1 day khulus

My wife and i climbed cathedral peak on saturday, and loved it. A perfect weekend for us at is a proper hike sat and a relax sunday-i trust there are some other soft core hikers on this group that feel the same way. I love the idea of the khulus, but not so much the idea of carrying a heavy pack with all the equipment needed for overnight. Plus a good nights sleep on sat lets you get back to work on monday reasonable refreshed. We have done sterkhorn, which also gets you close to 3000m in a day. I had a look at murchs list of khulus, but there is no indication of which are achievable in 1 day. I would say a round trip of less than 25km and total ascent less than 1800m are required for a hike to be achievable in a day. We were thinking of the rhino next. Would anyone be able to share which other khulus are achievable in a day?

From Witsieshoek Beacon buttress and Mont-aux-sauces in a single trip and Sentinel on the back if you climb. Also Mount amery and Ifidi. Not sure of heights of all these. Cleft peak and Ndumeni dome from Cathrdral. Knuckles from Bushmans nek. Hodgsons from Sani and Thaba Ntenyana if driving up. Bond, Erksine and Potterill from Langalieble.

Welcome to the khulu-bagging game

Having done all the non-technicals on Murch's list, aside from the 2 in the Eastern Cape and the two I am shooting for this weekend (Ape and Old Man) - I have to say, if you hit the mountains regularly enough, you will eventually find that 50km in a day is hard, but not impossible. If you keep going from there, maybe you will join the leagues of AndrewP where 50km in a day is a chilled weekend out.

Khulus I have done on day hikes:
- Sentinel (via Standard Route, technical)
- Cathedral Peak
- Castle Buttress and Cleft Peak on the same day
- Red Wall, Injisuthi Dome and Trojan Wall on the same day
- Sur The Thumb (an easy day out - consider using one of the Hlubi Passes so that you don't use Langies both ways)
- Bond, Potterill and Erskine on the same day (up North Jarding down Langies, also quite easy)
- Rhino (easy, my first escarpment hike)
- Matebeng and Wilson (up Bollard, down Wilsons - the passes require experience, but the route isn't particularly difficult)
- Mlambonja (up Bollard, down Mashai - once again, experience required for Bollard Pass, but not particularly difficult)
- Random Peak, Verkyker Buttress, Verkyker and Verkyker Pass Peak (all via Mashai Pass, this was 3 weeks ago)
- Walkers Pass Peak and Thamathu (3328m peak in Lesotho, up Walkers Ridge Pass down Mzimude South Pass - fun day out, but quite long)
- Thaba Ngwangwe (an easy day out for you)
- All 3 Knuckles and Thaba Ngwangwe (a not so easy day out, but good fun!)
- Thaba Phinong from Sani Top (a very easy 9km hike)
- Both Hodgeson's Peaks from Sani Top (not as easy as Thaba Phinong, but far easier than most of what is on this list)
- Elephant, Leopard, Twins Top and Outer Pudding (the latter not being a khulu) (quite a long day out, but it was awesome)

You won't be able to do all of the routes listed above when you get started, but here's an attempt to list the non-technical khulus from easiest to hardest in a day (excluding everything north of Namahadi and the Eastern Cape ones, the former is a bit of a mission in terms of access, and I don't know much about the latter). It has been done very roughly, I do firmly believe that Thaba Phinong is the easiest khulu and Ngaqamadolo is the hardest to do in a day - but the allocations in the middle are very rough, they just give you a general idea. I have also assumed that they route is by the easiest approach - so Sani Top for the peaks up to Mohlesi, Chain Ladders via Sentinel Car Park for the peaks from Namahadi to Icidi:

Beginner level
Thaba Phinong
Beacon Buttress
Sani Peak
Mqatsheni
Hodgeson's Peak North
Hodgeson's Peak South
Long Buttress
Ampitheatre

Easy
Crow's Nest
Bilanjil Bump
Amphingati
Mont-aux-sources
Kubedu
Namahadi Pass Peak
Mount Amery
Singati
Thaba Edanyazana
Ifidi Peak
Ifidi Pass Peak
Ifidi Buttress
Rhino Peak
Random Peak
Cathedral Peak
Thumb Spur
Erskine
Bond
Potterill
Bannerman Face
Kambule
Carbineer Point
Katana
Verkyker Buttress

Moderate
Verkyker
Verkyker Pass Peak
Thaba Ngwangwe
Organ Pipes Peak
Icidi Crown
South Knuckle
Middle Knuckle
Gypaetus Point
The Auditor
Popple Peak
Easter Cave Peak
Twins Top
Mlambonja Buttress
Giant's Pass Peak
Leopard
Long Wall
Giant's Castle
Mount Durnford
Mlambonja Peak
Matebeng
Wilsons Peak
Bollard
Sanqebethu
Cleft Peak
Castle Buttress
Ndumeni Dome
Namahadi Z
Namahadi Y
Mashai

