October 13, 2013

Tsitsikamma Trail – Day #3

Posted by Evelyn Mervine

Blaauwkranz Hut, viewed as we hiked away from it.

Blaauwkrans Hut, viewed as we hiked away from it.

Today I’m continuing with my account of my recent backpacking trip along the Tsitsikamma Trail with my husband Jackie and five of our friends. Today, I’ll blog about Day #3 of the trip. I discussed Day #2 and Day #1 previously. On Day #3 we hiked 13.4 km from Blaauwkrans Hut to Keurbos Hut. Along the way, we passed through more beautiful fynbos and indigenous afromontane forest, and we made numerous river and stream crossings.

We started out the day by crossing the stunning, coca-cola colored double waterfall that we could see from Blaauwkrans Hut. Here’s a picture of that waterfall again:

This picture is worth putting in two blog posts!

This picture is worth putting in two blog posts!

Blauuwkrans Hut viewed from above the double waterfall.

Crossing over the double waterfall below Blaauwkrans Hut.

Jackie on the trail above the waterfall.

Jackie on the trail above the waterfall.

After we crossed over the double waterfall, we hiked up onto and across a fynbos-covered plateau and looked back on Blaauwkrans Hut from above:

The hut viewed from a distance.

The view back towards Blaauwkrans Hut. You can see the sea in the distance.

Pretty pink fynbos flowers.

Pretty pink fynbos flowers.

We soon came across some more animal tracks:

Small animal footprint.

Small animal footprint.

After an hour or so of hiking, we entered the forest:

A magical forest path.

A magical forest path with tree roots for stairs.

Another part of the forest path.

The forest path parting a sea of green.

While hiking through the forest, we saw many impressive trees. For instance, this tall Yellowwood:

A majestic yellowwood tree.

A majestic yellowwood tree.

Many of the trees had identification signs.

Many of the trees had identification signs.

The group on the trail.

The group on the trail.

After awhile, we emerged from the forest and walked through fynbos again. We had some beautiful views of the folded sandstone mountains as we walked through the fynbos:

Mountain views while walking through the fynbos.

Mountain views while walking through the fynbos.

Another angle on the beautiful view while walking through the fynbos.

Another angle on the beautiful view that we had while walking through the fynbos.

Here are a few pretty fynbos plants:

White fynbos plant.

White fynbos plant.

Yellow fynbos plant.

Yellow fynbos plant.

Pink fynbos plant.

Pink fynbos plant.

After a little while, we headed down into a valley to cross the Bloukrantz (or Blaauwkrans) River:

The Bloukrantz River viewed from above.

The Bloukrantz River viewed from above.

The forest near the Bloukrantz River.

The forest near the Bloukrantz River.

Crossing the Bloukrantz River.

Crossing the Bloukrantz River.

The coca-cola colored water of the Bloukrantz River.

The coca-cola colored water of the Bloukrantz River.

After crossing the Bloukrantz River, we had a steep climb back up onto the plateau, where we again found ourselves in fynbos:

More stunning fynbos and a closer view of the sandstone mountains.

More stunning fynbos and a closer view of the sandstone mountains.

Another view of the sandstone mountains.

Another view of the sandstone mountains.

We saw several lovely examples of king protea, which is South Africa’s national flower:

A stunning bright pink king protea.

A stunning bright pink king protea.

More king protea along the trail.

More king protea along the trail.

Checking out a king protea.

Checking out a king protea.

We hiked along the fynbos plateau for a few hours and also stopped for a long lunch break. We were fairly hungry and tired!

In the mid-afternoon we arrived at another patch of forest. This particular patch of forest was my favorite of the trip as it felt particularly enchanting. There are several rusty red colored streams cascading through the thick green vegetation of this section of the forest. There are also many tall, wide green ferns. In this section of forest, I felt as if we would come across Tarzan or maybe a dinosaur!

Crossing one of the rusty red streams of the forest.

Crossing one of the rusty red streams of the forest.

Twin tall trees.

Twin tall trees… with a vine!

Another view of the forest.

Another view of the forest.

A lovely forest stream.

A lovely forest stream.

A fern and its shadow.

A fern and its shadow.

More ferns.

More ferns.

After we emerged from the forest, we found the jeep track leading to Keurbos Hut. At long last, we arrived at the hut itself:

Keurbos Hut.

Arriving at Keurbos Hut.

That’s all I have for Day #3 on the Tsitsikamma Trail. Stay tuned for Day #4!