General cave discussion

Drove the road into Injesuthi a year back and was amused to see tar roads being extended into the rural settlements from the main road but the tar road to the camp itself being left to disintegrate. Thought at the time that a local authorities were making a pointed statement with a smile on their faces. Its very much the inverse now of how it once was. I fully agree that a dirt road is better than bad tar.

gollum wrote:

One route which will provide some stunning views of the escarpment and visits to three or four valleys, would be to walk from the camp to Centenary Hut (via Fergy's cave - no camping allowed there), then along the contour path and down the ridge to LIC, then down the valley to Marble Baths Fork and up to Marble Baths

From memory, the path from the contour path down the ridge to LIC is the most indistinct part of what Gollum has described here - its a really nice round trip. The ridge that LIC lies at the foot of does not connect to the contour path - a ridge closer to cent hut does. You'd need to follow the contour path from Cent hut until it runs out (about 45 minutes or so of walking), descend that ridge and cross at least one valley to get onto the ridge which has LIC at its base. If you cross the valley higher up, you'll need to cross more than one valley. The valley would be crossed low down, not far (20-30 minutes from LIC) but the path descending that ridge and the crossing point in the valley was pretty vague, if not non-existant a year or so ago. That said, the off path walking I've done in the Berg has been the best - its also when you see the most wildlife (or perhaps the only antelope these days). I came across a lot of Eland higher up the valley that I'm talking about. The game have learnt where the paths are. For those worried about erosion, its only when you create new paths next to old paths that there is a problem. A few hikers off piste isn't ever going to be a problem - I think.

Did a hike to these two caves over a weekend early May.

I am pleased to report that they are both in excellent condition, and have been respected by my any hikers using them.

Hi guys

A couple of my mates and I are doing a trip in late June-planning to hike a full day, sleep in a cave/hut and hike back the next day. We'd prefer to be able to do a round trip and not cover the same ground on the way back. None of us really have high-tech equipment and I know it's going to be crazy cold.

Do you have any suggestions for either specific cave-hikes that fit the bill or else which general area will let us get the biggest bang for our buck in terms of 1 day hiking each way? I'm just interested in hearing about others' favourite spots. We've heard amazing things about Roland/Twin/Bell's cave but not sure if they're all accessible within our time frame?

Thanks!

Thanks intrepid!

That sounds amazing, I think we're going to go ahead and do it next weekend. I'l let you know how it went and probably ask for more info for the next trip!

Sounds like you and your mates will be braving the cold at the same time as us!
Hopefully we all get awesome weather
- enjoy

Twins requires you to be very fit to complete in a day. From what I understand about Rolands cave, it is relatively hard to find (not marked on the map on account of its dangerous position, but in the vacinity of other caves), and dangerous if there is snow about. If you are considering Bell cave, I would suggest the elusive Trenchers cave instead (But this is notoriously hard to find). I had a bad experience at Bell cave, its not very sheltered.

If Southern berg is an option:
Try cobham. You could overnight in Mzimkhuluwana hut (easy), then on day two (a little harder) hike up to the bushman paintings at siphongweni rock and down the other side to the pholela river.

Or overnight at lakes cave (hike along the river). Then walk along the ridge all the way to siphongweni rock and go down to the river there.

Gxalingenwa cave is great too. Do the emerald stream route past pinnacle rock on day one, and then back along the giants cup trail on day 2.

On Langalibalele Pass there is a cave I noticed on the North bank in the main escarpment rock bank. Lets call it "This Cave":



Has anyone checked out This Cave before? I am hoping to check it out on the way down the pass on 2 June, but as the hike is ridiculously far for a day as it is, I doubt I will get a chance.