Hard
Icidi Back Ridge
Dragon's Back
Maloreng
Mhlwazini Peak
Cowl View
Mzimude
Mzimude Pass Peak
Andre's Knob
Walker's Peak
Nkosazana Peak
Spur The Molar
Walker's Pass Peak
Isicatula Peak
The Hawk
Tent
Lotheni
Lithabeneng
Terateng
Redi
Mangaung
Ntshintshini
Icidi Buttress
No Man's Peak
Namahadi Ridge
kaNtuba Buttress
Litseketseke Spur
kaNtuba Peak
Sehonghong
Mohlesi
Tongue
Namahadi Peak
Flat Top
Mahout
Elephant
Cockade
Mnweni Buttress
Tony's Mystery Khulu
Ncedamabutho
Nguza Pass Peak
Saddle Rise (North)
Saddle Rise (South)
Windsor Castle
Tsekeseke Peak
Ntonjelana Ridge
Ntonjelana Knife
Little Saddle (North)
Little Saddle (South)
The Corner
The Judge
Champagne Castle
Ships Prow
Botlolong
Sombrero
Champagne Castle Buttress

Very hard
Greater Injisuthi Buttress
Lesser Injisuthi Buttress
Caboose
Trojan Wall
Injasuthi Dome
Mafadi
Lithobolong Peak
Red Wall Peak
Starboard
Stimela Ridge
Stimela Peak
Mbundini Buttress
Mbundini Abbey
Fangs Buttress
Rwanqa
Mlahangubo Peak
Black and Tan Wall
Pins Buttress
Hanging Valley Peak
Spur Twelve Appostles
Cutback Highway
Didima Dome
Didima Buttress
Yodler's Peak I * (N)
Witch Peak
Yodler's Peak II (S)
Yodler's Peak
Yodler's Ridge Peak
Pampiring
Pampiring II
Old Man
The Ape

The monsters of Vergelegen - very long walkins for very big peaks
Ntsupenyana
Nhlangeni Peak
Ngaqamadolo

Is there a 'Most Khulus in 24hrs' record...?

Macc wrote: Is there a 'Most Khulus in 24hrs' record...?

AndrewP - 23 in something like 19 hours.

The rules require that you start and finish at the same recognised car par (the definition of a car park is somewhere where people would normally park cars, so outside a shop in Mokhotlong also counts). If you pass 24h by 1 second, you are disqualified.

Andrew did most of the khulus between Namahadi Ridge Peak and Ntonjelana Ridge. He posted a writeup somewhere on the site about it.

Hobbit and myself have talked about shooting for it, if we set out to hit 24, we can do a considerably easier route than what Andrew did - seeing as he was shooting for a massive number of peaks. He did something like 88km, our route is about 50km - so we might just be able to pull it off.

Most khulus I have done in a day: 11
Most I have done on a day hike: 4 (that was 3 weeks ago)

Many thanks ghaznavid. That should keep me going for a while! Although if cathedral peak fits into easy, it might be a while until i hit moderate! Quads still sore walking down stairs (hiked on sat. Tues today)

Start at Giants Castle - lots of good trails and easy passes. The reason I have done Langalibalele Pass so many times is that it is so quick and easy and means you can fit a lot more into a day. Most people who are Berg fit can do the top to car park under 4 hours via this pass.

Great thread. I'm new to this site, and just like you Pjensen, I prefer day hikes. But I also like the sense of achievement, challenge, and incredible experience of hiking to the top of a peak and down in a day, so this thread had me at "1 day".

ghaznavid - thanks so much for all the effort you put in here. I will also be looking at each and every one of those peaks in the following weeks. Two that attracted my attention even before I joined this site were Champagne Castle and Cleft Peak, and I was wondering how they compared to Cathedral Peak in terms of a challenge. For example, If I did Cathedral in nine hours (including a 30 min lunch break on the top), would I be able to complete Cleft and Champagne in twelve hours? Or do I need to move quicker than I did on Cathedral that day??

I stand by my ratings on that - Cathedral, Cleft and Champagne are in different leagues to each other.

Cleft in a day is not much extra vertical on Cathedral, and is on easier terrain (on average - assuming you use Mikes Pass and Organ Pipes Pass), but is over 50% extra distance. Champagne in a day is a monster day. At my current fitness level, I would manage it, but it would be tough.

It all depends on how strong and fit you are, and how well you know the area.

I would do Cleft from the hotel. In which case distance us not too much more than Cathedral Peak. But you get an extra 280m altutude gain and loss. I say go for it, worst case you turn around at the top of organ pipes pass.

Champagne Castle is a much bigger day. I would say about 1.8 times longer than Cathedral or double your time on Sterkhorn.