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Its been like this for a long time already

Just a heads up - I did Giants Pass a week ago, there has been a rockfall onto the top of the pass, possibly man-made, that obstructs the top of the pass. It looks like someone undercut the rocks at the top and then used something to cause a collapse into the gully. Most of the rocks are far too large to have been moved by hand. Part of the wall appears to have been built. My guess is that this is to prevent animals from wandering down the pass. We easily scrambled up to the left, but this does make the top of the pass a bit trickier than it used to be.
      

Hi. I went to Giants Castle pass, I was looking for the pass caves but I could find them easily, at least from where I was able to go up the pass. I went up only to the point where the trail enters the gully. |I saw this cave from the distance. It does not look like Giants Cave 2, so I did not go there as I did not know how good was the cave.

Looking in the giants cave threat seems to be the third cave, mentioned there that is further down. Am I right?. I forgot about it when I was there, but at least my pic is more clear than the previous pic that is almost 10 years old.

Cheers, Edwin.

Riaang wrote:

Edwin128

Plenty of caves to choose from in this region. The main Giants caves has quite a lot of space, with a low roof. Note that they are almost always wet, and in summer has drips, so do take a bivvybag or some form of waterproofing for the floor along. I take a bivvy as it protects from drips. I've never slept in the cave opposit these 2 caves, but have checked it out often - from the inside of these 2 caves The terrain is fairly steep p to this cave, and last time we approached it was in the rain and the mud was pretty thick so we decided to rather not explore it. On my to do list this wnter!

The cave at the top of the pass is more like a tiny overhang. On a previous hike we could fit 3 people in here (2 comfortable, 3 cramped and will not work if they are tall). We slep 2 people under the overhang, and myself and my cousin slept out in the open on the nice broad grassy section near the dropoff. Beautiful views, especially of the stars at night, but WINDY!! he wind actually made it difficult to sleep on my side as it was pushing me flat! Quite an experience. There is another smaller overhang a little bit further along the rockband, but there was a carcass of a sheep in this spot, so we decided not to disturb it You can maybe fit one person in here, should you need more cover from nasty weather. All in all, either tent on top (lots of flat spots, often wet in summer but from now onwards, even if there is water it should be frozen so you can sleep on it) or use the 2 main caves. They are not too far from the top, maybe about 200m ASL?
 

Thx for the info. The main caves look better bc are far from the pass top as there an incident with hikers in 2020, so I prefer the main caves or a place far from the pass base just to be safe.

Cheers.

Edwin128

Plenty of caves to choose from in this region. The main Giants caves has quite a lot of space, with a low roof. Note that they are almost always wet, and in summer has drips, so do take a bivvybag or some form of waterproofing for the floor along. I take a bivvy as it protects from drips. I've never slept in the cave opposit these 2 caves, but have checked it out often - from the inside of these 2 caves The terrain is fairly steep p to this cave, and last time we approached it was in the rain and the mud was pretty thick so we decided to rather not explore it. On my to do list this wnter!

The cave at the top of the pass is more like a tiny overhang. On a previous hike we could fit 3 people in here (2 comfortable, 3 cramped and will not work if they are tall). We slep 2 people under the overhang, and myself and my cousin slept out in the open on the nice broad grassy section near the dropoff. Beautiful views, especially of the stars at night, but WINDY!! he wind actually made it difficult to sleep on my side as it was pushing me flat! Quite an experience. There is another smaller overhang a little bit further along the rockband, but there was a carcass of a sheep in this spot, so we decided not to disturb it You can maybe fit one person in here, should you need more cover from nasty weather. All in all, either tent on top (lots of flat spots, often wet in summer but from now onwards, even if there is water it should be frozen so you can sleep on it) or use the 2 main caves. They are not too far from the top, maybe about 200m ASL?

Smurfatefrog wrote:

Edwin128 wrote:

Hello. I found that there is an additional case in the giants pass. It is called Giants Summit cave: drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-summit-cave

There is not pics, or I was able to find info in this forum. Does anybody has any experience with this cave?

Are are also pics for Giants Cave 2? drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-cave-2

I found only pics for Giants Cave 1 here in the forum.

Cheers.

Details and pics are all here Edwin
www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/12-drakensberg-caves/56000-giant-s-caves.html?start=0

ok thx. I missed that post.

