Peter Giddy Guided Tours -- Sleepy Hollow Hiking Trail -- June 2018

Hiking with Peter Giddy Guided Tours
The Sleepy Hollow hiking trail in June 2018


Today we are hiking with the Wednesday Hiking group.
This trail is on the Blue Horizons Road about 30 minutes on the West Bound N2, from Greenacres / Cape Road in Port Elizabeth

 To get to Sleepy Hollow take the N2 west bound and then the Blue Horizon Bay turn off

 Continue along the Van Stadens Road towards Blue Horizon Bay

Look for the Mother Goose Sign.  Turn left immediately after this sign onto a dirt road.  Be careful... I nearly had a head on collision on this road.

 We meet at Sleepy Hollow -- at this time it is still quite chilly

And we start the hike with a long climb up the Lourie Trail.
Take the Blue Horizons off ramp and continue on the van Stadens Road across the stop street at Draaifontein intersection.  Shortly after the intersection is a sign:  Mother Goose BnB;  Immediately after this sign you turn left on a dirt road for about 10km until you see the Sleepy Hollow sign and gate.  You need the access code to open the gate.

This morning there are 23 hikers in the group. It is a cold morning in the shade but I wear only a t-shirt as I know that we start climbing soon after starting the walk.  Rob and Ralph are leading the walk this morning and we start at 8.30am.  Almost immediately we enter the forest at the Lourie Trail and start the long ascent up a soft sandy pathway under the, mainly indigenous, canopy.  Unfortunately there is a lot of Port Jackson Willow and other alien bush.

Almost at the top of the first hill we stop to regroup and for a breather.

A good amount of the walk today is on soft (sand dune) pathways.
We continue the climb to the top of this hill.... This is basically the only climb of today's hiking trail. But it is long and steep so you may need to take regular breathers. Once at the top we are able to enjoy the morning sunshine.
We turn in a Westerly direction along the fence ine until we reach a gate.. Here we start the long descent on open fields.  We have to negotiate a couple of fences --- going through them without damaging anything.

 The open fields and sunny morning compliment each other

 Fences slow the process down as we have to negotiate them without causing any damage

 Sometimes it is a bit of a struggle to ease your way through the strands  --- without getting hooked up on the barbs

 Snack time on a beautiful green pasture

 Des discusses important stuff with the men (and Val)

 Paul and Julian on the downwards pathway.

Down in the valley I am treated to an indigenous valley of aloes and bulrushes.
The second half of the hike is short and we are soon down at the river and turn east along the dirt road.  Here you can see the Zip Line; The Waterfall and the old mines if you like to make short detours before crossing the stream to walk back into the camp

Some of the group stay for a Braai.  I leave and almost have a head on Collision on the dirt road.  A reminder to drive carefully especially around the sharp bends where you have no vision of oncoming vehicles.