Monday 27 June 2011

Feedback Saturday 25th June: Vlakkenberg


Climbing up Bokkemanskloof

So which way?
Looking down into Hout Bay


Group photo on Skoorsteenberg

29 runners turned up in the dark of a damp mid-winter morning for our group run along an exploratory new route which proved to be a mix of running, scrambling and hiking - amidst spectacular views of both Hout Bay and the Constantia Valley.

After a gentle jog along the pipe-track from Constantia Nek towards Hout Bay, we undertook a challenging uphill scramble through the fynbos thickets of Bokkeman’s KIoof en route to the Hoerikwaggo footpath. Warnings by the locals that the so-called path was overgrown proved true, making the ascent all the more taxing! 
Fortunately, the rain held off and the wind gave a very faint-hearted performance. Once on the footpath, it was some more uphill over the northern flank of Skoorsteenberg before reaching the tarred road and then the mostly flat, sandy and runnable trail to the lookout point above Hout Bay.  Our return was along the Hoerikwaggo trail up and over Vlakkenberg down to Constantia Nek.
Seamus - in true Irish style - summed up the run as follows: Other than the blood leaking out of  multiple holes in my legs necessitating a blood transfusion, and the skin grafts which I will have to forgo as Discovery treat them as cosmetic surgery, I enjoyed the morning with your group, and the views from the top were stunning.”

But, other than scratched legs here and there, we had no takers for the Jungle-Joe award and no serious mutinous mutterings were heard.   The only drawback of this route is that there is not as much runnable track as we usually get - but it was different and that’s all part of the allure of trail running! 

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