Side Note: Woods and Whales

Life has been really busy lately. I haven't been doing much walking though and I'm missing it like crazy. I have, however, been reading about walking: Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods.



The book describes the author's walk along the Appalachian Trail in the US. The trail extends approximately 3500km (wow!) from Georgia to Maine. I love Bryson's books; like his others, this one is light and amusing reading, but also full on interesting information and insights. Highly recommended.

While I'm unlikely to ever tackle something as ambitious as the AT I have been wanting to do an overnight or multi-day hike for some time now. I got great news this week... a chance to join a group doing the Whale Trail next year. Several of my friends have done the trail and they all had a fabulous time so it's top of my list of must-do walks. I'm so lucky. Yippee, can't wait!

The Whale Trail is a five-day hike, 55km long, through De Hoop Nature Reserve. We won't see whales in March (they are along the coast June to December) but we will be walking through lovely fynbos and along a spectacular stretch of coastline. It will be summer, so we're sure to be doing lots of swimming too.

I need to train. In the next few months I'm going to try to walk a bit longer and harder and more often than I've been doing recently. I want to get a bit fitter and hopefully drop the kilogram or two (or five) I put on over winter. I've got four months til the hike. I can do it.
.

Side Note: New Map

I finally got around to replacing the map that was stolen from me a few months ago. I bought the new 2010 edition of Slingsby's Table Mountain map. These maps (there is a series of five covering the peninsula) are excellent: accurate and comprehensive. They include plenty of information too, including route descriptions, GPS coordinates and emergency numbers. This new one even has photos of common wild flowers.

You'll find this map for sale in most bookshops, outdoor stores and online.


.

Side Note: Another Field Guide

In addition to these two I have recently acquired a third guide to wild flowers, Hugh Clarke and Bruce Mackenzie's Common Wild Flowers of Table Mountain, published by Struik.



This is an excellent book for the beginner. The flowers are grouped by colour, which makes it much easier to navigate. I also like the very detailed information on whereabouts on the mountain one is most likely to see the flowers. I'm finding it extremely useful.
.

Side Note: Field Guides to Flowers

As mentioned in this post I have recently been given two new reference books, both field guides to flowers and fynbos. I thought I'd tell you about them as I love them so! They are already well-thumbed and I can't imagine how I managed without them. Perhaps you might want to add them to your own bookshelf (or backpack).

Wild Flowers of the Table Mountain National Park is a Botanical Society publication (available to purchase on their website here). This edition is the latest one, from 2006. Terry Trinder-Smith's text is accompanied with fine colour illustrations by Mary Maytham Kidd. It is extremely comprehensive and I especially like the size-guide and the information on which area, peaks and slopes particular plants are to be found.



John Manning's Field Guide to Fynbos was published by Struik Publishers in 2007. It covers a wider area that the guide above - the whole Western Cape area, not just the Peninsula. It is jam-packed with useful information and I really like the photographs. The distribution map and guide to flowering months are very handy. I also like the illustrated glossary of terms, and the information on the various flower families.



I've already learnt so much just by paging through the books and by trying to identify flowers. I'm finding it incredibly useful to have both books on hand - comparing the information and illustrations in both has helped me to confirm many of my identifications.

I'm still a complete beginner when it comes to flowers (although maybe it is in my genes - by grandfather wrote a book on wild flowers of the Drakensberg). I'm excited to learn more.
.