I know I was right in that regard – this was going to be a slow day 😉

Looking at the map ahead of the hike my choice to follow the “Rim trail” up to the Newlands Gorge turned out to be an interesting one. The trail started out as a beautiful small path that soon got fainter and then even fainter, at times it was almost invisible and it became clear that it was used mainly by game, not hikers. Lots of fun, though, to climb over and crawl under obstacles and I did not at all mind the hour it took me to reach the contour path.

The climb up the gorge was steady and, due to my tired muscles, pretty slow without any difficulties. Reaching the saddle I could easily detect the rest of the trail towards to top of Devils peak and continued in a steady pace until I reached the summit.

 

 

Sky was clearer than previous days and the view over Cape Town just breathtaking!

 

 

The wind from N/W was pretty hard and I hope You can live with the sound on the video:

 

Going down I had to abandon my original plan of following the
knife edge, that path was simply indiscernible, and
instead I descended down to the Upper Traverse path following this around the northern edge of the mountain aiming to get down to Kings Blockhouse.

Parts of the trail offering a lot of fun, steep descents 😀

 

 

The contour path took me once again back to Kirstenbosch garden where I got picked up by Lance for the ride back to the house.
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Peace // Claes

More Table Mountain – India Venster to Skeleton Gorge and Kirstenbosch

 


Starting at the lower Cable Car station the India Venster (meaning Indian Window in Afrikaans) trail soon crosses the contour path and runs steeply up the mountain side. It is generally considered to be on the more difficult side and partly closer to climbing then hiking.


The trail passes under the cable car several times during the first part and every time I see the car pass by me I get this mixed feelings of envying the easy transport and pity the passengers missing out on this beautiful and fun hike!
I have to admit that the trail is so much fun, I have to remind myself to stop and enjoy the view every now and then!

Getting even better during the second half of the trail, almost vertical at times yet with great grips and threads not really difficult to climb. Still I recommend anyone being advert to heights to chose another route up this mountain. Some parts are very close to the edge along impressing drops!

Heading for the Café at the upper station for a nice double Cortado I made a new friend from Perth, Australia and got company for the rest of the hike. We took the trail leading south to the Woodhead reservoir, crossed the dam and turned east heading for Kirstenbosch Garden through Skeleton gorge.

Just before reaching the gorge and at the most eastern end of the Hely-Hutchinson reservoir there´s a fantastic sandy area almost forming a beach right on the mountain. Had swimming in the reservoirs been allowed, this had been a great place for a refreshing dip 😀

The decent through Skeleton Gorge soon follows a creek carrying no water this time of the year yet should be impossible to pass during rain fall. Leading through beautiful shady forrest and offering fun climbing parts and even a few ladders it´s a treat after the scourging sun on the top af the mountain. A short walk after reaching the bottom of the gorge lies the botanical garden of Kirstenbosch, unfortunately I didn´t have time to explore the garden itself, got that saved for another day!

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Peace // Claes

Table Mountain from Constantia Nek January 4th 2017


First shot at hiking Table Mountain was on Wednesday January 4th 2017, I started out from Constantia Nek just before 9:30 after Lance got me a ride there. Following the trail and keeping left for the jeep trail I met a couple and got pointed even further west where I found a marvelous little nature trail leading up the mountain side.
The spectacular view at times almost dangerously distracting as the hike became more of a climb in some sections!
Weather was amazing, warm and sunny with a nice breeze cooling me down every time I got over a ridge.

Not many people on the trail, I passed a total of 6 persons before reaching the first reservoir and bumped into a party of four with three dogs bathing and enjoying the cool water.
The planned route west of this reservoir was heavily overgrown and, swiftly adjusting plans, I followed the jeep trail north just passed the … cabin where a water faucet was placed serving hikers with amazingly cold and tasty water. After drinking my fill and washing head and face, leaving my hair wet to cool the head, I soon continued north along the mountain side, aiming to follow Smuts Track up to the peak of Table Mountain.
The day getting warmer and covering quite a lot of elevation taxed my water supply harder than I planned for and I actually ran out of water on the way up. Reminder to self: always fill the container with fresh water even when I don’t think I need it ?

