Hi, if you were to start hiking and/ camping from the very beginning, but with what you know now:
1.What hiking and/ camping route do you recommend?
2.What do you pack?( In terms of items needed, like a first aid kit, propane stove, flash light, power bank)
3.What isn’t necessary, but improves the experience by, let’s say 65%?
4.When? What time of year?
5.How to stay safe as a solo woman hiking and/ camping?
6.Tent recommendations? Or is any one man tent fine? Or a hammock tent?
7.Food? What types of meals are easiest to carry and prepare on trail? Or do you just get protein bars with added fiber?
8.How do you handle going to the toilet? Specifically pooing?
9.What to do if you unexpectedly get your period?( You are a pad user, do you just keep them in a little zip lock baggie to discard of later, when you finish the trail?)
10.Shoes and clothing, is leggings, a t-shirt, sports bra, and fresh undies for each day fine? Also, do you recommend a pair of fresh socks everyday or not?
11.Hiking permits? I know you apply, but is there different ones for different lenghts of trails? Or is it just a general hiking and camping permit?
In the Cape: Grootwinterhoek. We went South from reception along grootkliphuisrivier, then turned east up the mountain and over the saddle into the valley and went along kleinkliphuisrivier, then overnighted next to the river (which was a trek down), then next morning backtracked slightly and headed north up the mountain and onto the flatter plain/plateau thing past the oak trees, and then stopped for a swim at Disa Pool then 2km walk on flat ground to parking lot. If you live elsewhere sorry i cant answer that, but you can look up some routes in hiking books or on alltrails or here.
Pack the bare minimum. But I’ve realised everyone has that one little luxury item they can’t do without. I went hiking once with a guy who brought his huge camera and a girl who brought along her sparkly pink lipgloss.
Other people, specifically experienced people. Also, A WALKING STICK holy moly! Absolute lifesaver. more like 75% better. I am only 20 but I can’t go on a hike without one! Unless I do scrambling, it is necessary. Saves your knees on the downhill and your thighs on the uphill because you can use your arms to help you ascend instead of just your legs doing all the work. also helps with balance when you suddenly are carrying a pack 10% of your weight. suddenly you are very top-heavy. Mine is my late grandfather’s wooden one, but you also get those aluminium ones at the outdoor shops. also, a water bladder looks very useful so that you don’t have to keep stopping for water. You can try make a makeshift one though.
Spring and Autumn (March-May and September-November, at least in the Cape, otherwise you’re dealing with 35°C or 12°C). Weather: cloudy/partly cloudy and slight wind is best. You can do winter and summer but its either too cold&wet or hot and streams are dry. But if you want to go up mountains, you obviously want views so going on an overcast day might mean you are hiking in the clouds with no view. but seeing as this is a national forum you might have to do apply this all to your own climate.
ehh I can’t really advise since I’ve only gone on groups. Hiking is usually best done with at least 4 people, so if something happens to one person, there are two to carry person/gear if necessary and one to go find help. Also don’t go to known dangerous places like Table Mountain which is infamous for muggings. Also, beware the blister bush and know your snakes! there is an app called ASI Snakes and Scorpions which has all the best info. I ran into a boomslang in grootwinterhoek on my first hike and someone seriously almost got bitten.
as light and small as possible. <3kg for 2 man, nylon, but you can also look at a bivvy. Hammock i would only recommend if you know there will be lots of trees. But overnight huts are definetly an option! just bring with a sleeping bag as they wont have blankets and sometimes dont have mattresses either. Sleeping bags: light and small, AND temperature appropriate. -5 should be fine and keep you warm.
