Otter Trail (Day 3)
[Scott Hut → Oakhurst Hut] (7.7 km)
This is the first day when you’ll start encountering the famous river crossings of the Otter trail and you’ll have to plan your hike according to the tide chart to be able to cross these rivers at low tide. The third day of the Otter trail is relatively short, yet it has some challenging uphills. The total distance between the two huts is 7.7 km which will take you around 4 hours, with rests, so you’ve time. However, your start time will depend on the low tide time as the second river that you’ll have to cross, the Lottering River, is after 7 km.
In this day, you’ll hike on a terrain that, most probably, you never hiked before and you’ll go to places you won’t believe your eyes for their beauty, so get ready and prepare for an amazing adventure:)
The first part of the hike will be, the now familiar, uphill from the hut inside the thick forest. Shortly after that the terrain will completely change and you’ll hike close to the ocean shore.
It is an unbelievable background for a hike, what more can an adventurer want other than a blue ocean, green forest, and beautiful sunshine:) You’ll stop a lot here for the perfect ocean picture.
The trail here will involve some boulder hopping and uphills, but every few kilometers you can find hidden pools where you can swim…amazing!
After 2.5 km, you’ll reach the first of the two river mouths…the Elandsbos river…and it is out of this world.
Crossing this river is very easy, at maximum you’ll only have to take-off your shoes, but the views and the feeling of exclusivity here will make you cross this river back and forth from the excitement.
The next section of the trail is the toughest. From here it’ll be an uphill after an uphill and all exposed to the sun without the shelter of the forest trees, but I personally, didn’t realize how tough it was because I was owed by the beauty surrounding me (pic).
After around 4 kilometers, the trail will reach the top of a cliff and start to flatten, to much of your relief. Then in 2 kilometers you’ll start seeing the Lottering river mouth and the huts on the opposite side. At first sight you’ll be scared of the crossing as the huts are directly situated above the river mouth which is deep and wild.
But don’t be as when you start going downhill towards the river, the trail will take you away from the ocean and the crossing will be at a very shallow area. The dissent from here is very steep, so be cautious; and if you reach the river at low tide, you’ll only need to take-off your shoes and cross.
You are now almost at the huts, only 20 minutes left, so secure your bags after you cross the river and go for an amazing swim, but don’t let the fun distract you as the high tide will come. From here to the huts it’ll be a slight uphill and when you reach the huts, you’ll realize that they are situated at an unbelievably amazing spot…so enjoy!
And remember, if you want to check the difference in the water levels between low and high tides, you can go back to the crossing area and try your luck:) and don’t miss the amazing sunset over the ocean.
