What the Leopard Trail taught me

In late June 2026, just after some of the most destructive floods the area had ever seen, I walked the Leopard Trail, in the Baviaanskloof. I’ve written a logistical roundup of the trail here. That was easy to write: facts, facts, facts. But the experience of the trail cannot be reduced to logistics. That’s just the skeleton of the experience. You get given something on a silver platter: a trail, a hut, a weather system, fellow hikers. All of that is important, but the most important piece is the one that only you control: you.

I walked into the opportunity of the trail by chance. G had booked two places, and told me in passing he had done so. He had no intention of taking me, since there was nothing about me and my physical capabilites that even suggested I could climb 2,400m and walk 65km. But the seed had been planted. At that point, I was walking simple hikes around my town, and – given that the Leopard Trail was scheduled for months and months away – I meekly put my hand up and told G I wanted to do the trail with him. All I remember is he took a deep breath 🙃 He didn’t want to say no, but he also made it clear that he would only take me if he thought I was ready. Challange accepted.

I spent the next months climbing hills to train, and I thought I was doing fine. G and I went to his farm, and he took me up Lajuma, the highest mountain in the Soutpansberg range (conveniently located right on his land!). That mountain is higher than any single peak on the Leopard Trail, and given that I managed to climb up and down it (without poles!) I felt more ready than ever. (I did mildly acknowledge that although the LT peaks might be somewhat lower than Lajuma, there are sometimes 4 or 5 of them per day, every day!).

I am processing my hike, and only a couple days after returning, while my feet and hips are still stiff and walking without poles feels weird, I am beginning to understand what the hike meant to me. An experience like a 65km hike through mountains and valleys cannot leave one unchanged. Of course it can’t…it’s exactly why we do it. It’s not just about adding a badge to a collection of experiences, and we don’t, in fact, climb mountains because “they are there”. We do it to unlock small mysteries inside of us, deep-seeded wisdom we already carry, but are not yet tapping into.

The Leopard Trail was difficult. It was extremely difficult. It almost broke me. There were times that I thought I was able to make it another 20m, but no further. In fact, a big portion of the trail was me having that thought, over and over again: another 20m, and then no more. But, at no point in the trail did I actually think I couldn’t finish it. I just took it 20m at a time. (20 m is a long distance, by the way, if you are slowly dying of exhaustion). As Jeremy, my fellow hiker said… “slow and steady wins the race”. And on the (rare!) flat portions, I was in love with Mother Earth. I loved the air, the energy, the sounds, the smells, and I loved myself for putting Eve in this environment. Life was good. Eve was brave. I could do things. What other things can I do that I don’t (yet) know I am capable of?

The trail taught me two main lessons: First, the power of the mind. “Mind over matter” is a real thing, and the mind controls what the body can do. But there is a dark side to this too: if the mind is not at peace or is in distress, it can force errors that otherwise seem ridiculous. This happened to me more than once on the trail. At one point, when G had walked slightly ahead and was out of sight, I found myself alone, standing under a sign that literally pointed to Camp 2, and I considered myself lost. I had no idea where to go. While standing under a sign! I had somehow convinced myself (how?? why??) that camp was to the left, not straight ahead as the sign pointed, and despite all evidence literally staring me in the face, I refused to let go of my beliefs. I was determined to find a path “to the left”, and when there was none I felt stuck. I wanted to go where I thought I needed to go, even though the trail (the Universe?) was literally sending me signs to change my route. If that’s not a lesson about life, I don’t know what is!

The other lesson, or more of a confirmation, really, is that I do indeed know my body, and I need to just trust myself. I know what I can do, and what I cannot, and I need to be left alone and allowed to simply communicate with my whole system to figure out my limits. I’ve always known this about myself, and it was good to be reminded. For example, I know I can never hike in hot temperature, and so I will never hike in the summer. I won’t make it, or I will be very, very miserable. This is a limitation that I will not shake, and I am fine with it. Lots of winter months to adventure in!

