11 – 13 th February
We were instructed by Lydia to collect our permits at the Ster Kafee in Marquard : “ The friendly town “ . A sign on entering Marquard requests you to smile and wave at anyone you meet and as such the residence of Marquard do just that . A nice gesture which helps to create that small town atmosphere . The printed directions to the farm where clear except a sign on the road , which should have been removed , suggested we take another route . The result was an approximate 10km detour . The start of the hike is from the farm house with a beautiful garden and rolling lawns .
The hiking facilities were great with a braai , gas stove , plates , cups , cutlery and glasses all supplied . The bathroom was great with a great shower . The only problem was that the toilet did not flush . The rooms were really basic and the beds were dodgy . From a hikers perspective some kind of bed side table and perhaps a few hooks to hang things would be most welcome .
The next day we made a fairly early start as we had a long day ahead and a long day it was . One would expect the hike markings to be clear and the trail to be maintained . As it turned out the marking of the trail was terrible . We were advised to follow the blue route as it was the more strenuous and do the easier route on the Sunday . We soon learnt that the colour of the footprints were no indication as to whether we were on the correct route or not , as the colour changed frequently . As this is not a wilderness trail we would expected there to be some kind of path but instead we frequently found ourselves pushing our way through veld as tall as ourselves . I believe that if we had not had the help of our GPS’s we would still be wondering the hills of Lesotho . At one point the paths of Day One and Day Two cross and with no way of identifying the route by the colour we had no idea if we were going in the right direction . By the end of the day we had all lost our sense of humour . The only saving grace was the water tank that was overflowing where we could cool our heads off .
The second nights hut , although it did not look great from the outside , was great in hiking terms . Yes two per room with the bonus of a side table . Here again a few hooks to hang perspiration drenched shirts and the like would have been greatly appreciated . There was also a large fire place which would be great during the winter months . The hut had everything we could wish for in order to have a drink and prepare a meal . It was a pity that the fridge advertised in the brochure did not work . Two bathrooms with two showers and a bath were also great . While we sat outside and tended to our aching muscles with dollops of alcohol we had a lovely view of the mountains .
The next morning after a severe down fall the night before we woke up to a spectacular sunrise . We made an earlier start then the day before as we did not know what to expect . The route to kameelkop was relatively straight forward . However from Kameelkop we followed a route for about ten minutes before the G.P.S once again came to our rescue . We had been following a route that was going in exactly the opposite direction to where we should be going . If the route had been changed , why had the old markers not been removed ? Once we had back tracked to Kameelkop the route home was fairly well marked . It would really help if the colour of the routes to and from the start point were consistent with the map provided . The walk home became a bit of a route march as there was no attempt to make the walk more interesting .
Once back at the start we had an Ice Cold beer and a shower before making our way back to Johannesburg .
In Conclusion
Is this a hike that we would do again ? I think not , as the hike was bland in terms of scenery . I would not recommend doing this hike in the summer months and would advise against doing it until it had been properly maintained .