Amatole trail

About a month ago we hiked the Amatole trail in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. 100 km in 6 days, roughly from King William's Town to Hogsback. An absolutely amazing trail which requires you to be reasonably fit. But besides the long and challenging hikes, between 16-19 kilometers a day, sometimes climbing more than 1000 meters a day, and going down again of course, in our case the weather was the most important factor. While we started with two sunny days which allowed for walking in T-shirt, on the second night a cold front kicked in. Temperatures at night were close to freezing point, and my sleeping bag which I had bought somewhere in the nineties for a trip to Australia, was not up for the task. The obvious solution was to sleep with socks, 2 pair of pants, t-shirt, long sleeve, fleece jacket, windstopper and beanie on, but I experienced that the cold knows its ways and will reach your body sooner or later. The somewhat restless night, combined with rain, wind and even snow, made the trip memorable to put it mildly. But even under those circumstances, it was awesome! Indigenous forests, alternated with great views, rock pools (must be great in summer), velds full of Proteas, and countless waterfalls made every step rewarding.

I noticed that little information about the Amatole trail can be found online, so hereafter some practicalities for the people that consider hiking the trail:

- The trail is six days, but you can decide to cut the trail short at the beginning or the end. That means that you can either start on the second day or finish on the fifth day, or if you are really lazy do both.

- You are supposed to walk in one direction only, from Kings to Hogsback.

- There are about 4 shorter loops, one or two days, mostly at the beginning and the end of the trail.

- You will need to arrange pick up and drop off, but probably all guesthouses in the area will be able to help you.

- All huts have bunk beds, and apart from mattresses there is really nothing there. No blankets or fireplace inside, so in winter it can get cold. There are outside fireplaces and braais at all huts, but almost all the rosters are broken, so you better bring a gas heater to heat up your dinner. There should also be an axe at each hut, but we came across one hut where it was missing. The firewood is generally just lying around so it can be wet. All huts have donkey boilers to heat water for the dishes, washing or showers. Some huts have flush toilets, others long drops. There is water at each hut, either from water tanks or the river (you can drink the water from the rivers anyway).

- The conditions of the different huts vary. Some are clean and everything is working smoothly. Others have broken windows, missing doorknobs, rubbish lying around, leaking taps, missing doors in the toilets, showers and taps not working, donkey boiler not working, etc. You can especially prepare for miserable toilets and showers. In other words, be prepared for the bare minimum. 

- The correct email address that you should use to book the trail is: Amatolhk@daff.gov.za (booking the trail is also a challenge, even the signs in the park show the wrong address). You will receive a map and a separate permit via normal mail that you should bring on the trail. Cost is 750 Rand per person for six days. 

- The map is surprisingly detailed and together with the signs on the trail there is little change of getting lost. You won't see a person for six days, so you will need those items. 

- The map indicates how many hours you need for each day, and it is pretty accurate. Often it comes down to about 8-9 hours a day, and our experience is that you really need it. So in winter when the days are short, you will need to start early. And by the time you reach the hut, you can just enjoy the final bit of daylight.