From the peak it´s an easy walk crossing the plateau to the cable station where they established a café serving a few lunch dishes besides coffee, other beverages and sorted sandwiches.
I had beef stew that contained more bones than meat, pretty lousy value for money and, to be frank with You, I´d recommend You pack lunch if You plan on having lunch on the mountain!
After spending around an hour at the café, eating and resting it was time to follow the north ridge of the plateau back to Platteklip Gorge and decent along the trail down the gorge.
Usually steep decent are slightly uncomfortable for knees and quads, this one being no exception, I took it pretty slow and easy downhill. Also I was rather surprised to see that the fence partly following the trail at the steeper parts was made out of barbed wire… Please don´t grab if You fall, and don’t fall onto the fence… ?
Once out of the gorge there are several forks in the trail and the one to follow runs along the mountainside right to the point where the cable car crosses the trail. From there just use the trail leading down to the station.
All in all it was a majestic and beautiful hiking day and I can highly recommend the route. Getting back up on the mountain again and, of course, right back to You with the next report!

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Peace // Claes

Hike of 2016 – Day 13 & 14

August 31st, Day 13, turned out to be another rest day. My friend, Helge, never showed up and I had a lazy day at the cabin, read a lot, did some writing and topped it up with a sauna in the evening.
Decision was made to give Helge until late AM the day after and then leave for Mårman if the weather allows!

I woke up early on September 1st, managed to get the tent dry between showers in the morning and had everything packed and ready. Spent some time in the cabin chatting with other hikers and sorting my stuff for the next few days of the hike.
Finally at 11:15 I left Vistas and defined the weather as good enough to give Mårman a try 😉

From that side it´s a pretty tough hike (I´d actually forgotten how hard…), lots of elevation and the stones and blocks were damp and slippery. The gradient is partly rather steep and standing on the peak of the pass I felt the total of about 1100m (3300ft) elevation in my legs – awesome feeling to get up there, though, and totally worth the effort!

Hope You could get the sound on that video, wind was pretty hard up there…

Anyway, first part of the decent to Mårman Cabin was a slippery mess of wet stones, gravel and some clay. Good thing there was no hurry and I made it down without any incidents, having reached the valley it´s a comfortable hike to the cabin and I was grateful to get out of the icy wind when finally reaching it.

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes

Hike of 2016 – Day 12

It’s a tough day, you just have to embrace it – rest day ?
Woke up rested and relaxed, feeling no hunger at all. Had my coffee, read and sit staying at the camp a little longer with the novel for company while the tent dried out from the nightly showers.
As I knew I’d stay at Vistas cabin and wait for my friend Helge I was in no hurry at all, we plan to meet today or tomorrow and I have all the time I possibly need and only a good 5km to go.
Arriving at the cabin just prior to 11 am I cross the bridge to find a spot at the camp site, this early all where available and I picked a really nice one.
Perfect size for the tent, flat and smooth and pretty close to the river. After fetching some water for tea the rain kicked in and I spent the next few hours relaxing in the tent.
My track record with rest days is not really convincing, I normally get bored after just a few hours and want to move on, yet this year this day this spot felt blissful. I can’t say if it’s the weariness i still experience, if I start to educe a peace of mind I lacked up to this point or if it is due to some combination of these. Maybe something entirely different is at play here, whatever is going on I’m thoroughly enjoying the hours in the tent, reading, drinking tea, relaxing,
                                                                 meditating and contemplating life.
A visit to the cabin renders more tea and some pleasant conversations with the hosts and other guests. It’s a bummer the hosts don’t want to do an interview, naturally I feel opposed to persuade them, though.
In the end I lived through an immensely enjoyable day, shot a bunch of photos and commenced experimenting with different filters, met great people, engaged in inspiring conversations and still had sufficient time for myself to relax, unwind and contemplate life.
In short it was the perfect rest day!


