Trail Daze | Encountering the Puff Adder

Our third and final outing in our search for the North West province’s finest trails took us to the lesser known Pofadder trail at Van Gaalen’s. With no markings or signage in sight, it’s a great idea to have a local show you around this rough and rocky part of town – and to experience all the off-piste goodness it has to offer – it’s an even better idea to bring a proper long-travel trail bike along for the ride.

With the promise of some spectacular cloud formations and an epic sunset thanks to the daily thunderstorms rolling through this part of the country, we headed for the hills in search of some elevation. Contrasting the smooth and ultra fast trails down by the river, Pofadder provides you the opportunity to ride some rocks – big ones, small ones, jagged ones and then everything else in-between. And a quick diversion off the relatively overgrown and rocky path, revealed some off-piste magic in the form of a dried-up, riverbed, cascading down into the valley below.

Daily thunderstorms decorating boring skies with epic cloud formations, and keeping warm summer’s days mild and bearable.

Not having local knowledge on our side, we probably would not have found this, the Pofadder trail head. A random clearing next to a random dirt road seems to be it, apparently.

Hard packed single track through tall grass fields gets things going, but trail conditions quickly turn rocky and technical as you ascend the Puff Adder.

Loads of skinny gaps along some properly tight and technical sections of trail, keeps you on your toes.

Preparing to get soaked as the bursts of rain moved ever closer to our position.

Off-piste exploration courtesy of Hayden Brown, sending us down a seemingly ancient and overgrown, dried up ravine.

Trails this unique and fun deserves a few reruns… One more push up to the top as the light fades behind ominous storm clouds, and we prepare to take cover from the approaching squall.

Wild & untamed trails. This setting reminds me of a scene from Jurassic Park – all that lacks are a few Ptero and Brachiosaurus in the background.

Luckily, the rain moved on past us and we were spared getting wet. And as quickly as it had formed, the storm disappeared again, allowing the sun to peak through once more for a spectacular sunset.

Thanks NWP. You’ve treated us well during our visit. Nothing to do now but head back home and have a braai. Until we meet again next time…