For our weekly Sunday hikes, we decided to head to Suikerbosrand. This weekend ended up being just the three bros - myself, Andrew and Dino. Only Andrew had ever been to Suikerbosrand, and when he was 10 so it's debatable whether that counted. When we arrived, just shy of a 45 minute drive, it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.
The reserve is actually really big, with some nice communal areas for braaing, as well as quite a few trails. The three main ones are the short 4.5km to the view point, a medium 10km and a longer 17km. We made our way following the green/yellow route markers, not sure which was the 10km and which the 17km. Adventure from the start.
The reserve itself is relatively flat, with around 200m ascent to the top. After the initial climb the heart rates dropped and we settled into a solid pace. We hit two peaks throughout the hike, so decent climbing involved, but definitely not too strenuous for most people to enjoy :)
Even though the peaks aren't super high, the views are still pretty amazing. After a flat plateau we head back down into the valley, handling some pretty technical trails along the way. Some of the routes would be amazing to run along, but apparently it's disallowed by park rules which is a bummer.
As with all great hikes, there is a particular type of silence surrounding you. The air is fresh and clean, and stresses seem to drop away with every kilometre. Nature is the best kind of therapy :) Around the half way mark we were still pretty energised, and even triumphant:
I mean, who wouldn't want to join on our hikes.
We made our way back around the side of one of the mountains. At this stage, the route had changed from green/yellow to yellow and now to green. We were told yellow was the 10km, so there was some concern that we had somehow ended on the 17km, which might have proved problematic. We soldiered on though, and before we knew it we could see the entrance.
Overall, a fantastic hike. If you haven't taken the trip to Suikerbosrand, make a day of it.