You want 3 meals/day and snacks for while you walk. there are loads of resources for this. PVMs are great snacks, as well as SuperCs, droewors, and BarOnes. Sandwiches make a nice lunch. Take raw ingredients and just make it there. tupperwares take up valuable space, unless you want to premake and then put into plastic bags/ziplock.
dig hole, do business, burn paper (so it doesn’t blow everywhere), bury. You could bring a small spade for this.
also don’t have experience with this (yet?). Good planning in advance I guess. I think your suggestion is good, and also for all rubbish.
you should have 2 sets of 2 pairs of socks when you go hiking, from 2 day hikes til week long. Wear two while you tie the other two to your bag while you walk so they can air out. one pair per set should be thick hiking socks and the other can be normal, but people also use other socks like hockey socks etc. try and see what works best for you on shorter hikes so you can see if you get blisters. You definetly want long pants if you don’t want your legs sliced by plants, especially fynbos. I’ve heard people say don’t use cotton tshirts but you do you. Many people wear what you might wear on a morning jog. Shoes: normal sports takkies should be fine, but I recommend hiking boots. A good pair can last you a decade. Make sure it fits properly though. You don’t really need a whole new outfit for each day because you probably wont fit it all in your bag. You can definetly reuse clothes. Remember you still have to carry your clothes that you have worn, so you may as well wear them again lol. Just rinse them out in water at a stream/tap at a hut or something.
look up permits on hiking trails books in your local library. Mine has lots on the subject. Also capenature’s website, and individual nature reserve/national park websites, or contact the people through email/phone etc.
I’m a beginner too, but I’ve been on 1 weekend hike and read a lot of hiking books in the meantime, which are very resourceful, even if they were written in the 1980s. Any book by jaynee levy is basically a hiking bible; she was literally hired to create trails for hiking. there are a few other authors whose names keep popping up over and over again too.
Hi, HI if you were to start hiking and/ camping from the very beginning, but with what you know now:
1.What hiking and/ camping route do you recommend?
Im in Gauteng – so would suggest you do the “DOME” (MCSA Mountian Club of South Africa) hike to the rockpools, about 6km one way through the Magalliesberg – easy and scenic hike for a one day or you can go slow and camp near the rockpools. Lots of swimming and goofing off etc. Drakensberg hikes – Stay at Dagons Peak or camp at Monks Cowel and do wonderful day hikes or you can do an overnighter to Gatberg or even Blindmans. Anywhere around Cathedral Peak hotel is also great.
2.What do you pack?( In terms of items needed, like a first aid kit, propane stove, flash light, power bank)
What I take – we all have our preferences!
Standard in all my packs – 2x boot laces, space blanket, Medical kit (see at the end), Electrical tape, zambuk, 2-4 medium cableties, cigarette lighter, 2x 5m paracord, 2x crepe bandages and a box of plasters – the fabric kind that is in a long strip so I can cut to size as needed. In a lastic bag I have 1x small smash, 1x cupasoup and 2x sachets coffee for emergencies)
Day hike – 1x extra socks, 1x T-shirt, 1X rain jacket (Johnsons work wear one!) 1x light jersey / fleece (winter only, in summer if im cold I just wear the extra t-shirt and jacket). I pack the socks and T-shirt in one plastic shopping bag, the jersey in another bag on its own, and food in another bag – all different colours if possible. 1x sun screen aerosol spf 50 waterproof.
Food – usually 6 finger sized blocks of cheese, bunch of grapes, about 20 provitas (look for the handy 4 in a pack ones) All in a lunch box, 2 apples and 4 jungle oats bars loose in the plastic bag.
Water – 2 liters - 1x stainless 1l water bottle or 2x 500ml plastic and 1x ex army water bottle with the cup. I have a 1m length of coiled up copper wire in the army water bottle to assist in water purification - don’t know if it works but… Stainless steel on the outside of pack in a pocket and the army one inside the pack as reserve to top up from. Fill up water at home and then fill up the army one for a river etc if necessary – hopefully the copper wire kills some bugs while Im walking!
