The last few months have been intense. Work, study, moving back up to Johannesburg. Needless to say, I was long overdue for my nature fill. Having been in Cape Town for the last three years, I honestly know almost nothing about the hiking and trail running scene up here. Luckily, I have an awesome book called Trail Runner's Guide which lists trail runs around the country. After looking through a few of the options, we decided on the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve.
I gathered up a group of friends and made our way to the deep south. We had a map print out on hand to make sure we hit the right spots and didn't venture off too far, and made our way through the reserve. The first thing I noticed about the change in hiking in Cape Town to hiking in Johannesburg, is how dry everything is. Granted it is winter, but even the vegetation was that of a dry, harsh climate. Regardless, it was beautiful.
Our aim was to make our way to two different view points, so basically just head up and follow the red path. There were quite a few runners around, and hikers across generations. It was awesome to see this reserve being used so actively. There was also quite a bit of wildlife, with unsurprisingly loads of dassies.
We followed the Dassie Trail, and then headed to the pipe, across the valley and back to the gate. The hike was a relaxed 8,3km over around 3 hours. This trail is ideal to trail run, and I am definitely going back there to run this route. Also, this was my first hike in my new Salomon's and it was fantastic :)
