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 yesterday’s quick run through the nearby trails, we decided to do a night hike and show the rest of our group the amazing waterfall on the Cascades route. We donned our headlamps and set out at around 19:00. Night hikes hold something truly special, and the moon was massive - we did not need any additional light when not undercover. We got to the waterfall and then took some time to relax under the stars in silence, only hearing the water behind us. The relaxed hike was a fantastic end to a great first day.
After randomly running into an old friend at the resort, we decided to do a quick morning session before he head off. He is an avid mountain biker, so with him on his bike and me running we head out at a very brisk 6:30am. There are some great trails for mountain bikes around the area, so we hopped on and off them during the run. The initial part of the run led us through some great fields and made for quite an easy run. With him behind me, I felt obliged to keep up a decent pace, so the run became quite challenging.
After around 7km we ended up on the tar road, and followed that up to The Cavern. The views around here are really magnificent, so we took a short break to admire them before making our way back down.
Being on the bike, my friend went ahead and started his interval training. This gave me the chance to get some pics in, and keep a pace that wasn’t too high. The rest of the run was on the road, but gave a really great view of the area we were in. It still blows my mind that we can see all the way from Giant’s Castle right up until where we are near The Sentinel.
The run back was slightly more relaxed and nicely paced, and we made our way back to Alpine Heath Resort in great time. I ended up doing an 18km run in 1h51m, with an average pace of 06:10 and 400m elevation gain. I didn’t intend to do such a strong run in the morning, so had a little time to stretch and foam roll before our planned hike to the gorge in Royal Natal. What a fantastic start to the day, a morning run helps set the tone for adventure :)