Multi day hike – Drakensberg (extreme temperatures expected)
3 day 2 night as an average hike
Clothes - 2x socks (wool form Groundcover) – one wearing and 1spare, 1x t-shirt – old fashioned mesh type vest is better!(sleeping), 1x Shorts (sleeping), 1x Underpants (change on 2nd night) 1x hooded long sleeve fishing shirt, 1x long hiking pants (wearing every day), 1x good fleece, 1x rain / wind jacket, 1x beanie, 1x pair gaiters if wet grass is expected), 1x pair flipflops, 1x pair hiking boots / shoes (wearing) 2x sun hats (broad brim, like a cricket hat) 1x cap… hats tend to blow away and get damaged when used as pot holders and to sit on etc!
Food –Breakfast 2x jungle oats bars, 4 – 6 squares chocolate, black coffee or tea if there is time, Morning tea – peanuts and raisins, dried fruit, Lunch – 6 provitas, 1x cheese (the baby belle or little squares form Checkers), salami (nice and fatty or droewors). Afternoon tea – Jungle oats bar, peanuts. Dinner – 1x cheese and everfresh dehydrated meal – (just add hot water kind, the the boil for ever kind), chocolate. I also like to drink Game / ESR type powdered sugar drink while walking and have SuperC around for a boost too. I make a hot drink and have hot water in a small metal flask for early morning if im really cold.
Kit – Cooking – 1 x pot / cup, 1x knife, 1x spoon, 1x stove - army water bottle (as above) cup / pot for heating water. Bluet 206 stove – one cartridge lasts for 4+ hours of cooking and you can get them in any hardware store (I don’t like the clip on off type, but they all work. I used to take a wisperlite petrol pump stove but it was too much of a pain to set up and use), Esbit tablet stove at the bottom of the pack for emergencies and for a fire lighter stash if necessary – I use the strikers fire lighters in this not the stinky tablets!), 1x cigarette lighter and 1x box matches (extra to med kit).
Cups and Cutting – 1x cup, 1x spoon, 1x Swiss army knife - 1xstainless steel cup (on outside of pack – great for drinking from streams and collecting dripping water etc and if it is the big one you can use it as your pot too), 1x desert spoon (metal) 1x Swiss army knife – the Camper one is perfect!
Other Kit – Standard in all my packs above, map, compass, whistle (attached to the Swiss Army Knife) 2x extra 1.5 m straps usually around the 1x Gopher pad. 1x Toothbrush, 1 x toothpaste, 1x small tabard stick, 1X tent (I have a 2 man orange first ascent about 2.2 kg) and it has worked fine in severe Drakensberg storms. Dont skimp on a tent if you going to the top of the Drakensberg! 1X sleeping bag, a good bag that will keep you warm 1X head lamp and spare batteries. Walking sticks if you like them – personally I don’t like them they get in the way and unbalance me. I prefer a gopher pad to blow up mattresses - they don’t go flat and can be used as a wind break for cooking and even used to cut new inner soles for boots, stop chafing on straps, sitting on wet ground etc. 1x small “bosskak” spade or builders trowel and toilet paper. 4 or 5 ziplock freezer bags for water / litter/ stuff, 1x cellphone and power bank with airtime and sms not just data options, often an sms will get through where calls and data wont!
Pack everything in plastic bags – each days food on a bag, a whole dustbin bag as an inner liner in your pack and clothes etc in separate bags too.
Medical kit – I use an old army (1970s) canvas ammo pouch / magazine pouch. In it I have 2x rehydrat, 1x crepe bandage, 3x sterile gauze pads, 500mm cloth plaster, 5 or 6 small plasters, electrical tape, small tub potassium permanganate, Disprin, Grandpa powders (in a tube), Immodium, Valoid, small Zambuk, extra swiss army knife for knife, scissors and tweezers, 2x enos sachets, cigarette lighter, small sewing kit with 4 or 5 needles, thread, fishing line and 2 buttons, 5 or 6 safety pins of different sizes. In Pack I also have 2 extra crape bandages and extra plaster strip and extra electrical tape. The T-shirt can be cut op for bandages if necessary too!
