So myself and 3 friends set off from the Garden Castle campsite this last Saturday at 6.40am with the goal of ascending Mashai Pass, and possibly Rhino Peak. After 3 or so kilometres we reached Pillar cave. After reading some very negative reports by another user on this site, I am pleased to report that the cave seemes to be in a very good condition at present. There was no trace of litter or mess of any sorts, and I wouldnt mind spending a night there sometime.
After leaving the cave we began winding our way towards the pass, and noticed a couple snow patches as low as about 2200m next to the path. As we entered the pass itself the snow became more and more frequent, and after 2500m the climb began to become fairly tricky. Along with the snow, which was very granular and sugar-like, there was also large quantities of ice. At one section, around 2750m the river we were following became very steep, and completely iced up. The grass banks to the left and right were snow covered and extremely steep and slippery, and we began to have thoughts of calling it a day, however we inched our way up the side and managed to finally break out of the -1C shadow and into the warmth of the sun. From there, the last 200m or so was a relative breeze and we finally reached the top of the pass at about 12pm. After having lunch and resting a while, we decided that we wouldnt have enough daylight to ascend the Rhino, so we began heading back down into the deep freeze.
After slipping and sliding our way to the bottom it was a great relief to when the white stuff turned back into grass and we were able to follow a path again back to th campsite. Arriving totally exhausted back at camp at 5pm, we were horrified to find the place completetely TRASHED! My tent was collapsed with one pole broken, litter was strewn all over the place, the side mirror of the car was broken off
