Tsitsikamma Trail – Day #2

Yours truly posing with some shell fossils near Kalander Hut.

Today, I’m continuing with my posts about my recent backpacking trip along the Tsitsikamma Trail in South Africa with my husband Jackie and five of our friends. Earlier today, I realized that blogging about my Tsitsikamma Trail trip this week is appropriate since this is Earth Science Week and The Geological Society is encouraging people to participate in what they are calling, “The Great Geology Walk”. This event is aimed at getting, “as many people as possible will take notice of the geology all around them during this year’s Earth Science Week.” The Geological Society is encouraging people to share pictures of the geology they observe around them and also encouraging people to participate in organized and self-guided geology walks. This week I’m pretty busy with my day job and also with paper revisions in the evenings, so I guess my geology walk will be virtual. I’ll relive (and share with my blog readers) my Tsitsikamma Trail hike. Perhaps on Friday afternoon or Saturday I can escape for a real-life geology walk as well!

Today I’ll be blogging about Day #2 of the Tsitsikamma Trail hike. On Day #2 we hiked approximately 17 km from Kalander Hut to Blaauwkrans Hut. The trail website says that the hike is 13.5 km, but the trail website is out-of-date. The day’s hike has been re-routed and lengthened to about 17 km, making the hike long and challenging. We didn’t realize that the trail had been re-routed  until after we were more than halfway done with the hike. I think that was actually a good thing! Once we were more than halfway done, we decided that we may as well carry on to the next hut!

In any case, although we were exhausted, very hungry, and quite sore when we finally arrived at Blaauwkrans Hut in the late afternoon, the hike was well worth the effort and the little aches and pains. The trail wound its way from the beach, up a steep escarpment, across mountain fynbos, and through indigenous afromontane forest. Along the way, we saw fossils; tilted Table Mountain sandstones; rusty red, coca-cola colored streams and waterfalls; giant protea flowers and tall, tall yellowwood trees; various animal footprints; a large land snail; and many other wonderful sights. At the end of the 17 km hike, we arrived at the hut, which is in a truly breathtakingly beautiful location. The hut is perched on the edge of a deep ravine and overlooks a double waterfall.

The hike started out by passing an outcrop with fossils, which made me quite happy:

Shell fossils exposed in outcrop near Kalander Hut.

Another view of the shell fossil outcrop, with finger for scale.

The fossil outcrop is located just a few minutes’ walk from the Kalander Hut. I wasn’t able to find (in a quick Google search, at least) any information about the fossils, but they look like fairly young shell fossils in loosely-consolidated sediments of a vegetation-covered beach dune. If anyone knows any more about the fossils near Kalander Hut, please let me know. I’d love to learn more about them.

After the group dragged me away from the fossil outcrop, we started the steep hike up the escarpment and into the Tsitsikamma Mountains. After we finished huffing and puffing our way up onto the escarpment, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of the Nature’s Valley beach below:

The beach at Nature’s Valley, viewed from above.

Another view of the Nature’s Valley beach.

Yet another view of the Nature’s Valley beach. That’s mountain fynbos in the foreground.

Jackie and I posing with the beach in the background.

After we recovered from the steep start to the hike, we continued along the trail, which cut through rich mountain fynbos vegetation:

The trail leading through the fynbos.

Here’s a pretty protea plant we saw:

A lovely red protea.

Here’s the group on the trail:

Hanging out amongst the fynbos. We don’t look too tired yet.

We didn’t encounter many animals along the trail, but we did observe many animal tracks. Here are a couple of the tracks we saw:

Animal tracks #1.

Animal tracks #2.

After awhile, we made our way into the indigenous afromontane forest. The forest felt very old and magical and was full of tall trees (such as yellowwood trees), bright red and orange mushrooms, and thick green vegetation. I felt almost as if I had stepped into a fairytale world. I half expected to encounter hobbits, elves, or fairies along the path.

The path through the forest.

An interesting, fuzzy plant. Anyone know what it’s called?

Another view of the fuzzy plant.

Mushrooms on a log.

Jackie posing next to a tall tree.

Jackie and I making our way along a wider part of the trail.

A snail on the path.

We stopped for lunch by a coca-cola colored waterfall cascading over some Table Mountain sandstone rocks:

A coca-cola colored waterfall and pool.

We didn’t stop for lunch for too long because it started to rain:

A coca-cola colored waterfall and pool.

Fortunately, we (well, at least two of us!) were well-prepared for the rain:

Protected by large rain ponchos.

After a couple more hours of hiking through the forest, we arrived at the jeep track leading to the Blaauwkrans Hut:

Hiking along the jeep track.

We followed the jeep track for a few kilometers. As we continued, we could see the Bloukrans Bridge in the distance:

Bloukrans (or Blauuwkrans or Bloukrantz… there are several spellings!) Bridge.

If you dare, you can bungee jump from the Bloukrans Bridge.

We also passed some impressively tilted Table Mountain sandstone:

Titled sandstone layers.

Titled sandstone layers, with geologist.

We also walked across some leisegang weathering:

Liesegang weathering.

At long last, we arrived at Blaauwkrans Hut:

Tired hikers arriving at Blaauwkrans Hut.

Here are some more views of the hut and its associated facilities:

The sleeping hut.

Lapa / cooking area.

The view from the lapa area, taken on the morning of Day #3, when the sun was out again.

The hot water shower. You heat water in a kettle and put it in the big black bucket. After diluting the boiling water with some cool water, you can take a wonderfully refreshing hot shower that lasts a few minutes.

Last but not least, here is the view from the front porch of the sleeping hut:

The view of the waterfalls from Blaauwkrans Hut. I think this view makes the 17 km hike worthwhile!

Isn’t that double waterfall stunning? Here’s a closer view:

A coca-cola colored double waterfall. You can swim in those pools!

Here’s a picture of Jackie and me on the front porch of the hut:

Tired but happy hikers.

We saw some animals during our stay at Blaauwkrans Hut. We saw a troop of baboons hanging out above the waterfall:

Baboons.

We also saw a genet, but it moved too quickly for us to take a picture.

Well, that’s it for Day #2 of the Tsitsikamma Trail. Stay tuned for Day #3!