A big thanks to Alpine Heath for giving us an amazing place to stay on our trip. If you’re ever looking for accommodation in the Drakensberg, treat yourself and give Alpine Heath a call.
After looking forward to the Drakensberg trip for months, the day finally came for us to pack our bags, including all our warm clothes, and head on out into the mountains. We managed to get a great group together, and together the 10 of us set out for adventure.
The drive down from Joburg was really easy, and even small roadworks didn’t dampen our spirits. With a short stop we made it to Alpine Heath in under 5 hours, we grabbed some lunch and unpacked as soon as the cabin was ready. The cabin has some fantastic views, so I could not hold back the need for a quick arrival run.
I took a friend with and we just set off in a general direction - keep the adventure alive :) We followed one route down through some meandering hills, with some small elevation and drops we ended up at a fantastic small waterfall. We decided to try and reach the top of the waterfall, but with some incredibly slippery rocks to climb we made it about half way before turning back. Going up is relatively easy with slippery footing, coming back down is daredevil territory.
We followed some paths used by the locals, going off the trail path, and head up and around to form a short loop. We had gained just over 200m vertical at this stage, so the downhill that followed was fantastic. The first section was easy running, and I got to a near full sprint almost on the entire descent. After some short flats and small steep ascent, we hit another very technical downhill. Technical trail running is loads of fun, and really good for gaining confidence and skills. We finally hit the flat and went back to our cabin to meet the rest of the crew who were arriving.
The short 3.7km run was really great for seeing a bit of the surrounds, and gave us some great ideas for more hikes and runs to do. With another three full days in the berg, and some night hikes in the mix, we are off to a great start.
