Navigating the extent of a weekend trail between the rather sketchy descriptions in Cape Nature brochures and Mike Lundy’s Weekend Trails seems to be a fine art. Last weekend we started off our weekend hiking training with what we at the time thought to be a rather ambitious adventure on the Boosmansbos trail. Lundy’s comment on this route was: “[I]f any two-day, 27 km hike can be described as nonstrenuous, then this can”. Arriving home from Heidelberg with a disconcerting and menacing blister on the ball of my right foot as a souvenir from Valentine’s Day, I needed to do some very necessary research on blister prevention and treatment for the next round. Of course, this was accompanied by developing a seriously cautious approach to not only Lundy’s descriptions but also to the Cape Nature brochures which both state that the Boosmansbos trail is 27 km in length – which turned out to be 30.
With the blister settling on Thursday and after a consultation with the very helpful and concerned staff of the Waterstone Pharmacy, I arrived home with an assortment of plaster and blister prevention measures. Next goal: the Orchards Route. Although Lundy describes Day 1 of the weekend trail as “quite strenuous” he countered by labelling Day 2 as “a cakewalk by comparison”. So, at least in theory, we were partially, perhaps naively, consoled that Day 2 would be more comfortable than Day 1, whatever that would hold.
Day 1
Pouring rain on Friday caused a little apprehension on my side, but we needed to test out the pack covers and our rain coats. So, on Saturday morning, after extensively taping of our feet, we set out on the Jeep track which was relatively busy with merry Canopy tour candidates being ferried to the starting point of another adventure.
Turning from the Jeep track and passing a few nice and tempting swimming pools, we made our way to the first proper river crossing where another hiking group had just finished lunch. There seems to have been a suspension bridge during an era where maintenance of trails were still a regular occurrence. After having a sturdy tuna salad and some tea in the slight drizzle, we lugged ourselves up a steep incline through some lovely fynbos – spotting some king proteas (Protea cynaroides) along the way.
While making our way through a patch of Leucadendron the rain clouds were gathering and we eventually got to test out our rain covers and coats. Unfortunately, Kobus also discovered that his boots were not nearly as waterproof as mine.
He had to stop ever so often to wring out his socks and we still had pretty far to go, passing the turnoff to Suicide Gorge and traversing a rocky slope on the approach to the last valley we had to negotiate before settling down at the overnight hut.
Quite a few pine trees were cut down and left right on the track. The view from the top of the mountain down to where the sun was setting above the Theewaterskloof Dam was stunning. The trail had deteriorated to what amounted to dongas in quite a few places and the downhill was steep.
Scattered protea heads, the evidence of baboons snacking, indicated that they were much more frequent visitors to this route than fellow hikers. We had to keep moving to reach the huts before sunset and thankfully made it just before dark. Peeling off the plaster revealed the miracle of intact feet, which were a great consolation after the extremely taxing hike. However, our feet were so traumatised by the day that we only glanced at the inviting pile of wood next to the braai area. First dehydrated meal: chicken and rice boosted by some smoked chicken we brought along. The luxury of a clean hut and water were welcome and we were indeed thankful for slightly softer matrasses to soothe the aches and pains.
Day 2
On to the “cakewalk”. Kobus calculated that we did the equivalent of about 240 floors scrambling up and down the rocky outcrop of the Hottentots Holland Mountains next to the orchards and the homes of both farmers and labourers where children were getting the most out of the Sunday afternoon playtime. Some interesting rock formations, but indeed a lot of sun.
We were blessed by a nice breeze though, and encountered more water than we would have expected. We even found a big inclining rock to park under for lunch. We decided to try out the dehydrated Moroccan chicken mix for lunch accompanied with some salad: sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, avocado, small cucumbers and stuffed olives travel well and added some crunch and texture to something other than our feet.
After lunch we had some more challenging ascents, and eventually descended down a very steep slope to the river where we had to retape and gather courage for the last mountain we had to cross.
The pink and white Sewejaartjies along the way provided a welcome excuse for a photograph and a breather now and then.
This incline was steep, but easier on the feet and we had a rewarding view of the whole valley patchwork of orchards.
Once on top, a merciful contour path approached the main gate to the Hottentots Holland Reserve gradually. However, we still had to walk all the way back to where the parking lot beckoned. It was no cakewalk, but we made it.