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Hi all,
I did the Rhebok Trail mid-July with some mates as training for the Fish River Canyon. There are very few photos and info on this hike around, so I thought I'd share some photos.

I'll post selected photos here, the full album can be found here on Facebook.

Starting out from Glen Reenen


Cresting Brandwag


Typical landscape


Lunch stop


River along the way


Dead Hartebeest in the river


Scenery


Approaching the main road on first day


Soon after the road on first day


The first glimpse of the overnight hut after a long day

The overnight hut is reasonable, no great shakes really.
We didn't use the donkey and we got our water from the river crossing nearby (there was a problem with the supplied water). We also weren't provided with much firewood, I think 2 bags (not enough for the very small donkey, and cooking).

Relaxing after arriving


The kitchen


The kitchen has very little: a sink, food prep area, and old wood-fired stove and oven.

Exterior of the huts


Bunk beds inside the room



There are 3 rooms, each with 2 bunk beds (6 bunks each). There is also a reasonable bathroom and shower.

Braai


The braai is quite big. We didn't like the fact that it's so high, and far away from the benches. Not so gesellig in mid-winter when you want the warmth from the fire. The rods for suspending the grid are also very high off the base.

Starting out on the second morning


Short break above the waterfall

Note that the section just before here is very different to the rest of the trail, entailing some very heavy rock climbing and scrambling

Towards the start of the big climb - looking back along the ridge


Looking up-slope. Generaalskop at the top


The long, hard, uphill slog


Almost at the top. Lesotho View to the left


Finally at the top


Ice fields below Generaalskop


Icy zebras on the ridge


I was very impressed with the amount of game we saw on the trail, including zebra, eland, hartebeest, wildebeest, rhebok etc. There were also nice views of Bearded and Cape Vultures.

Starting the long descent


The way back to Glen Reenen, along the ridge


Approaching the game drive routes


Back at Glen Reenen at last!

In conclusion:
The Rhebok is a very difficult trail. It would most likely be a challenging 3-day trail, let alone 2 days. The first day is long and strenuous and the second day is quite a lot harder. A lot of steep, never-ending uphills, then downhills. Our trail was made harder by the weather: doing it in mid-winter meant overnight temperatures below freezing. We needed serious gear including heavy, bulky sleeping bags and clothes, and lots of food. I imagine doing it another time of year might be a fair bit easier, but you might battle in the sun as there's no cover.

All in all it's a great trail but very challenging. I personally will think twice about doing it again, and only then probably as a training run for a serious trail (like if Kilimanjaro again).