👟👠 I made it! Photos as proof :-) (#105)

Hi ! Welcome back. I’m also back! And this week I’m writing about nothing but trails :-) . - Eve D.❣️

What’s new?

🥾 I walked the Leopard Trail. Wow. It was the most difficult thing I have ever done , but that does not mean it’s super difficult. It was just difficult for me. There were 5 other hikers on the trail with me (including G) and although I think they’s agree it was tough, it was most definitely do-able for all of them. I am writing some blog posts on the experience, so I won’t bore you with the minute details here. Lots of processing that needs to happen. The writing should be done by next week, and I will link to the posts in a future newsletter.

For now, I will let the photos do the talking. Most of the images, if not all, were taken by G.

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The region was recently destroyed by once-in-a-lifetime floods, and although the trail was rebuilt, some of the roads leading to the trail were not. G considered all of these signs a personal challenge, and mostly ignored them:

Not always, though. We were happily bumbling along in our hired, too-cute-for-words Jimny, making good time, when we were literally stopped in our tracks by a road that had simply been washed away. For a second I thought G was going to try and drive his way through this, but we turned around and found alternative routes:

We eventually made it to our cottage, which we had rented for the night before and after the trail. Best idea ever. Meant we could start the trail early the following day, and had a good place to rest after the long hike, without needing to drive anywhere.

The first day of the trail is easy and fun - a wonderful way to get into the walking. There is one uphill that needs to be conquered, but honestly it was a little bump considering what was to come in the next few days. (Every day we would look at the elevation map for the day’s hike and G would say “then we go over this little bump, then this little bump and then you’re almost done except for this little bump and then a 10km walk” 😆 😆 . Spoiler alert: those were not “bumps”, and they were not little!).

A few weeks before the hike I asked a vendor at my local market to make me a reversible hat for the trail. He has beautiful African print cloths, full of Proteas, greenery and nature prints and I thought whatever he makes would be perfect for a nature hike. Instead, he made me something I can wear to the beach: a pink hat with colourful flowers! It’s hilarious, and everyone who saw it on the trail had a lot to say about it. At first I hated seeing it in the photos, but now I love it, and it makes me smile. This photo is at the very beginning of the trail. I’m way too optimistic in this photo, so naïve 😆 .

The trail is superbly well laid out, even despite the flood damage, and very well marked (although a couple from our hiking group still got lost. Story for a blog post). At the end of each day are beautiful huts with a glass front wall so you can lie in bed and watch the stars (on our hike, each hut had only 2 people). There is also a fully equipped kitchen, and since this is a slackpack hike, all the food is transported for you between the huts. We ate well! Also, there are hot showers, a fire pit and even a pool for when the weather gets hot. (Our weather was Goldilocks perfect, not too hot, not too cold and only a little bit of rain).

The trail is beautiful. You walk surrounded by mountains, and they have a generous, welcoming energy. There is a good mix of up, down, and flat walking, and the trail is always interesting and ever-changing. Lots of stream crossings (especially because of the recent floods), lots of animal tracks, plenty birds and vistas for miles. Hiking poles are essential!

If you ever walk this trail and on the fourth day you see this sign below, indicating you only have 5km to go before the trail is finished, please note…this is a lie!!! It’s at least 6.5km, and if you think 1.5km makes little difference if you are walking 65km…let me tell you…at the 5km mark (which I had been oh-so-carefully-tracking on my watch), when I realised the distance was wrong and camp was still miles away, I was DONE. I was ready to sit down and be helicoptered out of there. #Falsehope.

But…one step in front of the other. Eventually, eventually!!!, we made it into basecamp, and rang the bell of victory. One of the best experiences of my life, and one of my biggest accomplishments.

A massive shout of gratitude to G who was so patient and kind with me during this trail. Not only did he take me, but he stayed just that little bit ahead at all times, allowing me to finish my own hike while making sure I was safe and motivated. I could never have done it without him!

Next week(s):

Next week(s) we move back to regular programming, where I will talk about the World Cup, and a new networking/support group I joined for solopreneur women, some great books I’ve been reading, links to thought-provoking articles and more.

Thanks for reading!

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