Hiking: Kliprivier 10K

Went for a 10K hike at Kliprivier Nature Reserve with my brother and 3 others. I was carrying my First Ascent day pack which I filled with whatever I could find just to increase the weight as I am planning to take my son along on future trips in a baby carrier and need to get used to a bit of weight. I also wore my Vibram FiveFingers Trek Sports to see how they would cope with a hike of this duration.

It was an easy walk from the entrance, over the sewage pipe (I don’t do heights so didn’t enjoy that so much) and then up the green trail. This section was a gentle uphill but easy enough. After crossing the stream at the top entrance, we headed back, still on the green trail but on the opposite side of the stream until reaching the start of the red trail. Here it turned nasty. In the space of 500m we climbed 200m & most of the trees along the trail were thorny – nasty hooked thorns that can easily catch on you or your pack. Great views from the top and once up the climb the going was much easier. The drop back down was rather long although not so steep and I would not want to do this loop the other way round, especially after the day heats up. after we turned back onto the green trail it was fairly easy, only one steep drop just before the exit. In the end we did 9.2km

My Vibrams performed well throughout although you have to watch for stubbing your toes once you get tired.

Overall I would recommend the reserve as a hiking venue, it was busy enough that we never felt completely alone, there were people manning the gate and best of all it was free.