Otter Trail (Day 4)

[Oakhurst Hut → Andre Hut] (13.8 km)

This is the longest, toughest, and most dangerous day of the entire trail! But don’t be discouraged as, since you reached this point already, then you are fit enough to do it, and the rewards along the entire trail are stunning!    

This is the day when the tidal chart you got at the reception on day 1 becomes very very important. Check the low tide and try to plan to reach the Balkrans river half an hour before that for the easiest of crossings, yet you’ll be able to cross at other times but it’ll be more difficult!

The river, itself, is after 10 km from the hut you slept in and 4 km from your next hut, so accordingly plan to start your day which might, sometimes, be at dawn. However, the trail is well-marked and has km markers every 1 km so it’ll be easy to follow even in the dark. Done with all the planning, then let’s start the adventure:)

The first part of the trail will be along the ocean with stunning views and nice sea breeze. This section is fairly easy, so you should be able to hike at a faster pace.

After km 6, the trail will get wilder and tougher. From km 6 to 8, it will be the toughest section before the crossing. In addition to rock scrambling and boulder hopping, it will involve lots of uphills and downhills and you’ll be amazed by the mere fact that such a trail was even built!

The trail will continue inside the forest, and if the weather is hot, beware of where you put your feet because there might be snakes on the trail!

At this point you have done almost 3 hours of hiking today, so take a break and recharge. The final part before the crossing is fairly easy inside the forest and should take you around 1 hour (you’ll be tired by now, so you’ll hike at a much slower pace).

Then the mighty Balkrans river will come into view!!! This is, maybe, the moment you mostly anticipated when you decided to hike the Otter trail…so take a deep breath and enjoy the view.

When you arrive at the river mouth there will be a map showing the crossing routes based on the tide situation. Since we reached the river at low tide, we chose route “A” which is the easiest, yet the longest in which you’ll have to walk in the water.

If you timed it right and had time before the low tide, then this will be an ideal spot for lunch before you cross. In our case, we arrived an hour before the low tide, so we rested, swam and enjoyed the stunning views around us.

Again since we had time, I put on my aqua shoes and decided to test the crossing without the bags and it was really easy as the water was waist level at max.

So when the time came, we decided to cross with our bags on our backs with the rain covers on as we didn’t need neither survival bags nor ropes (didn’t have them anyways since we knew we are going to cross at low tide and had the much cheaper alternative…garbage bags and small dry bags for our valuables… in case we needed them). We crossed 15 minutes before low tide and only the bottom of our bags got a bit wet…nothing more!

The feeling that you crossed and passed the most dangerous part is very refreshing, and since we had time, we celebrated by swimming again; but it is also advisable to relax a bit because the next 4 kilometers are the toughest in terms of hiking.

Immediately after the crossing, you will walk on a very narrow ledge which can be a bit scary, but there are fixed ropes to hold on to if you needed

In this section the adrenaline will be pumping in your veins and you’ll feel like a conqueror who was able to conquer the famous Otter trail, almost:)

After this ledge-walking section, you’ll reach a pebble beach which is very wild and remote.

Then, the first of the two big uphills will start. It wasn’t as bad as previously thought, but after all your effort, the trail will take you down again to another pebble beach:) so take a break here because the next uphill is really grueling. It is the toughest uphill in the entire 5-day trek, so take it slowly and keep going as you know you are almost there.

Finally, you’ll reach the top of the plateau with stunning views and it’ll be all flat and downhills from here to the huts:) 

These last 2 kilometers are really fun and the final steep downhill will take you right to Andre huts which are located on a wild pebble beach