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Peace // Claes

Hike of 2016 – Day 11

On of these mornings when it seemed perfectly right and appropriate to just refuse getting out of the sleeping bag. The hard wind continued throughout the night and my sleep got really impaired. Hadn’t I already know that the tent could take some beating the last doubts would have been removed after this night.
As I ended the day before rather early and already spent quite a few hours inside the tent I got restless some time after my reading and meditation and got the stove going for coffee. Not really hungry so breakfast could wait until later in the am and with a couple of coffees downed I got myself going.
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The view into Vistasvagge as always breath taking yet the hike was slow and rather difficult, normally I’m really good with blocks yet with the rain that
started last evening and still came down in showers the rocks were really slippery and treacherous. I even took a couple of falls, thankfully without any real damage.
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Finding a bunch of cloud berries along the way made a short break necessary, crazy late in the year to still find these delicious treats, and I just ate what I found right on the spot. Fresh berries are a wonderful addition to the usual diet out here.
Hiking slowly has its advantages and I apparently moved silent enough to not disturb a few reindeers resting in the greenery, beautiful serene animals I’m
img_4597grateful to catch a few pictures of.
Ending the first part of the day in Vistas cabin got me some rest from the cold wind, cooking and eating lunch inside was really nice and it cost some discipline to continue past the cabin after the meal. What pushed me on was the memory of another potentially amazing camp site just over 5km (3+ miles) south along the river. I walked past that spot quite a few times and this was the perfect occasion to give it a try.
img_4616Finding the place just as marvelous as I remembered it I built camp while the clouds lifted and cleared the sky for a wonderful late afternoon and evening. There still were lots of them around the area yet I had the privilege of sitting in the late afternoon sun, reading a novel while my dinner was cooking. During all the hours I spent there only two people past by, the rest of the time was undisturbed nature with the constant soothing sound of the river right there.
Needless to say I had a very enjoyable evening and drifted of to sleep easily, especially as the night before had been anything but restful.


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Peace // Claes

Hike of 2016 – Day 10

Woke up early and observed that the rain must have stopped sometime during the night, my tent had dried nicely in the wind and for a change I got out right away and got everything down and inside while it was dry. Perfect timing, carrying the last load down to the cabin I could feel the first drops of the day falling.
Keeping really silent due to the early morning hours I enjoyed a few mugs of coffee while reading and writing in the kitchen of the cabin. Not long after I finished my first cup othimg_4578er guests started showing up to eat breakfast and get started towards the next cabin.
I was in no hurry, clouds were still heavy in Unna Vistasvagge, the valley I plan to follow, and I was prepared to wait until mid day before changing my plans.
This also rewarded me the video for part 3 of the cabin host series as things started to slow down and they had time for me.
With an almost perfect timing the clouds started lifting just before noon and I went for it, not the best view yet I did have some space between me and the lowest clouds. Unna Vistasvagge was as peaceful and beautiful as ever and I’m grateful to be off the beaten path more, as comfortable life around the cabins can be, I missed the silence and solitude. Being virtually alone in the valley quickly got me reconnected to nature and myself, hiking at a moderate pace and checking some camp sites for next year was relaxing and easy going. Weather actually cleared up and I could even see the sun a few times looking back towards Kungsleden, though, after passing the highest point and looking towards the opening into Vistasvagge, I knew that sooner or later I’d get wet again.
It looked murky already from a distance.
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Good thing I could pass the really stony parts leading past Unna Vistasjaure before it got any more rain, wet rocks are frankly more challenging than fun.
Moving rather swiftly downhill towards where Unna Vistasvagge opens up into Vistasvagge the weimg_4586ather got rougher again, an icy cold wind came down the valley and hit me in the back intermittent bringing rain mixed with some snow. Knowing there are no places to camp for quite a while once out in the larger valley I kept my eyes open and found a really nice spot with a magnificent view on the glacier.

