06/02/2024
My Hiking Logbook - Gauteng Thanks Tanya Pembroke for the great advice 🇿🇦😊
Just a gentle reminder 😊🙏 It's a bit of a long read, but I promise it's somewhat insightful and informative 😅👍
So I decided to take a break from hiking this weekend, and spent most it becoming one with the couch, eating my bodyweight in snacks, and catching up on some series 😅👍 It was a very much needed weekend off 😊 What did bother me though was the amount of posts I read on different hiking groups, of people complaining about issues that should be common knowledge amongst hikers. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that there are a lot of newcomers to hiking, and it may not be as "common knowledge" as I initially thought. So I put together this list in the hopes of educating people on hiking etiquette 👌 Almost every group of people have some form of unwritten rules to help govern their activity, and make things more pleasant for all those participating. So here's the list, and I'm also going to explain the reason why for each point 👍
1. NO LITTERING - OK so this one should be common knowledge...and yet we still have those inconsiderate, lazy people who chuck their trash anywhere they feel like it 😒 I'm not going to go into too much detail on this one as there have been enough posts about it. What I am going to add to it though, is that you shouldn't be chucking your biodegradables like banana peels, apple cores, etc out on the trails either 🙏 Besides being unsightly, it attracts wildlife like Baboons. Which can become a nuisance and a danger to the hikers behind you. You are also spreading seeds into an area that they are not meant to be growing in, which can have adverse affects on the surrounding vegetation, ecosystems and wildlife. It's simple guys, you take out everything that you brought in with you 👍 And I mean EVERYTHING!
2. NO DEFACING OF TREES, ROCKS, CLIFF FACES, OR ANY OTHER PROPERTY - This one is a bit of a sore spot for me. Unfortunately the movies have taught us that it's cute to carve our names onto trees 😔 If the tree is on your own property, then by all means go right ahead. But leave the trees along our hiking trails (especially in protected reserves) alone please 🙏 It's not cute guys. Damaging the bark makes the tree more susceptible to infections from fungus, parasites and other pests. Tree bark is the equivalent of human skin, and helps protect the tree 🌳 No spraypainting or carving your names onto the walls of cliff faces or inside caves either please guys. If any of you have been to Golden Gate National Park in Clarens, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about 😔 They have some of the most beautiful cliff faces and caves, and then some awful people have spraypainted their names all over the walls there, ruining it's natural beauty. It's unsightly and ruins the experience of being out in what is supposed to be untouched nature.
3. DO NOT REMOVE ANY PLANTS OR WILDLIFE FROM THE AREA - Unfortunately there are people out there who do remove animals and plants that they find along their hikes. There was even a lady who very proudly posted a picture of herself on one of the hiking groups, digging up an Aloe Peglerae to take home for her garden 🤦🏻♀️ Aloe Peglerae is classified as an endangered species of plant, which only grows in specific areas (the Magaliesberg being one of them), and they will most likely die in your home garden from the shock of the transplant. You can also be criminally charged and fined if you are discovered removing them from the wild. There are special trade protection orders in place to prevent further endangerment to the current wild population. So please just leave everything where it is, and enjoy it with your eyes, not your hands 🙏 There are plenty of nurseries around the province where you can buy plants, or ask your friends for cuttings/slips from their own gardens 👍
4. NO LOUD MUSIC OR SHOUTING ALONG THE TRAILS - Now this has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves on the trails 🤦🏻♀️ First of all, not everyone has the same taste in music as you do guys. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't enjoy someone blasting Death Metal from their phone/speaker, as I'm sure the metalhead wouldn't enjoy your Opera, RNB or House Beats 👍 Earphones are the solution here guys 👌 If you want to listen to music along the trails, put on some earphones please 🙏 The other reason is that loud music and shouting along the trails, scares away the wildlife. It's their home guys, not yours. So be kind and take them into consideration as well please. I often get people commenting on my posts saying how they can't believe how much game or wildlife I saw on my hike, when they hardly saw a thing...and that's because my friends and I use our "inside voices" while hiking 😅 Oh the irony. We talk a lot on our hikes, but we don't scream and shout the entire way while doing it 👍 And as juicy as your gossip about your friend's boyfriend cheating on them may be, I don't particularly think I should be hearing about it when I'm a couple of hundred metres ahead of or behind you 😅👍 So please lower your voices guys 🙏
