Devon Valley Trail Run

Our trail grading: YELLOW 1A

Distance: 13.8km

Extremeness: Lots of up and down

Location: Devon Valley, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Joggers: Deryck Nel & me

This morning we arrived at Devon Valley Hotel just after 8:00 and bought permits to run their 4.5 hours, 11.5km Devon Valley Hiking Trail (marked by yellow markers). A friendly porter took us to the start of the hiking trail. The route starts with a few ups & downs and even though the route is in a way clearly marked, the road splits every now and then; leaving us with unwanted decisions. We made the first mistake just before 2km and headed downwards in the direction of Welgevonden Estate's entrance road. At 3 km's we were on route again and also jogged a few extra meters to reach the beacon at the top of the highest hill on the route. The trail then took us through the Middelvlei Estate homestead and all the way to the gate of the farm. From here on we jogged into the Middelvlei vineyards, passing a number beautiful dam's. After about 10km I started to take strain and that was when the second navigation mistake crept in. At Sugarbird Manor we turned right instead of left and added an additional 2km of unnecessary uphill to our route. Nevertheless, we made it back in one piece with a smile on our faces.

The start, with Helderberg and Stellenbosch mountains as a far off backdrop

Something in the road?

Abandoned house, a tree and a horrible uphill

Hole in the fence

A dam on Middelvlei wine estate