Waking Giant adventure trail

ABOUT

The Waking Giant trail

This is a Sunday funday event, booking in to the lodge for the whole weekend is in the link belowwww.

For the trail. We’ll all meet and greet each other and the mountain on the lawn of Du Kloof lodge on Sunday morning. Route briefing is at 8:45am. Come earlier for a café with a view, it’s about an hour from Cape Town City here.

The trail’s journey begins with a little maze of proteas, before crossing through the river into the wildness of the mountain.

Secrets of deep earth in the form of flowering pincushions and heart throbbing views will guide us up the steep walking path, the orange arrows also show the way. At the height of the route (but not of the mountain) we’ll walk side by side with the sunlit cliff faces that meet the sky hundreds of meters above us. A waterfall or two along here will kiss our cheeks as we go by if we’re lucky.

From there the whisperings of ancient spiralled yellow woods and butterfly wings guide us slowly back down over the lichened boulders. Between finding the essence of all life, and your footing -  the going can be slow. On the way down we find a small mountain river, which turns the big flat grey stones into smooth, orange river rocks. Somewhere here, among miniature waterfalls and swirling clear pools we realise that we are inside the Waking Giant. In all forgetfulness of ever being outside of our true harmony with nature, the river song over the rocks takes us home. We also traverse the last hour (or three) down the mountain river itself. Back in the bottom of the valley a sandy path is here alongside the Molenaarsrivier for the last kilometre, if we choose to walk instead of swim.

At Du Kloof we’re free all afternoon to be in the river or on the lawn facing the view. We’ll have a small prize giving ceremony and live music with us to enjoy it all. 

The lodge has exquisite rooms to spend the weekend in too - https://duklooflodge.co.za/ 

* the Waking Giant trail is extremely technical on the way down because of the boulders and the river that the path follows in. Do bring a little food, or a full picnic if you’d like to take your time.

**There is a beautiful 3km out and back in the opposite direction - the Sleeping Giant. This walks us along the river bank and up through the Milkwood and Yellowwood forest. It ends in a spectacular amphitheatre, surrounded by the mountains’ sheer grey cliffs. If you look up at the crescent of sky you might see Dragonflies or Black Eagles. If you look out and across you’ll see the opposite side of the valley stretching all the way into the sky.

DIRECTIONS