Kgotjwane

16 Aug 2012 11:27 #54999 by thomas

Kgotjwane was created by thomas

May I start the new thread?

As usual, Intrepid keeps us all honest. This “literary” exploration is as thrilling as the real thing.

If there are discrepancies over namesakes and peak placements, not a new agenda in the Maluti-Drakensberg, then we will have to determine the best possible match using the sources we have. The directions I indicated for Kgotjwane from Caledon Source are still valid, at least within the same small watershed that is the Kgotjwane River, totally in the FS, and flowing roughly NNW to just below BobbyStanton’s map indicating Dagga Nek in what my topo map indicates as a prominent waterfall plunging off the escarpment. This river eventually links with the Namahali in lower Phuthaditjhaba.

My sources are Lesotho topo 1:50 000 Libono 1980 and RSA topos Golden Gate/Witseishoek 1987. I know the RSA Surveys and Mapping put out new series in 2000; should anyone have later versions they would indicate name changes. BobbyStanton what is your map source and date? Sources and dates will not necessarily coalesce. For example, on BobbyStanton’s map the 2743m unnamed peak is called Lefika-le-moriti on the RSA topo Golden Gate.

My 1987 RSA topos only indicate Kgotjwane Peak at 3085m which is called The Pallisades on BobbyStanton’s map. His Kgotjwane East Peak at 3140m is on the Witsieshoek topo map (but unnamed) and his Kgotjwane Peak at 3060 has no name on the RSA topo map either (your map has many other names further east that are not on the topos).

I suspect the most up to date RSA topo maps beyond 2000 will indicate the current names. Stay tuned. We await Intrepid's return. :thumbsup:

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thomas
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16 Aug 2012 11:30 #55001 by ghaznavid

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thomas wrote: May I start the new thread?

Just kidding

I also look forward to some responses on this one...

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16 Aug 2012 13:07 #55004 by BobbyStanton

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Hi Thomas

My data is all from the South African Surveyor General (or whatever they call themselves nowadays), in digital form and the maps are assembled in a software application called Arcmap. The data is assembled in layers such as contours, rivers, spot heights, etc. I have most of the paper versions but do not refer to them very much. The digital data has not been comprehensively updated for many years so is essentially the same as that on the 1:50000 sheets.
The named peaks are from Murch's Kulu list (JMCSA 1994) and are therefore all those over 3000m. Murch listed the peaks from north to south and used the heights from the 1:50000 sheets, so I simply selected the appropriate spot heights in sequence, and gave them Murch's names. I believe Murch also used Slingsby's maps which have exactly the same contours, rivers, spot heights, etc as the 1:50000 sheets.
I hope this clarifys things a bit more.

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16 Aug 2012 14:46 #55006 by BobbyStanton

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Hi Thomas

I have just had a look at the Golden Gate 1:50000 map and I see what you mean about the naming of Kgotjwane Peak. There is a serious discrepancy between the SA Surveyor- General's Kgotjwane (3085/3086m) and Murch's Kgotjwane (3060m). Murch has listed his peaks in succession from north to south so his Kgotjwane is definitely further north. What do we do now? I have never been particularly fond of the gung-ho approach of the field surveyors who collected the SA data and their somewhat arbitrary way of naming things, as opposed to researching local knowledge and names. There are many mistakes like this on the SA maps but people seem to take these names as the gospel. I hereby ungracefully bow out and proceed to sit on the fence over this one. Maybe we should have a vote?

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16 Aug 2012 14:49 #55007 by thomas

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OK, you have answered much of what I could not understand when I was looking at your map with peaks named "Mom" and "Dad" and hardly think the Surveyor General would use those names (now called the NGI: National Geo-Spatial Information ngi-gov.za). I am looking at Murch's list of Kulus and wonder if he got Kgotjwane wrong (I would not be surprised if an error crept in from such an enormous undertaking as his impressive kulu project). Slingby maps dont go that far west. Assuming he used the same RSA topo maps I am now using, including even the 1987 versions for Golden Gate, then Kgotjwane Peak is definitively marked and named at 3086m where he named "the Palisades" at 3085m. Maybe he used an older version or a different source. On another cartographic note, one usually names peaks for the river from whose mountain source it springs. One would think that "Kgotjwane East" would be named the original Kgotjwane Peak as it is the farthest source of the same river. The mystery continues.

