Hike from Napoleons bridge to

Bareges

Taking a break from hiking on Table Mountain I took a busman’s holiday in the French Pyrenees! The hike from Napoleon bridge to Barege is an easy hike for a cloudy day in the Pyrenees. It starts at a height of 800m and climbs to  a heighest point of 1277m. The hike takes you through a number of small villages with some beautiful ancient buildings which add to the interest of the walk. Altogether you cover a distance of some 12km and the hike should take you some 4 hours to complete.

The hike starts on the D921 between Luz St Sauveur and Gavarnie. The bridge spans the Garvanie river and is pretty impressive. It was built in honour of Napoleon 3rd who used to come to this area to “take the water”

Napoleons Bridge

From the bridge you walk for less than 100m along the road in the direction of Luz. You will see a clear path leading off the road on the right hand side. Follow this path. It leads steeply up before levelling out and following the road and river towards the town of Luz. After about an hour you will reach a charming little church overlooking the town. From here you head into the town and basically follow your nose through the narrow cobbled streets towards the Templar Church in the middle of the town. This is an impressive building that dominates this area of the town.

The Templar church dominates the centre of Luz

It is well worth taking the time to explore the temple.

From here you need to head to your right and away from the Garvarnie river towards Bareges. Initially follow the road until just outside the town you take a small path to the village of Viella. It takes 15 minutes to get to the village along a path with light on a timing switch. Clearly people stay in the village of Viella but walk to Luz for supper. The village of Viella is tiny with another beautiful old church and a water fountain guarded by a shepherd.

The water fountain in the village of Viella

From Viella you again follow the road back onto the main pass and take a road leading up the other side of the valley to the village of Viey. From here the path leads to the village of Sers. It should take you about an hour to hike from Viella to Sers. Both villages are built quite high in the valley and the path is steep at times, but the views terrific.

The view of Bareges taken from the chapel of St Justin

From Sers you need to head still further uphill to the chapel of St Justin. This is a tiny little chapel and from here at a height of 1277m you get your first look at Bareges.

The final stretch of the path to Bareges is a realtively gentle path through forest into the town of Bareges.

Walking up Snowdon reminds me

of walking up Table Mountain

Snowdon mountain found in the Snowdonia National Park  is the highest mountain in Wales. Having already climbed the highest mountains in Scotland  and England(Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike) I have had my sights on Snowdon for some time. Finally I got there yesterday. But what really surprised me was the many similarities between Snowdon and Table Mountain.

Table Mountain is 1085 metres at its highest point. Have a look at how high Snowdon is.

Exactly the same! Another similarity is that the summit is perfectly attainable for anyone of moderate fitness. There are a number of routes up both mountains which are straight hiking trails. No ropes or even scrambling required.

But best of all is that both mountains offer a cheat for those unable to hike up! Table Mountain has the cable car. Snowdon has a train!

The train offers a cheat route up Snowdon

 I suspect the weather might be the major difference between the 2 mountains. I was fortunate to be on Snowdon for a perfect hiking day. Clear but not too hot. I understand that to get clear views from the top of Snowdon is not exactly common!

Hiking to Grisedale Tarn

The English Lakedistrict offers some wonderful hiking. Rarely too hot and generally experiencing all four seasons in one day the greenery and beauty of the area cannot escape anyone who loves to be in the great outdoors. The variety of hikes are enormous with gentle rambles or longer tough hikes and scrambles all being available in abundance.

The Grisdale tarn is found on the slopes of Hellvellyn, inbetween the village of Patterdale and Thirlmere reservoir. If you don’t want to do an in and out route you will need to have 2 cars or a driver to collect you at the other side.

From Patterdale you head up the small road that leads to the West right beside the river. It is a small road which is tarred for about 5km. You will find parking just before the first gate. There is a path up Hellvellyn leaving from here. Don’t follow this path but continue along the lane. It becomes dirt after another couple of km and then quickly becomes a path leading steeply up the slope. The path is clear but rocky and uneven.  After about an hour it crosses a stream and reaches an outward bound hut.

