Manxome Pass |
| Drakensberg - Passes | ||||
| Friday, 26 March 2010 12:37 | ||||
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When you ascend Mnweni Pass, a striking grass gully can be seen on the opposite slopes, just West (left) of Pins Pass (Rock). This gully is not marked as a pass on the official maps but we decided to go check it out in December 2004. What we found was one of the most spectacular passes in the entire Berg and it's a route that should not be missed if you're an avid berg explorer! As we were probably the first people to do this pass (correct me if I'm wrong), there is obviously no path at all but the route-finding is fairly simple and the views are mind-blowing. You get a completely new perspective of the Mnweni Cutback and it's quite interesting to look at Mnweni Pass from the other side. There's a little grassy shoudler at about 2700m which offers the most impressive views - don't miss it! Rating: * * * * * (9/10) Difficulty of the pass is rated from 1-10 (10 being very difficult, only to be attempted by the fit and experienced). A subjective quality rating is indicated by the number of stars (1 being low, 5 being the highest). Factors such as scenic beauty and overall experience come into play here, which may differ from person to person. Access: A full day (22 km) will be required to get to the base of Manxsome Pass from the Mnweni Cultural Centre. Follow the path all the way up the Mnweni valley to the base of Mnweni Pass where the route to Manxsome Pass continues up the Mnweni River. Details: The distance from the point where the path leaves the river to the top of Manxsome Pass is 1.4 km with an altitude gain of 860m. Route: Follow the Mnweni Pass path all the way to where it leaves the river off to the left. Stay in the river bed at this point and boulder-hop up past Pins Pass to your right. About 200m past the base of Pins Pass (at 2250m), a steep grassy ridge leaves the river on the Southern (left) slopes and heads straight up to Ukikicane. Ascend this steep grassy ridge for 50 vertical metres and then contour back into the Mnweni River at 2300m where a steep, broad, grassy gully leaves the Mnweni River up the Northern (right) slopes with a forest on its left-hand side. This is Manxsome Pass. Cross the Mnweni River just above a series of waterfalls and head straight up the pass. The gradient is initially VERY steep at about 60 degrees (watch for berg adders when pulling up on grass tufts). After about 50m, the gradient eases off slightly to a consistent 30-40 degrees all the way up to the top of the pass at 3160m. Stick to the right-hand side of the gully all the way up to avoid the forest and scree field and to make sure that you don't miss the viewpoint at 2700m! The pass ends at a tiny cairn which we built with a view over the Mnweni Pinnacles. Climb the short grassy slopes to the left to access the escarpment. Finding the pass from the escarpment: From the top of Pins Pass, keep a contour and head South along the edge of the escarpment, passing the Mnweni Pinnacles to your left. About 50m before you would be forced to descend to the Mnweni Cutback, a steep gully can be seen below you to the left, running parallel to your direction (South). This is Manxsome Pass. There is a small cairn on a rock at the top of the pass. Overnight Spots: There is a very good campsite at fork of the Rwanqua and Mnweni rivers about 4 km before the base of Mnweni Pass. There is also the option of camping at the secluded Chichi Bushcamp at the base of Pins Pass. There is a small (4 persons) cave in the cliffs on the left-hand side of the pass at about 3000m but it requires a tricky scramble to get to and is also quite far from water. Pins Cave is located in the Southern cliffs of Pins Pass, about 150 vertical metres down the pass. It has running water over its lip in summer but beware, there is hardly any wind protection offered by this cave and it's also rather small (4 persons). Water: The last water is at the point where the Mnweni River is crossed above the waterfalls to get into the pass itself. The next water is on the escarpment itself in the valley formed by the Mnweni Cutback, 1km from the top of the pass.
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If there are two caves on Manxome pass, why on earth would people choose to name them things like Manxome Cave, what about Bandersnatch Cave, or Red Queen Cave...
We did Rwanqa Pass over the long weekend in June, again using Stijn and Intrepid's write up as guidance.
From the confluence of the Rwanqa and Mnweni Rivers there was a fairly good path which ended just past where this photo was taken, fortunately guiding us through an area of very long grass. The top of Rwanqa Pass is the low point in the centre between Black and Tan Wall and Rwanqa. We then boulder hopped in the Rwanqa River past the two foreground ridges, which are really steep and full of bush up to the river, and left the river onto the ridge coming down from Black and Tan Wall, between the two foreground ridges. The bush surrounding the river was very thick at the lower levels and would be very difficult to hike through.
In this photo the ridge is to the left, and was followed to just above the lower prominent rock outcrop. We then followed the grass slopes diagonally up to the right above the lower rock band in the centre of the photo, into the snow lined gully to the top of the pass. On the grass slopes there was a bottleneck at a steep section with a rock slope and a narrow ledge, which had a distinct path through this difficult spot, showing definate signs of use.