We await with (In)trepid-ation.

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16 Aug 2012 16:14 #55008 by BobbyStanton

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btw. The waterfall you mentioned in your earlier post is one of the most spectacluar I have seen in the Berg. As one reaches the top of Dagga Nek, you look straight across a valley to the falls which plunge in to that narrow gorge in front of you. Definitely worth a visit. We did it as part of Jacana's Maluti Cave Trail. You can then walk around and northward to Metjhatijhane, and just north of it is a narrow ledge which takes you down off the escarpment. It looks impossible at first but fortunately we had a guide. The path traverses along a ridge with the source of the Caledon in a deep valley to your left, and then leads you back to the original trail.

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16 Aug 2012 18:11 #55009 by thomas

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btw, as for arbitrary and inexplicable map naming, better see my article on VE about no less than "Mafadi" which takes the cake for such. It will be out in print this year in the JMCSA2011.

I spent so much time coming from the Lesotho side I dont know what exists on the other side of the border. I found this link with nice photos: www.footprint.co.za/maluticaves.htm and it is indicative of the expansion of hiking and the outdoors beyond the once tried and true gov't only parks and preserves that finds its niche in the new South Africa. That waterfall is truly magnificent.

The following user(s) said Thank You: Bigsnake

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16 Aug 2012 19:45 - 16 Aug 2012 19:48 #55012 by HFc

Replied by HFc on topic Re: Kgotjwane

I'm gonna stick my neck out and suggest Kgotjwane peak is this one.

Taken from Generaalskop frontal peak which is 16.9km heading 323 deg from the peak indicated.

Anyway, I'll be up there Saturday or the following Saturday (weather pending), this time with a better camera. I'll make sure to capture that whole section of the escarpment as good as possible from the location.

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Last edit: 16 Aug 2012 19:48 by HFc.

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23 Aug 2012 18:09 - 23 Aug 2012 18:20 #55036 by intrepid

Replied by intrepid on topic Re: Kgotjwane

As mentioned in the Epic Day Hikes thread, I've been on the summit of the 3085m peak, which according to the survey maps, is said to be Kgotjwane. This is indicated on on the 2828DA Golden Gate plate (1987 second edition), as well as the 1:250 000 map of Lesotho by the Lesotho Government (1994). I obtained the digital copy of the SA survey maps a while later but its the same version as the paper copy I have. I'm not sure if there is a new version of this plate available.

The problem with this peak is that is simply dissapointing if this is supposed to be "the" Kgotjwane. It is part of a series of bumps along the escarpment, which look like a jagged edge from Phuthadijhaba below. This is possibly why Murch called this "The Palisades". It is overshadowed by two much more prominent peaks on either side, which would be much more deserving of the title. The Kgotjwane that Murch suggested is truly a magnificent, eye-catching buttress, from below and from both sides. It could easily be the true Kgotjwane, since it begs to be named (and climbed). It is also closely associated with the Kgotjwane Gorge below it.

The peak which Murch called Kgotjwane East, could also be the true peak on the basis of it's higher summit and closer proximity to what the survey maps version of the peak (ie Murch's "Pallisades"). Also, on the survey maps, the source of the Kgotjwane River is shown to originate on the escarpment very close to this peak. It is not as visually appealing as the former though.

The following pic is the aspect from the North. The high peak on the left is "Kgotwane East" and on the right the dome-like buttress is "Kgotjwane". "The Pallisades" are the bumps inbetween. The chimney pot lower down on the right is Mafika-le-moriti.

This aspect is from the East, brining out the jaggedness of The Pallisades more (again, "Kgotwane East" is on the left, and "Kgotjwane" on the right).

Both peaks can easily be observed from various places in and around Phuthaditjhaba, and from Sentinel Car Park.

The following shots highlight the delightful shape of Murch's Kgotjwane:

From the North-West in the early autumn, with Mafika-le-moriti to the left:

From the North-West in the winter after fresh snow-fall (on far left):

From the foothills below:

Which is the true Kgotjwane? I think we need to keep digging to be sure. Though I have not been successful so far, the key may be to keep asking the locals.

Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.