The path leading up the valley

Leaving the hut behind you continue steeply up the valley. At the top you are greeted by the sight of a beautiful small tarn (small mountain lake).

The view of Grisedale Tarn looking back towards Patterdale

 The path to the right of the tarn leads steeply up the slopes of the mountain so it is better to take the left hand path that leads right around the edge of the lake. There are 2 clear routes leading away from the tarn. The first leads you down to Grasmere, the second takes you down to the main road that bypasses  Thirlmere reservoir. Both are steep and follow beautiful little  streams as they tumble down the mountain.

The steep path down

On the trail, even on a bank holiday you will only bump into a couple of other hikers. (and the odd crazy biker) But once you have finished there are an abundance of friendly pubs to relax in in one of the villages nearby.

The Wolfberg Cracks

The Wolfberg Cracks is one of the most amazing hikes in South Africa. It is found in the Cederberg mountains about 3 hours from Cape Town.  It is an out and back route starting at the Sanddrif cottages and campsite. To the Cracks and back should take you around 4 hours. You do need a permit to do this hike which can be bought at the farm before you leave.

From the campsite follow the jeep track towards the mountain. If you are there in the summer make sure you start early as there is no shade on the climb which is severe. It in obvious path which winds its way up the mountain towards the obvious cracks above you.

Looking towards the Cracks

From the bottom you can see the gaps in the rock face above. The path is steep and should take you around 2 hours to get to the base of the cracks. The first crack on the left is clear and wide. It is impressive, but a far more fun way through the cracks is through the now obscured right crack. To get there you need to scramble up the wall on your right , then follow the ledge around to the right. After a 2 minute walk you will see the path leading into the first cavern.

From here you walk literally through the mountain. There are several pplaces where it is a bit of a squeeze. I have one friend who is well over 6 foot and built like a rugby player. It took a bit of hauling to get him though some of the cracks – so be warned of you are claustrophobic!

Photos of the Wolfberg Cracks

Unfortunately the light (or lack of it)  in the cracks makes photography difficult, hence I only the 2 photos above which although impressive fail to catch the adventure of this hike!

Getting right through the mountain should take you around an hour. Here the path continues to the Arch. Return via the first crack which takes you in 10 minutes back onto the path over looking Sanddrif.

The Krakadouw hiking trail

The Krakadouw peaks are found in the Northern Cederberg close to Clanwilliam. They offer some remarkable hikes of varying duration and difficulty.

Although there are a number of different places to start hiking I recommend starting at Dwarsriver farm. To get there go through Clanwilliam and at the bottom of the Pakhuis pass take a road to your right. (it is signed Krakadouw) Follow the road for +/- 12km to the farm. Here you can park right by the farmhouse and access the hike through a gate right beside the house.

Initially the path is quite indistinct as it leads across a field to a style.

The style at the beginning of the trail

 Once over the style the path is clearer as it follows the Dwarsriver up the valley. Quite flat to begin with the path crosses the river on occasion until after +/-2km you cross the river and encounter 2 paths. Take the right turn and continue to follow the river. At times it is difficult to see and follows the river for a small time until starting to lead away from the river and up to the right.

The first part of the trail is relatively flat and follows the river

After another 3km you come to an old was blockhouse overlooking the gorge which you can see leading into the mountains in the distance. Drop down to the river again and the path leads you up into the gorge on a steady climb. Even in midsummer this river flows and there are several lovely little campsites in the trees.

This path leads right up the gorge for +/- 10km and down to join the donkey cart track at Heuningvlei. Although not very steep for most of the time the path can be decieving as it has several false peaks where you summit only to see the path winding on above you again.  

The path leads up the gorge on the right of the river

The views are quite brilliant with the Klein Krakadouw peak towering above you on the right.

Looking back down the gorge

 Once at the top of the gorge if you only have a day available it is best to turn around and return the way you came.

