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No problem couple weeks ago in a vehicle with fair clearance.

Good day.

Anyone used Mike's of late?
How the quality?

Thanks

We used Mike's Pass in December 2022. The warden will give you a lift up for R50 each if you're nice to him and arrange through Didima camp before you get there. Give him a tip...

I just phoned Didima and they said it is open to the public, only 4x4, R150pp. 

The road up is a little rough, but I observed in October that repairs had been done on the old forest track to the Nek and the old forest track to the Ndumeni River, with evidence of quite a lot of vehicle use (while doing the recent repairs), and also the Phillip's Folly and Tryme Hill paths so although I didn't use Mikes Pass I would expect similar repairs to have been done there. Not major repairs, and to a low quality, but the worst areas were attended to on the old forest tracks, and I guess Mikes Pass could have been similarly repaired. I would think you should get up and down fine in the Figo, but allow to take most of the road (some sections with rutting, some sections a bit rough) slowly and carefully. There should only be a possible problem if there has been a lot of heavy rain just before you use the road, making the steeper sections slippery, or an unforeseen rockfall/mudslide blocking the road.

Good day.
Re: Driving up Mike's to get to Cambalala for overnight booking.

Is this road (easily) doable in a small hatchback? Suppose I mean will it damage the vehicle, not recommended etc,
Car is a Ford Figo. We've done some insane things in it, but it's still a city zooter.

Thanks

Thanks all.

Yeah, Didima Office eventually answered their phone after a few days trying
Very much closed to public

But yes looking to go stay at Cambabala soon. My vehicle is a DC 4x4... so shouldn't be an issue.

The only vehicles allowed up Mikes Pass are research vehicles and MCSA members heading to Cambalala.
The road is a little rough at the moment, but drivable in a vehicle with highish clearance

elandman wrote: Apologies for the resurrection of a 2yo dead thread

It's still very much a valid topic!

I think the repair costs are fairly high and it doesn't look like the economy and budgets are allowing it to happen very quickly.

We were there last weekend and sadly a lift up Mikes Pass is a no go as it is closed.
Even if you beg and offer to throw money at the issue, it still won’t happen.
Enjoy your hike

Apologies for the resurrection of a 2yo dead thread

Does anyone have any current information on Mikes Pass?
We intend to make the trip there tomorrow from Champagne Valley.

We tried phoning Didima Reception just now but they are closed for the day.
Planning our day tomorrow over the braai tonight.

Cheers

Thank you to everyone for their input.

We descended the organ pipes yesterday, it was tough going as we managed a brisk 5 hours from Rolands to didima camp, 19ks.

The weather was extremely hot and we struggled in the heat from very early in the day.

In terms of the route, by the time we got to the jeep track around the top of Mikes pass we were seriously low on water so Tony's suggestion was the only real option in hope of finding water when we hit the road.

We started the descend off the jeep track close to the weather station, which when looking back it was probably to soon, and we should have stuck on the jeep track for a bit longer and then started the descend, but some walking through nobbly grass (sorry I need to correct Dave, as icidi pass last week was bundu bashing, what we did was reasonably pleasant in comparison ), we got to a point where I expected the top of the zig zags to be and started looking for them as I could see the bend in the road so I knew we were close.

I found the zig zags easy enough by being in the right place, but they are fairly over grown with grass, once you are on them you can make them out and get down to the jeep track. When looking for the Zig Zags the day before they are visible from the top of Tryme hill.

Before we got to the drain under the road we could hear the water running through it, which was a relief as I had been out of water, thanks Tony.

The next shortcut we were going to attempt was from the jeep track, around the staff accommodation, to the river and up to Didima, but we had just seen a massive puff adder on the road very close to where we wanted to take the shortcut, and to be honest I lost my nerve to head through the grass to the river not seeing what was under foot, so we make our way down to the gate at the bottom of mikes pass and then up to Didima. There is no visible path at all between the staff accommodation and the Didima camp.

And bundu bash we did! WarrenM certainly knows how to make trips a little more interesting..

@WarrenM...You can walk to Mikes Pass from Didima reception across the valley but it will be bundu bashing abit OR you can walk from Didima reception to the boom gate at the entrance and then go up the Mikes Pass road (easier but longer) Once you pass the Wildlife Staff buildings you will get onto the pass road proper. A couple of 100m past the sign which says 4x4...low gear (or something like that) you go off the pass road and connect with a well worn path that goes straight up on the left as the pass road swings to the right.