Utilizing a short interval between showers I got everything set and lay down in the tent for a while before cooking dinner in the vestibule facing away from the wind.
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Even this early in the evening I was already sure about two things, first that my sleeping bag had to prove itself and that the tent once more would be thoroughly storm tested.
Turned out I was right, the wind was magnificent and I was grateful to have the warmer sleeping bag despite its higher volume and weight.
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Though my sleep got vastly disturbed by the wind, I was never even close to feeling cold and managed the night in short sleep periods frequently waking
up, yet always got back to sleep again almost immediately just focusing on the sound from the stream next to the tent!

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Peace // Claes

Hike of 2016 – Day 8

Rest day yesterday did wonders for my tendon, probably supported by some anti inflammatory drugs I got from fellow hikers. Normally I don’t do that stuff, by hey, this was kinda a special occasion ?
Swelling went down fine and I’d say it healed more than 50% since my arrival here.
My original plan was to head east south east and cross the high plateau towards Alimg_4541esjaure spending one night at over 1200m (3600ft) yet looking at the clouds having gathered up there over night another change of plans was an easy decision!
I had actually never done the “normal” trail from Unna Allakas towards Abiskojaure and so this should be the day. As you might have picked up I like to keep of the all too beaten path and stay on more deserted trails, now at the begin of the off season seemed like a good time to try this trip out.
Staying an extra hour or so while drying my tent in the wind assured a complete dry start, trail was super easy and actually very enjoyable. Nice views of The Valley, virtually no people, except the Austrian mountain bikers overtaking me, before I met two other people from the cabin who started earlier and just stopped for lunch.img_4545
I decided to join them and after the meal we had company until I left the main trail to cross the river and head east while they continued to Abiskojaure.
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After crossing the bridge I got lucky and found the original foot trail leading east despite the area
being full of quad trails from the Sami’s driving reindeer from one area to another and gathering them for marking earlier during the summer season. It was a beautiful hike first through birches and soon passing the tree line opening up a nice view again.
Reaching Kungsleden (the Kings trail) I turned south and followed it just a few km before heading east again crossing over to the eastern side of the lakes just north of Radujavri. Something I definitely only recommend if you’re very experienced and preferably in a group of two or more people, that crossing was rather difficult. Water up to knee deep, partly slippery stones and the river wide enough to put the cold water into play, I’m grateful for the still warm rays of the late afternoon sun fighting off the cold wind. Anyway, after a quick wash I didn’t take long to get the camp ready and some dinner cooking. Just shortly after food was ready it started raining again and I retired to the tent, to be frank just as much because of the cold wind as the rain.
Despite the hike having been far from strenuous I felt weary after good 25km and the river crossing, grateful for the tendon still feeling a lot better than the day before I had an early night after reading a little.

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Peace // Claes

Hike of 2016 – Day 7

img_4526Woke up when the sun starts heating up the tent (it disappeared behind clouds pretty soon, though…), unzipped the sleeping bag and just enjoyed being lazy for a little while before leaving the tent and breaking camp.
Right tendon more swollen and I decided on a short hike of just 3-4km to Unna Allakas and spend the rest of that day resting at the cabin, already looking forward to the evening sauna.
Funny how the close proximity of a sauna can enhance the feeling of needing to clean up ?
Upon arrival I raised the tent in my favorite spot before entering the cabin and greeting Torgny who was pretty surprised to see me again so soon.
Inside the cabin is another guy on rest day, Birger, who started his hike on July 10th and now is on his way to meet his girl friend I’m Abisko, hike the next part together with her and then finish alone towards the very northern parts of Norway.
Amazing conversations, great company and lots of food made the day fly by while the cabin slowly filled up with people, leaving us with a very international lot from 6 different countries including a couple from Austria mountain biking along the trails, a guy from Belgium who had hikes the glacier of Storsteinfjellet alone (NOT recommended) and was lucky enough to come down alive…
And a group of mountain runners arriving later in the evening!
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Birger
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Belgian Alpinist
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The Runners
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Lisa from Germany and Guido from Italy
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Sauna was fantastic as expected and the view extraordinary!
After some more chatting, dinner and a few cups of tea I was ready for the tent.

The journey continues, please leave a comment to tell me what You think and share this with friends and loved ones who might benefit or be interested!

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Peace // Claes