How did this happen? Our first event sells out... FAST!!!

Hi everyone,
You might think I'm getting lazy, by not doing my weekly Blog on Monday.
But I've got great feedback to share with you.

We created a hiking event, taking place on the 15th of April, at Groenkloof Nature reserve.
Originally, we thought by ourselves, if we get 20 people joining us, we'll be over the moon.
Well we surpassed that mark significantly.
You, our followers and fellow hikers came to the part, BIG TIME!

I had to close the entries for the event yesterday, due to the numbers we reached.
We are so overwhelmed by the support shown to our group and event.

*Proceeds of the event, and events throughout the year, will be given to SANPARKS, towards Rhino conservation.

So this is why the weekly Blog is late, I had a lot of admin to do, but as they say, this was a great problem to have.

Please keep an eye on our Facebook Page and our Website, or send us an email at info@hikingforbeer.co.za to be added to our mailing list.
If you would like us to arrange a mass hike at your favorite venue/reserve, please comment here, or send us an email.

Back to the Otter diaries:
For those following our #Otter2018 stories, the time has arrived for the nerves and excitement to set in, we are 24 days away from doing the one of the most iconic hikes in Southern Africa, if not the world.

We are actively busy on our Whatsapp group, making final arrangements as time runs out, as well as planning a last minute "Gear testing" hike.
We'll be doing a multi-day hike this weekend (don't forget to read next week to see how it went).
I did asked a lot of questions on this platform, so now the testing time is here, hope you guys gave good advise ;)


Cheers for now
J
#HikingforBeer

So what could we be missing?

Hi guys… 

I have not forgotten about this week’s blog entry.

It just happened to be a crazy one, with work keeping me busy, something has to pay for all these adventures.

With yesterday being exactly one month to go, I have also been very busy with final Otter arrangements, and arrangements with mates for one final overnight hike before we hit the O.T.

Who would have thought that living a “peaceful” life for 5 days will take so much preparation time? But, personally, I think it’s going to be awesome…. CAN’T WAIT!!!

We have plane tickets booked, but getting reasonable transfer to and from Plettenbergbay and George airport, is almost non existing, the service providers charge an arm and a leg.
The accommodation sorted before and after the hike, thanks for one of the group members, thanks Jannie.
The transfers to the trail and back is sorted, thanks to HIKING TRAIL TRANSFER, really affordable.

So what could we be missing?

As you know, each week I try and post a question to you, and there is no difference this week.

What are the final, last minute, details that you need to consider with 1 month to go before a big hike like this?
What will the ‘checklist / to-do-list’ items be that you need to tick off now?

I have my own list in progress, but the input from fellow hikers will be good, just to get that extra input or point of view.

For those who haven’t seen it yet, our website, www.hikingforbeer.co.za , is live!!! Go have a look.

For free .gpx and map downloads, please REGISTER on the site, it’s only takes about 1 minute. If you only want to be added to our mailing list, please SUBSCRIBE
I promise we won’t spam you, that’s just irritating.

Cheers for now,
#HikingforBeer

What to do in an emergency situation!?!?

Hi everyone, can you believe it's 40 days until our Otter trail hike starts.
Time is flying.

Everybody reading this, has done a couple of hikes, or keen to do hikes, and the thought of this great outdoor life awaits.

But what happens if things go wrong? Will you be able to “Bear Grylls” yourself out of any situation? Can you recall any of those Boy Scout knots?

Honestly, this is the last thing we think about, nobody wants to go out onto a trail, expecting a disaster, either medical or situational.

Now I know this seems like a boring blog, compared to some of our other content, but safety and preparation is very-very important to me.

Some tips that I live by:

• ALWAYS carry a first aid kit with you.
• ALWAYS make sure you have enough water with you. I’d rather carry an additional litre with me, than run out of water (again, happened to me twice, so trust me on this one.)
• ALWAYS have a solid/nutritious breakfast before hiking, and snack during the walk. Once the sugar levels drop, it’s very difficult to get them back to a stable state.
•  Never walk alone, get a buddy hiker that you are comfortable with.
•  When walking in a group, the  first and last walkers have an important jobo   First walker:
• Needs to look out for trail markers, animals on route, sudden terrain change. Effectively this person is the hiking leader at this moment, and should assume all responsibilities of this position.
•  Last walker: Make sure that nobody falls behind, if someone stops, you stop with them. Another VERY important task is, look out for and pinpoint the last 2-3 trail markers, just to confirm that the group hasn’t veered of the trail.

Other useful tips/recommendations for hikers.

•  Go do a level 1 & 2 First aid course (when in a group, 2-3 people should have basic first aid skills)
•  Learn to navigate with a map & compass, don’t rely solely on a gps watch/device.
•  Do a basic outdoor course, similar to the “Personal Recreational Hiking Competence” course that the guys from The School for Mountain Leadership (www.sml.co.za) present. (FYI ,I haven’t done any courses through them ,but have read some good reviews)

In most situations, one will probably never, ever need any of these tips, but rather be prepared and nothing happens, than not be and the emergency hits you without warning.

Any tips that you’d like to share with us?

#HikingforBeer

The balance between necessities and luxury items

It’s less than 7 weeks to go, until our Otter trail adventure begins, and trust me, not sure what feelings are stronger at the moment, excitement or nerves.

It’s almost a year since we started our hiking journey, but I have yet to fine tune the content of my pack.

The balance between necessities and luxury items can be a discussion on itself.

Here is the question for this week. What is the one item of luxury you always take with on a hike?

I my case, I always have a deck of playing cards and a box of matches (to substitute for poker chips)

I have also recently added a snorkel and goggle (with GoPro attachment) to my pack, especially with the Otter in mind.

I’ve seen and read about interesting stuff people carry with them, ranging from hammock’s, water mist fans, domino sets and in the case of my mate, a sleep apnea machine (to our benefit I think)

What is the ONE item you don’t mind carrying with you on a hike?

Cheers