General cave discussion

@Ghaz

Did you ever visit the cave? Map grid reference or GPS co-ords?

Anyone else?

It does seem decent, in a good location.

Shockingly - after doing this pass 5 times - I am yet to check out "this" cave or the small caves right at the top of the pass.

I haven't even checked out any of the monster caves on north Hlubi or the massive cave on Gypaetus Pass. Judge Pass also has some potential.

Kind of serves as a reminder of how big the Berg is! I think I need to do a cave recon mission around there some time. I want to do a loop up Judge Pass and down Gypaetus Pass later this year, not sure when next I'll be around Langies though...

but back to the question...

That cave is clearly visible from the path - its in the base of the main cliff line on the north slope of the pass (the path goes up the south bank), the cave is quite far off route though. From higher up it looks well sheltered, but the floor looks quite rocky and heavily sloped.

Ok sweet thanks.

Do me (us all) a favour. When you up there for the cave recce, check it out, remove all the rocks and flatten the floor

There are a few potential caves just north of the summit of Langies Pass - opposite side of the pass to Carbineer's Graves in the top rock bands. They are proper escarpment caves and are in SA. Has anyone checked these out?

So on Thursday last week I finally checked out This Cave:


Report on it based on the DG Cave rating system:
- Shelter 4/5: it is quite deep and should be fine in a storm
- Water 5/5: it seems to be the source of a river
- Pools 5/5: the cave practically is a pool
- Outlook 3/5: it has a great view of Langies pass, but not much else
- Comfort 0/5: unless you enjoy sleeping in river, it won't be comfortable

- Overall rating 17/25 (that actually doesn't sound bad)

Ok - seriously, it has a small flat floor which is covered in rocks (sorry Boerkie - took too much energy getting there to clear the floor ). You could get 2 people in comfortably without moving many rocks, or 4 (possibly even 6 if squashed) if you move some rocks around.

There are, however, 2 fundamental flaws with This Cave:
1) its probably ok in winter, but in summer it is useless. There was so much water dripping out of the roof and walls of the cave that it would have been utterly useless. The drainage is good enough that (despite my jokes above) there weren't any major pools of water on the floor of the cave, but it was far to wet to be of any use.
2) the approach to it from the pass requires dropping down to the river and climbing a very steep slope on the other side. I did this without a pack (which meant I had to drop over 50m to get back to my pack afterward). The approach was very tiring.

There is an annex cave next to it which isn't properly visible from the pass (its in a dry stream bed just up from there, 2 rock walls sheltering the entrance). By the time I reached This Cave, it had already taken too long, so I didn't check the annex out - but it looked like it wouldn't have a flat floor anyway. To be quite honest, getting to the cave took so much energy that I really didn't feel like doing more exploration. Ok - excuses aside - I need to work on my fitness - but with the approach I don't think its feasible anyway.

The caves at the top of the pass still require some exploration - didn't have time on this occasion...

Hi - this is my very first time on this forum and I'm hoping to get some great advice. My son turns 6 in December and we have this vision of taking him cave-camping with 4 of his best mates and their Dads. We're all outdoors enthusiasts but not that experienced when it comes to hiking. I reckon the kids could probably manage a 3-hour hike at most. Can anyone recommend a cave within that distance (or similar)? We would start out on a Saturday morning, let them swim and run wild for the afternoon, sleep in the cave that night and head back on the Sunday. So it would ideally also have to be near water as well

Thanks so much

Hi HikingMom,

There is another thread somewhere on the forum with lots of info on hiking with kids.

Pillar Cave is a good option, and another good option is Aasvoelkrans Cave at Highmoor, also a shortish hike with a pool and waterfall at the cave where the children (and moms and dads) can have lots of fun.

Hi

Link to some of the Hiking with Kids topics on the forum:

vertical-endeavour.com/forum/8-drakensberg-hiking/55576-overnight-hiking-trip-with-kids.html?limitstart=0

and

vertical-endeavour.com/forum/drakensberg-trips/55792-dads-and-lads-cobham-emerald-streams-hike.html