The Leopard Trail mountains are big, and they envelop you entirely. Everywhere you look, there is more of them towering over you. You can sense their wisdom, their age, their energy – which is welcoming and accepting. I feel it is as an energy of warmth, a hug. The mountains are not trying to prove anything, not trying to protect themselves from intruders, they are confident in their might, nothing to prove. I contrast this with the energy of G’s mountain, on his farm. It’s the highest peak in the Soutpansbeg range, and it is foreboding. Every time I go, I go with trepidation. When we visit there, we visit purely on the mountain’s terms. It might look after us, it might not. We never can tell, but we keep on going back. Both the farm and the Baviaanskloof are magical, but their magic is different.

These mountains have been here for millions of years (an unfathomable time scale), and will be here for millions more. I have been here for 53 years, and am a mere transient speck of dust in their story. It would be easy to feel insignificant, but I felt the very opposite…I felt immense significance for being alive. What are the odds that the Eve that I am would walk this earth? And yet, here I am. Why? Am I here for me, or for others? What’s my responibility? What is my karmic goal? It is easier for me to feel I have a purpose while walking remote hills, than it is while fighting traffic on William Nicol Drive, that’s for sure. I read somwehere that people are loathe to take sabbaticals because they know it will be difficult to go back to work once you have glimpsed work-freedom. I so get that. It took me well over a week to get back into the groove, and to convince myself that those emails do in fact have to be answered. But at the back of my mind, not even that deep down inside, I do often ask…”but do they really??”. What would life look like if I wasn’t living in a metropolitan city with millions of people, acting all ant-like as we maintain nests and structures? It would be better, I do know.

Another lesson…The power of water is immense. We hiked just after the once-in-a hundred-years floods the area experienced and we saw evidence of what rain can do. Banks were washed away, trails destroyed, massive rocks moved downstream. It came, it conquered and chaged the landscape, and then, almost just as quickly, the water left. Streams still flow, but for the most part the only evidence of the havoc is beds and beds of scattered rock and washed away banks.

During the trail, on Day 3 to be exact, I announced to my hiking group, with grave conviction, that much as I am enjoying the hike, I would never attempt to do one like it again. They all laughed – loud! They knew, as I do now, that hiking is addictive. Once you connect to the land and the struggle, you are committed for life. It took me less than two weeks after returning home to start investigating other hikes, next challenges. I’ve chosen one…it’s the sister to the Leopard trail, the Canyon Trail. It’s slightly more challenging, just as spectacular, and it’s on my wishlist.

The mountains will wait for me. They always do.

(I’ve written two other pieces on the Leopard Trail: the logistics, and and my criteria for future hikes).

Leopard Trail Logistics

On June 23, 2026 I and five others hiked the Leopard Trail in the Baviaanskloof. It was an incredible experience, and I want to encourage as many others to do it as possible. I am one of those people who really wants to know everything about a hike before I start, so this is my contribution to content about the trail. I hope it adds some clarity, especially to the logistics.

Logistics:

Getting there

We flew in from Joburg, into George on the earliest flight (7:30am) and then drove the 3.5hrs+ to the basecamp. The roads are very iffy after the May/June 2026 floods (or where when we were there, late June 2026). I suggest you do not plan on flying into George and hiking the same day. It’s best to spend the night before the hike in the area (we stayed at Cob’s Cottage), and start your hike mid-morning. If you get to your accommodation early enough, you might even be able to do the short Cedar Falls hike, which we did not manage to get to (but the water would have been too cold for the required swim, anyway).

Also, if you are driving in all the way to the trail basecamp, at least in the near future, you have to do so in a 4×4. If you only have a sedan, you will need to stop about 45 min before the basecamp at Baviaanskloof Welcome Centre where you will leave your car (secure) and ask for Leopard Trail management to transport you to basecamp in their bakkies or similar transport. We rented a Jimny at George airport, and it was more than up to the task.

Food

The trail is obviously self catered, but it’s also a slackpack (you carry only what you need for the day during the hike, everything is transported to the next camp for you). This is a phenomenal arrangement, because it means you can eat really good food during the hike. We stopped at Woolworths (Garden Route Mall) on the way from the airport and did all our shopping there. We bought too much, but it’s better to have too much than too little, and I have no regrets at all.