Edwin128 wrote:

Hello. I found that there is an additional case in the giants pass. It is called Giants Summit cave: drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-summit-cave

There is not pics, or I was able to find info in this forum. Does anybody has any experience with this cave?

Are are also pics for Giants Cave 2? drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-cave-2

I found only pics for Giants Cave 1 here in the forum.

Cheers.

Details and pics are all here Edwin
www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/12-drakensberg-caves/56000-giant-s-caves.html?start=0

Hello. I found that there is an additional case in the giants pass. It is called Giants Summit cave: drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-summit-cave

There is not pics, or I was able to find info in this forum. Does anybody has any experience with this cave?

Are are also pics for Giants Cave 2? drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-cave-2

I found only pics for Giants Cave 1 here in the forum.

Cheers.

Willsy wrote:

Edwin128 wrote:

Willsy wrote:

Intrepid,

I camped at the base of Giants pass twice last year with no issues. (August and October)
On both occasions I didn't notice any fresh signs of livestock/people, other than the odd animal skull or bone and old piece of litter.

During the October hike, the top of Elandshoek pass looked unused. Lower down on the contour path towards Oribi Ridge/Elandshoek, I notice some fresh dung and hoofprints. (There were horses in the around and a fellow VE user also reported sheep/goats in that area)
There was also a SAPS helicopter showing off around the pass on the October hike, perhaps this has deterred the rustlers?

Personally I've seen more traffic and signs of it on Grays, Bell and Camel.


 

ok. thx for the replies. I think it is safe as long it is done in stealth way and far away from the trail. Any suggestions for a good spot?

 

Not far from the trail, but this is the spot at the base of the pass I've used twice with no issues.
You'll see a little flat spot, close to the edge, with some rocks in the middle.
www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=16.3/29.4726/-29.3315&pubLink=Uka2l0DT8nUTUkeLArSkO0bx&waypointId=7a717241-6f26-4194-aee3-29202c3720a0

You could also push on towards Giants Hut, although ruined, there are plenty of flat spots around there.
 

ok i will check it. thx.

Ditto on the Giants hut area.

Not far from Giants pass and so out of the way. We've camped in the dry tarn before, LOTS of flat spots here

Edwin128 wrote:

Willsy wrote:

Intrepid,

I camped at the base of Giants pass twice last year with no issues. (August and October)
On both occasions I didn't notice any fresh signs of livestock/people, other than the odd animal skull or bone and old piece of litter.

During the October hike, the top of Elandshoek pass looked unused. Lower down on the contour path towards Oribi Ridge/Elandshoek, I notice some fresh dung and hoofprints. (There were horses in the around and a fellow VE user also reported sheep/goats in that area)
There was also a SAPS helicopter showing off around the pass on the October hike, perhaps this has deterred the rustlers?

Personally I've seen more traffic and signs of it on Grays, Bell and Camel.

 

ok. thx for the replies. I think it is safe as long it is done in stealth way and far away from the trail. Any suggestions for a good spot?
 

Not far from the trail, but this is the spot at the base of the pass I've used twice with no issues.
You'll see a little flat spot, close to the edge, with some rocks in the middle.
www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=16.3/29.4726/-29.3315&pubLink=Uka2l0DT8nUTUkeLArSkO0bx&waypointId=7a717241-6f26-4194-aee3-29202c3720a0

You could also push on towards Giants Hut, although ruined, there are plenty of flat spots around there.

Willsy wrote:

Intrepid,

I camped at the base of Giants pass twice last year with no issues. (August and October)
On both occasions I didn't notice any fresh signs of livestock/people, other than the odd animal skull or bone and old piece of litter.

During the October hike, the top of Elandshoek pass looked unused. Lower down on the contour path towards Oribi Ridge/Elandshoek, I notice some fresh dung and hoofprints. (There were horses in the around and a fellow VE user also reported sheep/goats in that area)
There was also a SAPS helicopter showing off around the pass on the October hike, perhaps this has deterred the rustlers?

Personally I've seen more traffic and signs of it on Grays, Bell and Camel.
 

ok. thx for the replies. I think it is safe as long it is done in stealth way and far away from the trail. Any suggestions for a good spot?

