About hogsback
Hogsback developed around the establishment of Lovedale College in the early 1800's, being attractive in the summer months as a cool refuge from the heat of the Alice and Tyume valley areas, to the missionaries who taught there.
They would hitch up their ox-wagons and remove their entire households to the forested mountains for a period of rest and quiet respite. The journey would take 5 days from Alice to Hogsback. These days it is easily and quickly reached by car, but the purpose for the journey remains the same. The 33kms from the King Williams Town road take one steeply up the Pass and quickly back in time, to a place which still echoes with the thoughts and tales of JRR Tolkien.
And whose dusty streets are still reminiscent of a time when the pace of life was slower...
Do not expect to find much in the way of infrastructure. The streets of Hogsback are gravelled, or at least, once were. They are at present best described as a trial, especially if you are driving a town car. It may interest you to know that local residents regularly fill their own 4X4 vehicles with gravel, hire extra labour and become an unpaid road repair crew!
There is a little, basic Village grocery shop, a bottle-store, a postal agency, and a Pub. A few independent eateries have sprung up in recent times, making it possible now to eat out, should one choose to do so.
There are no street lights. Driving through the Village at speeds exceeding 35kms per hour is frowned upon. On certain stretches it is not possible to do so.
Cows and other herbivores graze with impunity on roadside verges and sometimes the need to sleep comes upon them when they are in the middle of the road. This makes arriving in Hogsback before nightfall preferable.
Local Purveyors of clay Hogs leap out alarmingly from the side of the road to begin a bargaining process which will inevitably reach a conclusion at around R5 per Hog on offer, just before closing time of the bottle store and I shall leave you to draw your own conclusions from that.
Despite the allocation of electricity, cell/mobile phone reception, telephone lines and municipal water supply to the area not too long ago, some or all of these services fail on a regular basis. The many back-up systems required to create independence are beyond the reach of most of the good folk attempting to provide for the requirements of travellers. Municipal delivery of anything which would usually be considered the right of a tax-payer is something we constantly and stridently continue to lobby for.
All that you will experience is harmless and could be quite an adventure if you are prepared to view it as such! In short, what we have here is a modern-day pioneering territory.
Those of us who have lasted long enough to still be offering services to the travelling Public, despite these frustrations, are necessarily possessed of a sense of humour rare in such concentration elsewhere.
Off the beaten track and tucked out of the way, it is also a place of utter relaxation, peace and tranquillity. Very few other places will so quickly impart the sense of being in harmony with nature. The Indigenous forests inspire reverence, you may find yourself whispering.
The mountain vistas are awesome, you may find yourself speechless.
The waterfalls are humbling; you may find yourself communing with your Maker.
The thin air and stillness will ensure you as many nights good sleep as you make allowance for.
It is a place which, once visited, may induce you to return again and again.
It is a difficult place to leave.
This "Misty Mountain" area is graced with its own high-altitude ( + - 1500m), forest-induced micro-climate. Do not ask a local resident to predict the weather, those who have lived here for 30 years and more will tell you they cannot; only those whose tenure is of short duration will try. They will invariably be wrong.
Essentially a summer-rainfall area, the appellation could transmute. From mild and balmy, to snow, in any month of the year (it has, however, never snowed in February).
Sudden thunder storms of a quite terrifying magnitude often occur during Spring. This is also the azalea season, when the Village becomes a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours, attracting gardening enthusiasts from around the world.
Summer is often heralded by the most elegant and gentle of swirling mists which, once experienced, will remain in your consciousness forever.
Autumn brings out the wondrous colours of deciduous trees seldom seen elsewhere in this country and the cooler temperatures make hiking at this time a pleasure. Winter snows and frosts create the opportunity to enjoy cosy log fires, warming foods and good red wines.
You may find the following two websites about Hogsback of particular interest:
www.hogsback.co.za
www.hogsbackinfo.co.za
www.hogsback.com