I had visions of making wonderful pastrami, cheese, gherkin and horseradish sandwiches for the hike, and eating them with apples during our lunch breaks; then having boiled eggs for snacks along the way. The reality was completely different: we ended up taking more short breaks than one long break, and we were eating boiled eggs, boiled small potatoes and biltong during those breaks. I had absolutely no desire to eat a sandwich at all, although I did eat apples and we carried two flasks of coffee we had pre-made at the camp (we were going to make coffee with a jetboil, but this flask arrangement was a great solution, and saved time). The flasks were a win because we could drink coffee as soon as our butts hit the ground. Of course, you can substitute coffee for tea, or whatever cold/hot beverage you need. Overall, I was surprised by how not hungry I was during the hike. I expected to crave calories and carbs, but this wasn’t the case.

Due to the recent floods, we had an abundance of water everywhere, but still carried about 3l each (including coffee and Coke). We never had to replenish from the rivers, but could easily have done so. However, do not count on this. Sans floods, the river beds are dry, the hike is streneous, and it is recommended you carry at least 5-6 litres with you. Do not skimp on this!

Because I am a very slow walker, by the time we got into camp we didn’t really have much time for snacks before dinner. If you walk fast, and get to camp earlier, you probably want to cater for this.

For dinners we had pre-made Woolies soup (900ml shared between us two), and a ready made meals (pulled pork with fresh pasta, Asian short rib with egg noodles etc). We also braaied once. The kitchen is extremely well stocked with equipment, and you will find everything you need (including a coffee plunger). The only thing we would have wanted was an extra small pot (the camp has two, but that’s not enough once each hiking party starts making soups, rice, pasta etc). There are bigger pots for more communal meals.

Every hut gets one cooler box to share (one for 4 people) and one fridge for all 12 people. Some things to note about this:

• because we had the full hut to ourselves (two people), we had access to the full cooler box, and we did fill it to the brim. Had we had to share it with 2 other people, we would have had to put some of the dry food into our clothes boxes. There was ample room for this though, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it!
• the fridge is actually a freezer, which is problematic when you don’t know this and everything that you want to eat that evening is frozen at dinner time. So either play around with the fridge temperature, or put your day’s dinner in the cooler box.
• you can buy ice at base camp, and they will put it in the freezer for you and deliver each day. Also worth knowing, you can buy beer, and they will deliver it cold to you every day. We did this, and it was a very welcome treat at the end of the day!
• you can also buy extra wood, and you should (you get one bag per night, for 12 people). You use the wood for braai/fire outside, or/and inside the kitchen for the fireplace. All unused wood gets moved between camps, and is returned to you at the end if you don’t use all of it.

If you are staying an extra night after the hike, you can leave the food for that night at basecamp. Keep in mind that they keep it in a freezer, so you will need to defrost before you start cooking. (We defrosted everything by putting it in hot water, which worked like a dream).

Clothes, Boxes

Every hiker gets a box to put clothes in, and it is ample size. You will probably end up putting some of your food in there too, if you are sharing one cooler box for four people. I took sheepskin slippers for the camp (highly recommended!!) and a hot water bottle (highly recommended!!). I only took a micro towel which was my one regret of the hike: I would have loved a fluffy towel for after the (outdoor) shower. We went in winter and brought lots of bulky warm clothes, sleeping bag liners etc, and the box was still more than enough space. I could have brought a pillow too (which our fellow hikers did). I did bring a pillowcase and stuffed it with clothes.

The boxes get dropped off in the kitchen, and are picked up from the kitchen in the morning. You will eithre need a small bag to carry your items between kitchen and your hut, or you can carry your box to the hut (and back again). Either works.

