Sometimes you just really need a lazy breakfast… So off we went to Sweetwell: one of the few restaurants that show initiative when it comes to providing a varied and more than ample breakfast menu. However, such a royal breakfast inevitably leads to a resourceful discussion about the most sensible and productive way to spend the rest of the day. Eventually we wound up in Jonkershoek at high noon with all our gear along with a few teenagers armed with only water bottles. Familiar territory: no surprises or technical difficulties. Couldn’t help being reminded of one of those arid scenes in a Spaghetti Western as we stepped out on the dry 10km track still marred by the veld fires and with almost no trees left to provide shelter for two less than eager hikers in training. This was a day for logging kilometres and consequently for wandering thoughts. No inspiring photo moments beckoning during the first leg. Eventually we reached the bridge and plunked down in the shade.

Time for the tuna salad, tea and to cool off…

Just up the mountain side the road to the first waterfall was busy: surprising how many youngsters still prefer a healthy hike on a Saturday afternoon in the summer. Eventually we followed suit, welcoming the shady curves of the mountain and the tempting rock pools below.

It turned out to be a short road to the first waterfall – somehow in the past we missed the turnoff and only became acquainted with the second one. Ferny late afternoon shade and trickling water provided a short reprieve before we turned back and finished the route around the dam at a brisk pace.

We passed a clump of waboom and enjoyed rewarding views of the mountain and the sun setting behind the remaining pine trees.

Even spotted a perky yellow Erika to welcome us back after 13 kilometres in total. Not our most ambitious weekend for exercise, but we could congratulate ourselves for not succumbing to the comfort of air conditioning or the lure of an afternoon nap.

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.

So last weekend we decided to test our gear and get some training in as well. This involved lugging along backpacks filled with everything needed to be self-sufficient: tent, food, firstaid kit and the kitchen sink. Armed with a permit, we started off on a two day circular trail in the Boosmansbos Wilderness Area.

If your’e asking Google to provide you with directions - don’t bother. Navigate to Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve which is adjacent to the Boosmansbos Wildernes Area. The difference is that there is a gravel road leading to Grootvadersbosch but to get to Boosmansbos you need to hike from the Grootvadersbosch entrance, up and around mountain or two before you get to see this bit of wilderness.

Now if you’re not Afrikaans or Dutch speaking, you might wonder about the meaning of “Grootvadersbosch” and “Boosmansbos”. Shortly, “bos” or “bosch” means “woods” or “bush”. A literal translation then would be “Big daddy’s bush” for “Groot vaders bosch” and “Angry man’s bush” for “Boos mans bos”. Why “angry man”? History says that in the 1800’s an old hermit lived here and became really upset when someone entered his domain. So there.

Day 1

Walking uphill (mountains tend to be an uphill/downhill afair most of the time we soon realized) we took a lot of pictures of wild flowers.

Here you can clearly see the remnants of a fire a while ago:

The views were very rewarding and we soon lost track of time.

If you look to your left your guide will point out to you Protea flowers in bloom… the stick is also used to clear the path of big bush spiders (and their webs) that often stradles the path.

You will also notice that the sun is setting and we have some ways to go before we reach the “huts”. The challenge about this hike is that some sections are very overgrown (looks like no one has been on this path for months), it’s steep and rock-strewn. Definitely not something you want to tackle in the dark! So we had to scramble and there was no time to rest tired feet - but we made it just as it was getting really dark, 17km and several hours later.

Day 2

After a good night’s rest and some breakfast the smiles were back!

It’s difficult to capture the majesty of this view in a photo. The flowers in the front is the Syncarpha Eximia (Strawberry everlasting) and to the rear the mountains surrounding Boosmansbos.

Coming down the mountain and crossing the Duiwenhoks river the path is very overgrown and you can see that this remote part of the wilderness is rarely visited.

I wish we could spend some time in the river pools, but we had to rush to because the reserve gates closes at 6pm and we still had some distance to cover.

It a was fun, challenging and overall satisfying trail - even if it did come at a cost.