Day 2 - Ngubu Hut to Scott Hut - 7.9km
Our day began with the first of many steep climbs which involved taking big steps even if you are blessed with long legs. Apparently there are about 7000 steps and a total of 2500m elevation gain on the trail. We walked along the plateau admiring sea views for a while, the path then descending to small stream crossings before the inevitably steep climb out again. The water in these rivers are brown as a result of the vegetation and the tannins in the water. The smaller streams were safe to drink from but I still found the colour quite off-putting! One of the small rivers, the Kleinbos presented a challenge as it was flowing very strongly, probably as a result of the rains the night before. We had to use the drybag for our backpacks and negotiate the turbulent waters with the help of Stephan. We had lunch at Blue Bay which boasted a lovely little beach and then climbed out again and continued on the trail. I loved the orange patterns on the rocks and the very weathered and tortured looking rock outcrops that were all along the coastline. We arrived at Scott Hut just after lunch, and decided we would try out the shower. Not the best experience. Sadly Sanparks seem to be going the same way as Ezemvelo - we noted that no maintenance is carried out and many things needed fixing. The shower was not clean with dirty water in puddles and no hooks to hang up anything. This hike is booked up to a year in advance and I fear they are happy to take the money but not maintain the trail properly.
We had planned on having a braai the first night, but the rain put paid to those plans. So, tonight was the night! Frustratingly the wood provided was wet and it took Stephan quite some time to get a fire going - but we triumphed in the end. That boerewors roll never tasted so good!
We kept the door to the hut open whilst we slept and with a bit of engineering, managed to secure the security gate. It was so lovely to drift off to sleep with the sea breeze and the sound of the waves breaking on the shore. I was however awoken in the early hours by a noise from the security gate but could see nothing. The next morning I discovered that my breakfast that had been on the counter was missing! So we think it was possibly a Genet as the other hikers had seen one the night before