Huts etc

Each camp has 3 huts (two sets of bunk beds and a basin), two toilets, two showers (with hot water), one communal kitchen, one pool (we didn’t even think of swimming, it was winter!), one braai area. The camps are extremely well made, well designed, beautifully thought out. It should be noted that we were 6 people not 12 during our hike, and that seemed perfect. I imagine with 12 people the communal kitchen gets extremely crowded, although people could split themselves between kitchen and braai area. The huts are small (but not too small), and we spent zero time in them other than sleeping. The mattresses are extremely comfortable, and the design of the huts (lots of glass) means you get to look at stars and sunrise as you lie in bed. Very magical.

Basecamp:

The basecamp has a pool, showers, lots and lots of seating, safe parking and a small shop.

The shop has: beer, wine, drinks, sweets, chips, chocolates, simple medications (pain, etc), coffee, limited gear (hats, water bladders), clothes (shirts, jackets etc). I also bought a pee cloth (for the ladies) from there, which I had been searching for a long time – it is phenomenal, and as my partner says, should be mendatory on all hikes to avoid toilet paper litter.

There is also wifi. (The basecamp is the only place on the trail that you will have connectivity, which adds so much to the experience! Being offline and unreachable is a gift!).

When you finish your hike, there is a bell that you can ring to commemorate the accomplishment!

Satellite Phone:

There is zero cell reception on the trail. Each hiking group gets one satellite phone. If there is anything about the hike that is problematic, it is this. The theory is that the last (slowest) party on the hike carries the phone, but the reality of course is that any party on the hike might need the phone at any one time.

During our hike, our fastest-walking pair got lost and did not have a satellite phone to call for assistance, which caused minor problems. They were effectively stranded. We didn’t know if they were ok, we didn’t know where they were, and we didn’t know if they knew they were lost. It all resolved itself in the end, with no major hiccups. (Sidenote: the trail is extremely well marked, so getting lost is actually difficult. Our pair got lost because they weren’t paying attention and mis-read a sign (I think).

Leaving:

At the end of the hike, your boes are delivered to basecamp. You transfer clothes out of boxes into your suitcase, and take any remaining food with you. We stayed an extra night at Cob’s Cottage, which was a brilliant plan, and left the next day to drive back to the airport, about 3.5hrs. In theory, we could have done the Cedar Falls hike on the first or last day, but we (me!) were too broken, and the time was iffy.

The Hike:

How fit do you have to be?
Note: If you are an old reader of this blog, you will know that I have Waldenstrom, which severely affects my fitness levels. As such, none of my experience will be applicable to you. So I will write mostly about what I saw from my hiking partner, G, and our other fellow hikers. For me, I found the hike extremely difficult, but do-able. The most difficult day (Day 3) had me walking into camp about 20 minutes before dark, so less than ideal. But I did do it, which means that if you think you are fit enough, you probably are, but it doesn’t mean it will be easy. I would probably never do this hike again, because of the difficulty level, but I loved every minute of it and it did not make me cry 🙃

Having said all that, all the other 5 of my fellow hikers found it “not easy”, but also they conquered the miles with a smile on their face, and certainly no-one was complaining about anything. So I guess the conclusion is: if you have done multi day hikes before, nothing that the Leopard Trail throws at you will be too difficult, and if you haven’t, just makes sure you can climb up a 200m mountain with no issues. You’ll be doing that a lot. The trail is about 65km, and about 2400m elevation. The downs can be more difficult than the ups.

The Days

I am not going to write a detailed day-by-day run through the hike, mostly because I was too focussed on surviving and wasn’t making mental notes. But also: the hike has been modified considerably because of the floods. Management has done a phenomenal job of rebuilding the hike in record time, and hats off to them. Truly exceptional work. I think the trail is at a very “fluid” stage (excuse the pun), and will change even more as the rivers dry up and more options open up. And there is an excellent writeup of the route here. Some current routes of the trail are very different than this write up (especially day 2), but the general things are accurate.

Day One:
Enjoy this day! It’s the easiest one by miles, and a nice introduction to the hike. You start with an uphill climb of about 150m elevation, and then a 500m detour at about 5km to Gabriel’s Pools (do it! chill there for a while). After that, it’s a gentle 5km walk into camp. The trail is 11km, with the pool detour. Very little shade (which is true for most of the trail).