Water – 3 or 4 litres – 1x small flask, 3x 500 ml plastic and 2x army style plastic (one with the cup / pot). If possible I like to have straps on at least one of these so when you are fetching water from camp you can clip all the bottles to one strap, makes it easier to carry. Depending where we are hiking, I could only have 1 litre or water filled at a time. This is all flexible depending on where we are going. I like to have one 500ml filled with isotonic drink and the rest plain water. I hate the drinking bladders, unhygienic sucky pipes, leaking plastic bags, hard to fill from streams and carry without a pack, cant give your mate one if he /she forgets theirs or a water bottle breaks etc.
3.What isn’t necessary, but improves the experience by, let’s say 65%? Tea bags / coffee sachet and chocolate.
4.When? What time of year? Usually winter or when it snot rainy season
5.How to stay safe as a solo woman hiking and/ camping? This is a tough one – I ALWAYS carry a one hand opening knife in my pocket and sometimes I do carry a handgun too depending on where we are going and my pack configuration. Always sign the mountain register and tell people where you are going, ask rangers, locals and hotel staff about safety. A small can of teargas is ESSENTIAL for everyone to carry in their pocket, primarily for dog attacks - Iv been attacked by dogs on the Drakensberg and Wolkberg! And be aware that rabies is still a problem in rural South Africa and it has a 48 – 50 hour treatment window! Snakes – just be aware, most will leave you alone, scorpions – check your shoes and be careful moving rocks and bees and wasps, be very careful, they don’t like the sweaty smell of people! Carry anti histamines and even an epipen if you are allergic
6.Tent recommendations? Or is any one man tent fine? Or a hammock tent? Depends where you are going – I like a small 2 man tent but on The Fish River you just sleep under the stars with a poncho over you for morning dew. Iv never used a hammock tent, but have used bivvy bags and they work well.
7.Food? What types of meals are easiest to carry and prepare on trail? Or do you just get protein bars with added fiber? Snacker / jungle oat bars,Peanuts, dried fruit, cheese, hard boiled eggs, biltong / salami and the hot water dehydrated meals are good. Day hikes, fresh fruit works. I now days avoid the boiling meals and go for the hot water in a bag dehydrated meals. Sometimes I make soup or stew and home and freeze it and heat it up on the first night. Fiber… nor my priority in the mountains! I could just take hard boiled eggs, cheese and salami if I needed to!
8.How do you handle going to the toilet? Specifically pooing? Small spade or builders trowel and toilet paper… find a scenic spot, dig a small fist sized hole, spike spade in the ground next to you, fit toilet roll over handle and off you go! On a more serious note, from experience… I try to find a slope where I face slightly uphill so gravity will help flop the “monster” away from my boots! And hold your pants and underwear in a bunch in front of you at knee height while squatting…don’t need to pee all over your pants – even better if you can take your pants off all together! Dig a decent hole in the beginning so you can comfortably bury the toilet paper as well as the “monster.”.. and cover with a rock once buried too. Stomp around the meter or so area before you start to chase away any bugs and or snakes.
9.What to do if you unexpectedly get your period?( You are a pad user, do you just keep them in a little zip lock baggie to discard of later, when you finish the trail?) I dont know! Yes try to carry out all rubbish except T-paper. Various girlfriends have carried a plastic bag for this.
10.Shoes and clothing, is leggings, a t-shirt, sports bra, and fresh undies for each day fine? Also, do you recommend a pair of fresh socks everyday or not? I like long hiking pants, good socks and boots / trail shoes and long sleeve fishing shirts with a hood – I wear the hood up with a hat on top sometimes. Fishing shirts are good because they are cheaper than the fancy hiking ones and can have fun designs on them and are usually UV resistant too. Try to not hike in cotton (except for a day hike). When wet it gets heavy and loses your body heat crazy fast! Long pants and long sleeve shirts are good for wind and sun and thorns and grass seeds etc. My main concerns are 1-Sun, 2-Sun, 3 – Sun, 4-grass seeds in socks then 5-chafing under arms and between legs. Long hikes I do fresh socks every second day same with underwear. Rinse out socks if possible and dry then on top of pack (tied on of course) while walking.