5. PICK UP AFTER YOUR DOG - To all the pet owners out there, I can't tell you how many times I've not-so-silently cursed at you after stepping in your dog's p**p, and then having to drive home with that stinky dog poo smell still lingering on my boots 🤢 I'm a big dog lover, and grew up with many dogs, but please be courteous to your fellow hikers and clean up after them. If you don't have a bag to pick it up, at least have the courtesy to kick the p**p off the trail so other hikers don't step in it 🙏
6. STAY ON THE TRAIL - There is a reason why there are hiking trails and why you should stick to them, and also why those trails should be Green Flag accredited as well. I am personally guilty of going off trail many times over the years. But once I read up on why you should stick to the trails, I stopped doing it. Other than the obvious safety reasons, trails are there to minimise our impact on the surrounding environment, wildlife and vegetation...lightening our impact on the landscape 👍 Going off trail can damage or kill certain plant, animal or insect species, and hurt the ecosystems surrounding the trail. With regards to trails being Green Flag accredited, Green Flag trails are designed and laid out for these exact reasons, as well as taking into consideration the water run off down the mountain and erosion during the rainy seasons. Hiking trails essentially funnel water. So when lots of hikers walk next to the path, creating new paths instead of staying on the original path, they create new ruts which divert the water flow off to where it's not supposed to go. This causes more erosion and damage to the landscape. So please stick to the trails as much as possible guys 🙏
7. HIKERS COMING UPHILL HAVE RIGHT OF WAY OVER THOSE COMING DOWNHILL - Now this isn't set in stone, but more of an international guideline amongst the global hiking community. I personally don't mind the breather while letting the downhill hikers pass though 😅👍 But the reason for this is that hikers trekking uphill have a narrower field of vision as they are concentrating on the smaller and more immediate areas in front of them 👍 Uphill hikers are also trying to keep their pace and forward momentum going, whereas the downhill hikers have gravity working in their favour, instead of against them. Downhill hikers have a broader perspective which allows them to more easily see what's coming up ahead.
8. LARGE GROUPS HIKE IN SINGLE FILE - There's nothing more annoying than catching up or heading towards a large group of hikers hiking side by side, that refuse to make way for you. If you are in a large group and see other hikers heading towards you, please move into a single file allowing other hikers to easily pass you, instead of forcing them to go off trail and hike around you 🙏 Same rules of the road apply here guys, keep left and pass right 👍 And if you're hiking overseas, the opposite applies.
9. KEEP A RESPECTFUL DISTANCE FROM WILDLIFE - Living in South Africa, we are blessed with so many beautiful trails and venues that include wildlife such as Giraffes, Zebras, Wildebeest, etc. But some people seem to think that these animals are tame because they are not predators 🤦🏻♀️ Please do not encroach on their space guys. They are WILD animals. Give them a wide birth and rather admire them from afar 👍 I saw a lady walk right up to a giraffe last year at Cradle Moon for a selfie, and when the giraffe got spooked it almost kicked her in the head 😳 I've seen way too many wildlife documentaries of lions with broken jaws, missing eyes and smashed in skulls from being kicked by a giraffe to get that close to them thank you very much 👍 I've also seen numerous videos of people getting impaled by horns, or getting kicked by many different buck species to risk getting too close to them either. Always be respectful guys 🙏
10. ALWAYS BE PREPARED - I'm going to be doing a post soon on what I personally think should always be in every hiker's backpack 👍 Whether it's for a day hike or a multiday hike. A hiker should always be prepared for any situation. Whether it's bad weather, getting lost, getting stuck on a trail at night, injuries, etc. I know it sounds terrible, but you should always think about the worst possible scenario, and how to prepare for it 👊🙌👍
Anyways, thank you to those of you who managed to read this entire post 😅👍 I know it was a long read, but hopefully you learnt a thing or two. And if not, hopefully it reminded you about a few things 😊 If there's anything you think I should add to the post, please pop it in the comments and I'll update it in a couple of days 👍 Have a great week guys 😁👊🙌