Day Two:
Starts off gently, and then the climbs begin! I found the end of this day very tiring – the last 5kms are a lot.

Note that the route at the end that we experienced is very different from the route described in other, older blogs. We didn’t have the option of a “shortcut”, we didn’t see the camp from high up, and we didn’t have to climb the last two hills. We entered the camp from the left, not the right. This is probably due to re-routing due to the floods, although the printed maps also do not show the last two hills. We also had no option of doing the labrinth, although we think we saw at least a part of it from high up. It might have been washed away in the flood.

Day Three:
This is actually two trails in one, or at least it is how I saw it. The first part (about 8km) is the tough up and down over three saddles, and the second one is a gentle walk into camp for miles and miles and miles. I loved this last part (even though it was raining most of the time), although the never-ending river crossings had me cursing at the end. You might not have these at all (or at least, they won’t be flowing) by the time you do your trail. This water is still the after effect of the flood.

Day Four:
I don’t know why I thought this would be an easy day! It isn’t! The first major climb is actually the easiest of the difficult climbs because the first part is not that rocky, which means I was able to use the “baby steps” technique I learnt from thisYouTube video (take tiny steps as you climb a gradient. It’s more difficult to climb if you have to step up rocks, or if you take big steps). But there are so many false summits! If you think you have reached the top, let me tell you right now: you have not. Until you actually start climbing down (and this only happens when you see the literal “engage lower gear sign”!), assume that there are more summits to climb. Then, once you do the steep decline and walk for a couple more kms or so, there are two more saddles to conquer, and a very never-ending-descent into the valley, which will eventually take you back into basecamp. Be warned! This is NOT a 13km day as marked, it’s a 14.5 km day. If you track “how much further?” as a motivational kick, like I do, this is a little soul-breaking!

Some other takeaways/observations:

• Due to various unexpected circumstancs, we eneded up 2 people per hut. Each hut is designed to hold 4 people but we all agreed that if we shared our hut with more people the experience would have been very different, and worse. For sure, if I ever do the hike again, I would book the full hut for 2 people (you can only book a full hut anyway, and often you have to book two).
• One of the best parts of the trail were our fellow hikers. We didn’t know them prior to the hike, but I think they are now friends for life. They were spectacular. If you are able to control who you do the hike with, do so. The trail is usually sold as a group of 12 or a group of 8, and I strongly advise you book the full camp and invite people to join you.
• You need hiking poles. Not everyone in my group used them, but I cannot begin to imagine how this trail is walked without poles.
• You need less food than you think.
• We walked in winter (late June), but were never cold. The huts are warm, the kitchen is extremely warm once you get the fire going (buy extra wood). We got very light rain. But in summer, this hike would hit different. There is very little shade or trees, and I am sure it gets sweltring hot and uncomfortable. You will need to start walking extremely early to avoid the heat (5am). We were on the trail by 7:45am, usually.
• Take (and study) the map that is given to you at Basecamp at start of the trail
• But also note that the fold out map has an error for Day 2 (they elevation profile used is the one from Day One). This might be fixed by the time you do the trail, but look out for it. (The booklet, and the maps in each hut have more accurate maps).

This is a phenomenal hike, and I loved every minute of it. It’s was my first proper long-distance overnight hike, and I think I might have been spoiled for any other similar experiences! I am not sure if I would ever do it again (it really was difficult for me) but I will encourage anyone with reasonable fitness to go and experience it. It’s beautiful.

If you have any further questions, feel free to email me on hello@eved.co.za.

(I’ve written two other pieces on the Leopard Trail: what it taught me and my criteria for future hikes).

My hiking criteria!

After the third walking day of the Leopard Trail, I told G that much as I am loving the experience, I am never going to do another hike like it again. He literally laughed out loud, stopped me, shared my update with our other 4 hikers who also literally laughed out loud. “It’s like childbirth”, one of them said. “You can’t imagine doing it again while in it, but as soon as it’s over, all pain is forgotten”.

They were right.

