Hogsback

The forest of Hogsback hiking trail

Woman at hostel: How long of a hike are you looking for?
Tico: 5-6 hours.
Woman at hostel: Are you experienced hikers?
Maria: Hmm, yes.

We had a highlighted map and set out at 8 am after we ate our breakfast at the hostel’s viewpoint.  Forecast was sunny and warm, which was good as we were sternly told to turn around at the first sign of mist.  We would work our way down through the forest and then back up to the main road before doing a small portion of the Amathole Trail.

We zigzagged down until we found the “Big Tree” that earned its name from living roughly 800 years and rising some 38 meters (almost 125 feet) into the sky.  We worked our way back up the side of the cliff to get a view of the Swallowtail waterfall and while it was impressive, it didn’t quite compare to what we’d seen in Blyde Canyon.  Backtracking to the main trail, we moved towards the Madonna and Child waterfall.  The flora changed as we moved from humid and mossy to more arid pine trees and then back.  We reached the waterfall and the drought that we’d heard so much about was showing its colors.  The child waterfall was not running and the principle one had water, but we could tell it was lacking some power.  Regardless, we found a shady rock and ate our sandwiches while listening to the water fall.

Madonna and Child waterfall

The woman at the hostel had highlighted our map to show us where we would be going and it appeared we needed to exit near the falls.  So we found a path and started clawing our way up the rocks towards the top of the cliff (the same one that made the falls).  About halfway up, the path disappeared and we stood between a dropoff and a straight incline.  We decided to back our way down and take the guaranteed exit that was also on the map.

We reached the end of the Amathole Trail, which is a 6 day, 100 km hike.  The plan was to do the last portion of it, but we would reach the peak of The Hogsback.  We were’t really sure what the distance was as the only information we’d been given was it would take roughly 3 hours to reach the top.  The river was on our left as we moved up the side of the mountain and used it to cool off at one point.

When we were asked if we were experienced hikers, we really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves in to.  It turns out that the climb involved an almost vertical maze of ducking under fallen trees, climbing over rocks and roots and maneuvering your body in a way that you had to trust your footing.  We, of course, got off path several times and ended up having to backtrack, but the real challenge was that we went up about 700 meters without zigzagging.  Exhausted, we reached a clearing and then entered a section of pine trees.

There were baboons in the distance and then we saw some run past.  We armed ourselves with sticks and continued on.  We made it to the big pine tree, which was the base of the final climb, but our legs said we were done.  Our date with a bathtub on the edge of a cliff was at 5 pm so using that as our excuse we turned around.  The baboons were still nearby and seemed to have multiplied as there were now 10 sitting directly in our path.  Tico clapped and we again grabbed sticks.  They followed us at least halfway down the mountain, but thankfully seemed just as scared of us as we were of them.

The last view before heading back to the hostal

We twisted and turned down the trail with much more ease than before as we knew where we were going.  Our legs were happy to be using the opposite muscles and we stopped at a waterfall to fill up our almost empty water bottles.  We were hesitant at first, but this turned out to be a great decision once we reached the road again and still had 3+ kilometers to go.

Away with the Fairies bathtub

At 4:30 pm we were back at the hostel and we treated ourselves to a much-deserved beer.  We were just in time for our date with the bathtub.  The hostel placed an old porcelain bathtub literally on the edge of the cliff so you can relax with a view.  The water is heated by a wood fire and it was a perfect way to end a long day of hiking.

Don’t forget to see more pictures in our gallery here.

Helpful tips:

• We stayed at Away with the Fairies and their location is great as the hikes to the waterfalls start from their viewpoint.
• The cliff bathtub is best in the afternoon once the sun is falling and is a must do.
• The road to Hogsback (345) is a dirt road if approaching from the North (Cathcart) and is paved if coming from the South (Alice).
• The Amathole trail is well marked, but if you feel like the path is impossible you probably missed a sign.  Don’t try it in wet or foggy conditions.