This is a hike that I will remember for the rest of my life. I had mentioned to my uncle that there was a spot available for the Outeniqua Hike and she immediately just said DO IT! So first chance I got I signed up and got my name confirmed in the group.
Now that the hike is over and I’m back home I found out that my uncle is struggling with Bronchitis as a result of COVID. We’re all praying he will get stronger and overcome this stupid virus. But in the meantime I sent him a whole lot of photos from the completed hike to pep up his spirits and show him what I’ve accomplished after his encouragement.
Day 3 was challenging and beautiful.
We left Rondebossie Hut and gathered around the map to confirm our route and what lay ahead. We knew that in the middle of the hike we would have a 400m ascend to the top of Jonkersberg Peak and one of the highlights of our trip.
The first stream crossing led us to a rocky dirt road that worked its way around the mountain side and up toward a ridge. We regrouped at this point while the others caught up.
The next single track took us further up the ridge where we hung a left towards the large peak ahead and walked into its shadow. The temperature drop was instant. And the constant upward trajectory was tough but we didn’t stop again until we reached the summit of Jonkersberg Peak.
The last 200 meters were the hardest and I can’t imagine tackling this section in bad weather. Luckily we were blessed with the best weather we could have dreamed of and the views from the summit were spectacular.
Check it out for yourself!
From the too there was no where else to go but down! And the down was long and gradual and I was happy because by now I had 1 huge blister on the bottom of my baby toe. The toe “surgery” had been successful and the new blister plasters were working a charm. I’ve also learnt that if you Vaseline your feet before putting on your socks in the morning you don’t get blisters!!! AND IT WORKS!
The path led down to a magical and almost Jurassic forest with strange fern stumps and thick boreal forest. The water sources seemed to be running a little too slowly to drink from.
The forest was showing off with brightly coloured fungi. My favourite was the Octopus Stinkhorn! My older hiking buddy Gail had been telling me about it and then just as we walked up the the hill toward the edge of the forest there it was, just on the edge of the path! I screamed so loudly that Gail thought I’d reached the next hut! (Unfortunately it was still about 2 kilometres away)
The tiny Octopus Stinkhorn
I’m now slightly addicted to the maps.me app. It was son useful on the mountain when we thought we were near it just confirmed we were on the right track.
Our arrival at the Diepwalle hut felt epic and so needed. It was the only hut of our four nights that had ELECTRICITY and HOT WATER!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! It was so good. You don’t know what’s important to you until it’s gone. Turns out hot water is VERY important.
This site also happens to have local tea garden for campers and they happily catered dinner and breakfast for us. Dinner was a typically South African delicacy called Vetkoek served with savoury mince and a side of hot chips.
And the freshly baked Milk Tart (melktert) was heavenly!!! It’s kinda like a milky custard pudding in a biscuity crust sprinkled with cinnamon. It was so fresh out of the oven that we all had to wait for it to cook and set before we were allowed to tuck in!
We spent a good part of the evening playing lie dice around this table with good people. We slept well. In the morning we put on smelly clothes and got back on the trail after a Hearty Forest Breakfast at the Tea Garden.
The old tea room is filled with original yellow wood. It frames the windows, doors, fireplace and floors. The tea room has been beautiful maintained and our breakfast was amazing!!
We got off to a fast start that morning… but you will have to wait for the rest of the story tomorrow.
Watch this space for more tales of the Outeniqua Hike in the Knysna forest of the Garden Route of South Africa.