G and I are already sharing links to other inspirational hikes, and I am pretty sure that I will do at least one per year. But, I have rules and minimum requirements. In no particular order:

I will only slackpack.
If you’re not familiar with the term, slackpacking is the type of hike where you carry only what you need for the day (water, lunch, warm clothing, first aid kit) and everything else (clothing, bedding, food, books, etc) is transported to your camp/hostel/hotel before you arrive. Some hikes only offer this as an option (Leopard Trail) and some you can request (and pay) as an additional service (Otter Trail). Once you know this option exists, you’ll be amazed how many hikes offer it as an additional, private, add-on. You can even slackpack the Camino, which was not my original plan when I was planning it last year, but now is for sure my preferred option.

Purists will tell you that you are not living the full experience (especially on walks like the Camino, where the hardship is part of the process), but I am not lsitening to them. Carrying 10-20kg on my back has a cost: I can’t walk as far, I walk (even) slower, and I am having less fun. Since I am not hiking to prove anything to anyone, and I am approaching my mid-fifties, I think I can give myself a pass on this, and enjoy the opportunities that slackpacking opens up. Better to slackpack than to not hike at all.

(Of course, slackpacking is not available for all experiences. G hiked the Kruger Park, where he slept wild and had to carry all food, all clothes, all the water and sleeping arrangements etc) on his back, for six days (while making sure he wasn’t eaten by a lion or bitten by a snake). Extreme, exciting, even somewhat fun – and clearly never an option for me. I’m fine with that.

Private accommodation
By happy circumstance, I have never shared a campsite hut with strangers, and I will from now on go to great lengths to preserve this trend. On the Leopard Trail the huts house four people, but only G and I occupied it, and it was an ideal arrangement. Having two other people in the top bunks (even if we had known them) would have cramped our style.

Often, the accommodation on offer is hostels, where not only are you sharing with others, but you are sharing with many others. Last year this seemed like a fun option (wrt Camino) but this year it feels like an absolute nightmare. Not all hikes/walks offer private accommodation, but enough do, so I will just focus on those. (The Camino, btw, has plently of private accommodation options).

While on the subject of accommodation: hot showers and flush loos are a definite plus. Warmth at night is a must.

Access to good food
If I am going to be walking a lot, you bet your bottom dollar I will be eating well at the end of it. On the Kruger trail we returned from our daily walks to excellent food cooked by a camp chef. On the Leopard Trail we brought our own food, and prepared it in the well equipped kitchen. Either of those arrangements works.

Good weather
I understand weather is unpredictable, and that cannot be helped. But climate patterns are easy to predict (it is very hot in December in South Africa), and so I will at least plan to be out of extreme hot, and extreme cold weather at all times. Rain can’t be fully avoided, but it won’t melt me and I can live through some wetness. If I had to choose, I’d rather walk in cold because I can counter that with the right clothing. I will never walk in heat, and by heat I mean anything over 28 deg.

Decent terrain
Ascents are a pain, but a worthwhile one. The hardship of conquering them, plus the inevitable vistas are always worth it. And where there is an ascent, there is often an equally brutal (or painful) descent. Those cannot – and should not! – be avoided, but it is important to me to have a good mix of terrain where a lot of the walking is just that…walking on flat ground (contours), where I am more able to appreciate my surroundings and take in the ambience.

On that note, I think a max day is about 15-18kms if it has climbs, and 20-22km if it is relatively flat (Camino).

Challenging
All of those conditions might give the impressoin of a “Princess and the pea” syndrome, but that is not accurate. I would still want each hike/walk to be challenging, aspirational and something that scares me at least a little bit.

So there I have it. I am looking for hikes that

1. Are slackpack
2. Offer private accommodation
3. Have access to good food (and abundant water)
4. Can somewhat guarantee relatively mild weather conditions
5. Have a good portion of gentle terrain
6. Are challenging or aspirational.

There are hundreds and hundreds of beautiful walks around the world that meet all these conditions. Now to choose 15 or so, and …just do them!

(I’ve written two other pieces on the Leopard Trail: the logistics, and what it taught me).