Intrepid,

I camped at the base of Giants pass twice last year with no issues. (August and October)
On both occasions I didn't notice any fresh signs of livestock/people, other than the odd animal skull or bone and old piece of litter.

During the October hike, the top of Elandshoek pass looked unused. Lower down on the contour path towards Oribi Ridge/Elandshoek, I notice some fresh dung and hoofprints. (There were horses in the around and a fellow VE user also reported sheep/goats in that area)
There was also a SAPS helicopter showing off around the pass on the October hike, perhaps this has deterred the rustlers?

Personally I've seen more traffic and signs of it on Grays, Bell and Camel.

I haven't done Giant's Pass for quite some time. My impression from previous times is that it had signs of being used for cattle rustling. I think the smuggling route is mainly on Elandshoek Pass (so the smugglers are at least passing by the top of Giant's Pass). It would be great if hikers could post their most recent observations on what the activities are in this area.

I do not have a gauge on how risky it is to camp at the base of the pass. I did hear vague stories of an incident that may have happened at the caves halfway up the pass, but I can't verify how accurate it was and it goes back more than 15 years. 

If anyone has accurate info, please let us know!

Hi. Just curious, smugglers using giants pass, what route they use after going the pass? Do they go continue towards Giants Hut? Or do they follow the river? Cheers.

Just wondering if it is safe to camp close to the pass base. I know there was an incident a couple of years ago at the top.

 

The variation is very obvious in clear visibility conditions, it is to the left when going up Giant's Castle Pass, although the clear visibility would also result in most hikers being discouraged from even attempting it. There is another variation to the right too, when going up the pass, which is quite doable and you top out at Giants Summit Cave, although the gully continues up higher and would continue to be doable right to the top end. Andrew and I descended this variation in September. The two variations join the main pass at just about the same point, and there is a cave in the pass at the base of the variation to the right.

Hi Andrew, Tony - thank you

On our return from Giant's Castle, we were close to the escarpment, and we only saw that one break in this cliffs, we were not sure if it was the only one as visibility was not great. There was definitely a cairn at the top of that variation.

Tony - On using the river route, this would be more challenging in summer, as you do cross the river a couple times and there was water fairly high this weekend. As we descended the pass with the path it definitely got easier the lower we went.

Thanks for the feedback, I look forward to heading back there, hopefully with clear skies so we can actually make out the variation when entering the pass.

Hello Warren

I cannot recall a cairn either.

There is only 1 break in the cliffs between the top of Giants Pass and the summit of Giants Castle, so you must have seen the top of the variation I did. I personally find scrambling up to be easier than scrambling down, so would rather go up the variation than down.

Hi Warren,

I have used the diagonal angle up and down the ridge (to/from the Giants Cave at the bottom of the pass) several times, and each time think next time I must use the river gully, which I will do if there is a next time. The ridge route may be a bit of a shortcut, but has no path, and the sustained sideslope takes it's toll on your feet and ankles. I haven't done the river route, but my assumption is that it would be about the same difficulty overall, but perhaps easier going without the sideslope.

I'm not sure which route you took back to Giant's Castle Pass from Giant's Castle, if you followed the escarpment and went over the peak (Giant's Pass Peak) immediately east of Giant's Castle Pass, then the gully down into Giant's Castle Pass between Giant's Castle and Giant's Pass Peak, is the variation AndrewP refers to. I can't remember there being a cairn there though.

Hi All

My wife and I went up Giants Pass on Saturday, it was our first time in the area and I was looking to use the route up to the cliffs and contour into the pass, from one of the photo's in this thread we did pass the same places at about 2600m but we decided to contour into the pass at that point below the large patch of scree and boulders, we were in heavy mist and didn't really know where the cliffs were or how far the contour was to the pass.

My first question and I may already have the answer, if you want to take this route up to the cliffs and contour in, there isn't any real path or specific ridge to climb up, or is there, you kind of pick a point on the contour path before the river and head straight up? There was a single stone on a rock on the contour path is the spot that marks the start of the ascent to the cliffs?

The Camp in their brochure seem to have this a the better route to take (see Below):



On our decent we went straight down the pass to the contour path and given that we struggled with the heavy mist it seemed like the better option both ways up and down, heading straight for the cliffs and contouring didn't actually avoid the very loose and steep gravel bits of the pass, which was what I was trying to avoid.

