A Nice Trail Run!

Yesterday I went for a trail run to formally start training for my 2012 trail season. I drove to the Kliprviersberg Nature Reserve and I had a blast!

Main entrance to the reserve

My run started with a stream crossing. The water is still flowing quite strong even though we are already in our dry season.

Just after the start there is a spot where you can always see many Dassies (Rock Hyrax). It is not easy to get a photo of these little guys so I was happy to get this one...

I ran the western part of the reserve and took it very easy as I am still coughing from the chest cold I had although I feel 100% in every other way. I took more time and photos along the way and decided it was a good time to show you all my favorite trails a bit better. I went up with the Sunbird Trail.

The climb is tough and technical with lots of rocks but the views are worth the effort.

Once at the top, the run is comfortable and beautiful. I love the type of bush and grass fields you get here and always feel exalted while running here. Some of my favorite spots in this reserve are at the top here.

When I hit the highest point on this western side of the reserve the view to the South always gives me extra energy. This is where I get that feeling of "this is where I want to be".

Running over these rocks is always a highlight...

Once over these rocks there is a steep and very technical (rocky) descent and I ran that fairly hard yesterday. This year I really want to work at getting down mountains a bit faster to make up some time. Once at the bottom I ran another 500m or so and then turned onto one of the connecting trails. Clearly not as many people use the connecting trails...

Mr Porcupine was here.

I then joined the "Gifbol Trail". Gifbol is Afrikaans for "Poison Ball" and I was glad I could see some to show you. It is a tomato like fruit and apparently poisonous.

From here the run becomes easier as the trail make its way back to the stream. There is a wooden bridge here to cross the stream and yesterday a few of the local horses were at the bridge.

People always warn to be very careful of the horses here. They walk freely between the game and is believed to be descendants of the farm horses that was kept here many years ago when the area was still a farm that belonged to the Marais family. Yesterday however, the horses were very friendly, asking for a scratch before I crossed the bridge. :)

It was getting late so I decided to take the easy route back to my car on the "Bloubos East" trail. Bloubos is Afrikaans for Blue Bush.

The Bloubos Trail is easy with only a few stones in some places. I was feeling happy and it felt as if I was floating over the rocks as I ran the final part of the trail.

I'm looking forward to the trail season and can't wait for this weekend when I'll be back to run the Eastern part of the reserve. I'll do a similar post with photos of that run.

Thanks for reading! Happy running and have a super week!