This is a view down the ridge from the rock outcrop, showing the bush surrounding the river between the lower ridges and necessitating the boulder hopping in the river, which was actually quite easy.
This is near the top of the pass looking down, the snow on the left was about a metre thick and full of unidentifiable antelope tracks. Rwanqa Cave? is at about this height on the left of the pass (right of this photo) and is a large opening accessed with difficulty by a high vertical section of rock, well described and good photos of it on the forums.
Three of us that did Rwanqa Pass also did Manxome two weeks ago, and strangely enough we all concurred that we had all found Rwanqa more difficult. On both occasions we started at 07h00, and Rwanqa was summited at 15h00, while Manxome was summited at 12h00, although Rwanqa included an hour lunch stop and several 'detours' towards the bottom whilst Manxome didn't.
The summit of the 'Berg looked like this
so we didn't see another soul on the summit.
The snow made it quite difficult to even find the big path "highway" between Rwanqa and Rockeries, although we managed to follow it in places. There were two other parties up ahead of us who did Mnweni Pass (we saw the guys from Pretoria at Shepherds Cave in the morning we did the pass) and we saw their footprints in the snow around the top of Rockeries Pass, the only other signs of people on the summit.
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From the confluence of the Rwanqa and Mnweni Rivers there was a fairly good path which ended just past where this photo was taken, fortunately guiding us through an area of very long grass. The top of Rwanqa Pass is the low point in the centre between Black and Tan Wall and Rwanqa. We then boulder hopped in the Rwanqa River past the two foreground ridges, which are really steep and full of bush up to the river, and left the river onto the ridge coming down from Black and Tan Wall, between the two foreground ridges. The bush surrounding the river was very thick at the lower levels and would be very difficult to hike through.
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In this photo the ridge is to the left, and was followed to just above the lower prominent rock outcrop. We then followed the grass slopes diagonally up to the right above the lower rock band in the centre of the photo, into the snow lined gully to the top of the pass. On the grass slopes there was a bottleneck at a steep section with a rock slope and a narrow ledge, which had a distinct path through this difficult spot, showing definate signs of use.
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This is a view down the ridge from the rock outcrop, showing the bush surrounding the river between the lower ridges and necessitating the boulder hopping in the river, which was actually quite easy.
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This is near the top of the pass looking down, the snow on the left was about a metre thick and full of unidentifiable antelope tracks. Rwanqa Cave? is at about this height on the left of the pass (right of this photo) and is a large opening accessed with difficulty by a high vertical section of rock, well described and good photos of it on the forums.
Three of us that did Rwanqa Pass also did Manxome two weeks ago, and strangely enough we all concurred that we had all found Rwanqa more difficult. On both occasions we started at 07h00, and Rwanqa was summited at 15h00, while Manxome was summited at 12h00, although Rwanqa included an hour lunch stop and several 'detours' towards the bottom whilst Manxome didn't.
The summit of the 'Berg looked like this
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so we didn't see another soul on the summit.
This image is hidden for guests. Please log in or register to see it.
The snow made it quite difficult to even find the big path "highway" between Rwanqa and Rockeries, although we managed to follow it in places. There were two other parties up ahead of us who did Mnweni Pass (we saw the guys from Pretoria at Shepherds Cave in the morning we did the pass) and we saw their footprints in the snow around the top of Rockeries Pass, the only other signs of people on the summit.
Off topic I know, though only by a couple of pases - how was Ranqwa pass Tony? Did you check out the cave on the way up on the left? Any signs of anyone else using Ranqwa? And how bad was the bush lower down the pass?
Did you see any traffic on the big path that runs near the escarpment between Ranqwa and Rockeries?
Did you see any traffic on the big path that runs near the escarpment between Ranqwa and Rockeries?
In June when I did Rwanqa Pass, we camped overnight on the summit beneath the Black and Tan Wall and the lights of the mine were clearly visible in the distance. A lot of lights over quite a big area, and quite a surprise intrusion of civilisation at the top of the 'Berg.
I passed through Lesteng on a motorbike a few times in the early 1990s - when the mine was not operational. It was quite a sight - like it had simply been abandoned one morning. Most things were still there - fuel pumps, workshops, dorms for hundreds of people.
When news broke about the very big diamond being found there, I remember being worried about more extensive mining going on even closer to the escarpment. But several people in the mining sector that I have spoken to since have said that the big diamond may well have come from somewhere else (possibly a blood diamond). There's no way of knowing for sure, but it would be better for the Berg that way -i.e. if Letseng wasn't as productive as claimed.
When news broke about the very big diamond being found there, I remember being worried about more extensive mining going on even closer to the escarpment. But several people in the mining sector that I have spoken to since have said that the big diamond may well have come from somewhere else (possibly a blood diamond). There's no way of knowing for sure, but it would be better for the Berg that way -i.e. if Letseng wasn't as productive as claimed.
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