Looking down towards Heuningvlei

 However if you are really looking for a challenge (and have a driver)  you can drop down the other side of the gorge to the donkey track that links the top of Pakhuis pass to Heuningvlei. You can follow this track to the top of the pass and meet your vehicle here.  Although a fairly straight forward hike this road is 10km, so to do the whole hike in one day would be ambitious for anyone but the extremely fit.

Some fantastic multiday hikes

found only a 2 hour drive from

 Cape Town 

The Cederberg Wilderness area which is found 200km North of Cape Town encompasses 71000 ha of rugged mountainess terrain that offers some of the wildest and best hiking trails in South Africa.

A typical Cederberg view

The area is famous for San (Bushman) paintings, as well as strange and unusual rock formations such as the Arch and the Maltese cross. It is also an area where the Cape Leopard still roams freely, as do baboons and many other types of wildlife.

The Wolfberg Arch

Hiking trails vary from easy to strenuous and there is an opportunity to wander for days camping wherever the mood takes you. Alternatively guest houses are plentiful in the larger  towns such as Clanwilliam.  

Explore the Cederberg on an organised hike with Ridgway Ramblers

“A wilderness in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognised as an area where the earth snd its community of life are untrammeled by man. Where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.” (US congress Wilderness Act 1964)

Hiking trails near Stellenbosch

Jonkershoek Nature Reserve which is found near the town of Stellenbosch (+/- 1 hours drive from Cape Town) has some of the greatest walking in the Western Cape. Two of the best are the Panorama Trail and the Swartboskloof Trail. Both are about 17km in length and take a good to 6 to 8 hours to complete.

They both lead off the dirt road that circles the reserve beginning only 500 metres apart. However they lead up opposite slopes of the mountains through pristine fynbos. The Panorama trail has magnificent views of the entire reserve which includes the smaller Assegaaibos reserve on the other the side of the mountains. The Swartboskloof trail leads to a viewpoint of the entire Helderberg Valley, from where you can see Gordons Bay and the Strand as well as Cape Town in the distance. 

Jonkershoek valley from The Panorama Trail

Both trails meet again for the steep descent back to the dirt road from where they began. The descent down a kloof called Kurktrekkersnek is steep and unrelenting. Anyone with bad knees be warned this is a tough way down!!

Overlooking Gordons Bay and The Strand

For several years the highlight of a walk in Jonkershoek was the pristine and beautiful vegetation. However following the devastationg fires of 2009, the reserve was closed to hikers for 8 months in order to allow the fynbos to regenerate. Fire is a natural part of the ecology of fynbos but lots of stamping boots (no matter how carefull the hiker) does not assist regeneration. The new growth is now developed enough to allow the trails to open again and what a treat to be able to see the recovery of the fynbos over the next year.

The steep Kurktrekkersnek descent

Join Ridgway Ramblers for a guided hike in the Stellenbosch Nature Reserve. Join us for a hike that will be the highlight of your holiday to South Africa.

Get off the beaten track and take a

 walk at Cape Point

A visit to the Cape Of Good Hope is a must for all visitors to Cape Town. An hours beautiful scenic drive from the centre of Cape Town will bring you to the entrance. Almost immediately a change in scenary is apparent. It is somehow wilder and even more harsh once you enter the reserve.

One tar road bisects the reserve for 13km taking you straight to the lighthouse and to Cape Point itself. Here there is a restuarant and a funcular railway to transport people right up to the old lighthouse itself.

However for those tourists not wanting to tread that much worn path there are numerous hiking trails throughout the reserve. From these one can get away from the crowds and really appreciate the lonliness and wildness of the region. There is a huge range of hikes available, from a short stroll from the Rooikraans parking area which will bring you to one of the best whale viewing spots in Cape Town. To day long hikes and even overnight trails.

Hiking in Cape Point offers some of the best views in the world

   Join Ridgway Ramblers for a hike in Cape Point. We offer numerous guided hikes that include beach, cliff and mountain walking. We will show you the best the area has to offer including a visit to the light houses and some of the best views in the world.

 http://www.ridgwayramblers.co.za/index.php/hiking-options/walks-at-cape-point/