Second question - Once we had summited Giants Castle, on the way back to the pass, before you need to make that last climb up before getting back to the pass, we passed a cairn that looked like it marked a pass (in between Giants Castle and Giants pass), very steep from what we could see, not knowing about it we didn't even consider it, but is this a manageable alternative route back into or out Giants pass? AndrewP is this the variation that you are referring to?

Giants Pass variations

Ifyou are heading up Giants Pass, then shortly after entering the pass proper, you can see an obvious gully heading up on either side.

The gully on the Giants Peak side is protected low down by an overhanging chockstone. Bypass this on a grass slope to the right.

From here, rock walls trap you for the remainder of the pass. A short rock stretch may be bypassed on the left, but ice there kept me in the main v slot. This involves about 2m of steep scramble and could be slippery when wet.

From here, the slope for the rest of the pass averages about 35 degrees. It was solidly iced up for me, but it is highly unlikely that the ice covered any nasty surprises.


The variation on the Long Wall side has no tricks at all. It is rather loose in places and has a lot of spikey plants. It looks like it has seen several ascents or descents over the years. Go for it if you are bored, but it is not recommended.

Nice shot looking up the pass with the mist and snow.

So this weekend myself and Hobbit (a 12 year old who excels at day hiking) did a 3 day loop up Central Jarding pass down Giants Pass. We overingted in Jarding Cave and Giant's Cave (we used the one shown on the map). Its actually a relatively easy route, no long days, no excessively hard days either.

Jarding Pass and cave details are at www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/11-drakensberg-passes/55389-jarateng-passes.html?start=10#58558

We hit the escarpment in rather thick mist. We had a few moments where we had a view of the Jarding valley in Lesotho. The traverse to Giant's Pass is a route I don't know well. I have done part of the route when doing GT last year, but it was on the day when I felt so sick and was in so much pain (achilies strain and a sore back/neck) that I thought I would have to pull out of the GT. We also had mist for part of it - so really not a spot I know well.

I didn't get many photos due to the thick mist - we often could only see 100m, sometimes less. It was also really cold and wet.

Jarding Pool - usually full of water was a still stagnant pool:


We ran out of water when we hit the escarpment (the river on the pass was dry from not far above the base of the pass). We planned to get water from the Jarding river, but it wasn't flowing. As the options were risking sickness due to contaminated water or dehydration, we took some non-flowing water and added chlorine pills to it. After leaving it for an hour, before drinking it we also boiled it.

Any way, after some heavy reliance on my GPS we eventually found Giant's Pass (harder to find than what I would have thought), the top of the pass was wet and slippery. We got down quite quickly and reached Giants Cave (the one on the map) at 1PM. We also saw 2 hikers going up the pass a bit later.

Giant's Cave is 2 linked caves with tons of sleeping areas. Not sure where the capacity of 4 comes from - could easily get 10 people in the cave. It was well sheltered and flat, but had no nearby water.

We woke up to see snow outside the cave:


Grass outside the cave dusted in snow:


Some icicles had formed overnight:


We briefly got a view of the cliffs above us, looks like the pass must be really beautiful:


A skull on the pass covered in snow:


Summary of the pass - it was tricky when wet and snowy, but it wasn't steep, route finding was easy and for at least half the pass we were able to follow the pass. Its a really worthwhile pass.

We returned via Oribi Ridge. It is longer than Giant's ridge and has a lot of up and down. I have done both of these ridges in the mist, so I can't comment on the view, but I would do Giant's ridge over Oribi Ridge next time (although I am happy to have done both now).

tonymarshall wrote: We used the Oribi Ridge route to access the area, and had the morning view of the ‘berg from Giant’s Castle to the Cathkin Range, still with some snow on the high ridges, although this soon disappeared.

I was at this spot at sunrise today, it such an awesome wide view of the high berg! Pity I had to dash back down for breakfast, will definitely use Oribi ridge on my next trip towards the Giant.

Wow i dig the tent city. Not because there would be lots of people on the hike, which is not my preferred way of hiking, i was just thinking it would make some interesting opportunities for photography. Nice pic, in fact nice pics on the whole report.