I head out to do the Ribbok Trail in Golden Gate, South Africa.
I set out on a very cold morning from the Glen Reenen camp site at the bottom of the Maluti mountains.
I researched the route quite thoroughly before I made my attempt. I spoke to a guy who knows the area extremely well to pin point where I'll be able to find flowing water. I see that the first and last 8km does not have water but figured that if I hydrate well beforehand and fill up on route I should be okay. I only took 600ml of water with me and filled up 3 times on the run with mountain water.
The route itself is terribly overgrown, probably due to a combination of it being closed to public for very long and excessive rain in February and March. The decent down the mountain was so over grown that the grass was above head level at some stages and above hip level for most of the time. This made fast moving almost impossible for a long time. I defaulted to running in the river at stages which turned out to be faster than bushwacking through the grass. This route can't be done without the GPS route on hand.
Once om top of the mountain one is presented the most beautiful views. A rif line run for about 1km gives the most picturesque 360 degree views.
All in all this is an epic run with 1300m of climbing, very tough terrain, enough water and fantastic views.
I am very privileged to have been able to get my name up in the FKT record books on this run.