This is where you leave the pass road.......
The path which is easy to walk up connects again to the pass road at the sharp corner and from there you walk up the road until you reach the top. This path cuts out a big distance!

Hi Tony

Thank you for all the detail.

Given the heat last weekend in the Berg, we may well be hunting for water by the time we get to the weather station after descending the organ pipes, so the note with regards to where to find water is really appreciated.

There are several different 'short cuts' from Didima office/car park to Mikes Pass, and two major ones on the pass itself.

It's hard to see from Smurfs track, which one he has used from the car park, but it looks like the one I prefer, which uses the wheelchair friendly (although very overgrown) concrete path from the car park to the Ndumeni River. You then cross the river, and a path is developing up the slope from the river to join Mikes Pass road. Smurfs track uses the newer shortcut on the road, which I dislike intensely, and there is also another path when using this shortcut to cut off the hairpin bend section near Cambalala House turnoff, that is just past the Cambalala House road - clearly visible in the picture at the south of the eastern U bend - and then the path goes westwards cutting off the western hairpin bend closest to the top of Mikes Pass.

I prefer to use the old shortcut, which I believe is the one the forestry workers used years ago when walking between the bottom of Mikes Pass and their accommodation along the road to the old forests. This shortcut starts at the lower hairpin bend of Mikes Pass, visible at the bottom left of the picture, and zig zags up the ridge, and can be vaguely seen in the picture to the east of the hairpin bend, at the white cliffs of the ridge. It then heads south along the ridge, to the east of the clump of bush in the picture, and joins the old forestry road near the weather station on the way to Organ Pipes Pass, out of the bottom of the picture. When going up Mikes Pass this shortcut is very easy to find, as it starts right at the hairpin bend, and the zig zags up the ridge are clearly visible, but when coming down the pass it is not so easy to find the start of the path from the road near the weather station, and I sometimes just head down the grass slope till I find the path lower down.

The reasons I prefer this shortcut to the newer one in Smurfs picture are simple, it's a much more consistent even gradient, a lot flatter than the steep newer shortcut, and slightly shorter. There is also (usually in the wet season) water at the first drain pipe under the road near the hairpin bend, whereas the other shortcut has no water.

PM me if you want more info.

Excellent thanks Smurf

Hi Warren

Yes there is


My track between Didima and the road is not accurate (was done at night), but there is a path there that the staff use so you should find it in daylight. If you look on Google Earth you will see a clear path between the river and road
When you leave the road on the way up you exit by the first rock outcrop you encounter on your left, go around the back of it, at this spot -25.951904° 29.237764°

When descending you will pick up a path at -28.958748° 29.236859° leaving the road
You could also cut off the higher bends but I don't think this has a path

Hi all

Compliments of the season.

We are looking to use the suggested path from Didima to the top of the Mikes pass (basically looking to skip the road and reduce the ks).

Questions:
1. is there a path from Didima to the top of Mikes pass, other than the road
2. can someone give me a vague idea as to where to look for it? and would we need to head to the start of mikes pass to pick it up, or is there a path that actually starts from Didima?
3. if we used it for the descend from the top of mikes pass, where would we pick up the path?

Thanks

We walked the upper part of Mike's Pass last weekend, taking the short-cut trail to bypass the big switch-back. There are no obstacles in the road, though it is quite rough in places (considering that in the mid 90's I drove my City Golf up it). It is obvious by the fresh tyre tracks that the authorities are still using the pass to get to The Neck and other places. So the pass is actually drivable if you have a vehicle with sufficient clearance, the issue being that the road has been deemed unstable and unsuitable for public use, apparently by surveyors. I must say, even the erosion scars and slippages on the slopes are looking terrible. Apparently some major upgrades have to be done which will run into the millions and budgets need approval - bottom line: doesn't seem like the pass will be opened any time soon.

Sabine wrote: Unfortunately Mike's Pass is closed for all vehicles. No transport either. I phoned Didima hotel a couple of weeks ago for this update.

Thanks for the info Sabine

Unfortunately Mike's Pass is closed for all vehicles. No transport either. I phoned Didima hotel a couple of weeks ago for this update.

Latest on Mike's please. Open for private vehicles, or transport available?

I just phoned Didima to find out the current state of the pass. After a lengthy discussion, they confirmed that it is still closed and they will not be giving any lifts up any time soon.

We can confirm that the pass IS closed. We tried last weekend (4-6 May) but could not get all the way up. We were still able to get a lift as far as the Information Centre though, which is maybe a third of the way up.