11.Hiking permits? I know you apply, but is there different ones for different lengths of trails? Or is it just a general hiking and camping permit? Those are different fro each area – you will need to leave your car somewhere safe too so usually there is a place where you can do permits and parking etc. There is also usually a register you need to sign – sign in and out again. This helps should you need a rescue or if there is a disaster and people need to manage the area. Costs vary, find out before you go. If in doubt call the closest hotel to where you want to go and ask them to put you onto the correct people or contact MCSA
I am also in Gauteng! I did look into the Magalies Waterfall trail, however I that people complained that you need to be a member and they do not often gives membership to anyone and that you need two refrences from people who are already members.
I will definitely keep your comment with me while shopping.
Thank you<3, I believe traveling to the Cape region is beyond reality for now, although I would love to one day.
I did not know about burning toilet paper, I assumed I’d get an answer like “use sticks and rocks”. Thought that might be because I’ve come across American truhiking influencers Tim and Renee, specifically their video on the fact that they use rocks and sticks as toilet paper.
Sticks and rocks …. well they are welcome to do that… me, I like T-paper!!
Realistically, if you can burn it (some areas you can’t make fires) that is great, if you can’t, it will break down within one rainy season, possibly not great for purists but it won’t end the world!
I think everyone has answered most of your questions so will just link to one of my favourite resources when I was getting started.
If I can think of any hints, it would be:
I’m very pro just wearing trail running shoes. Less blisters, less heat and they dry out if wet. They should handle anything for backpacking.
1.5 litre generic plastic water bottles are fantastic. I know some folks like bladders, but being able to fill up anywhere without taking things out of your pack, see how much water you have easily and pass them around camp is so useful. They are indestructible, weigh nothing and come with whatever you want in them
Clothes are the weight killer. Just take less. You need something to hike in, a clean something to sleep in, a pair of dry socks to sleep in and a warm layer and rain something. You are going to be hot ans sweaty no matter what. Just embrace being a bit smelly after a couple of days. You might want fresh undies. Socks I just rotate, rinse a pair in a stream and hang them on my pack to dry.
Sleep systems are important, your sleeping bag only really works in conjunction with the mat you are using. Look into R values for this.
Tent’s I would look at Naturehike here, good quality and you can get quite light. Tent shouldn’t weigh more than 2kgs these days in my mind.
Grams=KG’s. All the little things ad up, and weight is a killer. Turns out you don’t need half of what you think you do. Everyone imagines hours at camp, reading their books under fairly lights with their bottle of wine. And then it turns out to be walking, eating quickly and sleeping
Really useful things would be some trekking poles, an inflatable pillow and if you are hiking somehere very hot I swear by a travel umbrella.
Keep track of water, access to and finding water sets all hiking on some level. And if you can find one I would always suggest a sawyer water filter, great little things. Chlorine tastes like chlorine, and I’m pretty scpetical of the silver Ion drops you get a cape union. Maybe they work, but I struggled to find enough info to make me happy. A lot of people don’t bother filtering water, but yeah… That is a way to have a really bad hike in my mind.
You don’t have to go overboard on medical stuff. Some small plaster, ibprofen and the various stomach issues (Going or not going) will be 90% of things. A roll of Lukotape P and some tiny scissorrs is probably the most useful thing, cover blisters, cuts, fixes anything.
If you are keen on good overnight hiking, my best experience is parks in SA that are classified as Wilderness Areas, because you can design your own trips and camp anywhere (Grootwinterhoek, Cedberg Wlderness Area), sorry unfortunately I don’t know Gauteng well for this.
Okay, said I didn’t have thought and then this long speach haha. Enjoy the hiking!
This is probably one of the most cpmprehensive ballanced overview I have read to date. Craig your army/bush background like mine, definitely makes you more objective, and realistic.
