The upcoming hikes thread

whats the weather predicted for this weekend? I was looking at doing Cathedral but not so sure anymore....

ghaznavid wrote: camping somewhere around Binijal (excuse my spelling ), khulu bagging on Friday morning and hiking back to RNNP.

Close enough. Bilanjil

Do bag Mount Amery when you're there. On my list for this winter as a dayér from Sentinel Car Park.

Highlands Fanatic wrote: Do bag Mount Amery when you're there. On my list for this winter as a dayér from Sentinel Car Park.

From RNNP its too far to really do anything on top - especially with the added weight of overnighting in a tent. But I'll avoid putting any spoilers for my upcoming writeup "as the crow flies"...

I imagine that if you overnight in Sentinel Hut for a few nights, set off at first light with day packs and aim to get back by last light, in 4 or 5 days you could flatten every non-climbing khulu from Icidi Buttress to Namahadi.

Smurfatefrog wrote: So did anyone get washed out with Saturday night's rain?
I was really glad to be in Bannerman Hut and not in a tent somewhere. It rained fairly hard from 9PM to 5AM, everywhere was wet & slippery on Sunday!

We, as group of 5 were camped on a spur at 2450m on the side of the camel and the rain wasn't too rough there Friday night.

Saturday while we were drying our tents and gear at the top of windy gap we met quite a few groups heading down that had had a rough time with the mist and rain on the top Friday night. We were trying to get to Xeni pass to camp for Saturday night but progress was slow in the mists Saturday and only got as far as Tseketseke Pass were we decided to call it a day.... hearing voices we headed down a little further and found another group at the mouth of the false pass contemplating if this was the pass but unhappy that there were no cairns marking this pass.

Due to the thick mists, compass bearings were not possible and we had been using the green dot on my Blackberry maps as a sort of GPS indicator as a last resort. The BB maps only showed the border line and a few rivers but it was enough to figure out where we were in combination with the maps.
The false pass lines up with the right turn in the stream on the Lesotho side.

Once everyone was certain that this was not the pass and the true one was higher up the sky became darker than the usual white-out and the heavens opened. We hastily pitched tents in the best spots we could find in the mist and rain.

A 10cm pot left outside the tent for the night during the rain was overflowing, which would indicate that we had in excess of 100mm on Saturday night. Water was everywhere; the entire mountain was puddles and streams. Everyone and everything was soaked. The wind was biting cold and the risk of someone getting hyperthermia was very real.

All further plans were abandoned and we decided as a now combined group of nine to head for lower altitudes down Tseketseke Pass. It was tough and perilously slippery due to the wet in the grassy sections but we did reasonably fine with our heavy waterlogged gear. As we got lower it got warmer and more pleasant. The bolder hopping section was reasonable but virtually impassable in at least three places due to the increased volume of water flowing in the river. We had to halt the entire group and scout ahead to find alternate routes. One required clambering along the base of a wall of unstable and waterlogged alluvium while trying not to trigger a deadly landslide. The final obstacle was overcome by the use of rope we had brought along “just in case”. We managed to get all gear and persons through the river once securing a rope on the other side.

Tseketseke hut was a very welcome site after taking 7 hours to descend the pass in rain, mist and swollen river.

Going of what everyone is writing on Snow Watch...

Ok - so winter is a just around the corner, the Dragon now goes from its glossy wet green to brown and white...

I'd be interested to hear what plans everyone out there has this winter?

For me, winter is "Team Khulu Bagger" day hiking season Drive up on a Friday evening, get up really early on Saturday, do a 25-30km day hike (which will finish after sunset), and drive back the next morning (maybe do a lite hike on Sunday morning). This year's possible agenda includes the following day hikes:
- Knuckles
- Cathedral Peak - mid next month, either 11 or 18 May
- Organ Pipes Peak
- Thumb Pass
- Giant's Castle
- I'm also considering planning a loop up Apes Pass, down Leslies Pass but need a lot more info before trying this

There may also be a few overnighters in there, possibly including:
- Giant's Cup in 3 days with a climb up Little Bamboo Mountain and Bamboo Mountain
- Highmoor to Lotheni and back again
- Rhino Peak (maybe as a dayer or maybe as an overnighter)
- Bollard/Wilson (maybe as a dayer or maybe as an overnighter)

As always, anyone keen to join me on my random missions is welcome to inbox me

I'm keen to do some winter hiking this year. I'd like both day stuff and overnighters, but I'd prefer to join a more experienced group/leader for an overnight as it would be something new for me.

Hey! I'm flying to SA in late June and flying out early August. I'm hoping to do the Naukluft and Fish River Canyon treks in Namibia which will probably occupy a good portion of July, but I would really love to get some good treks done in SA as well! I'm travelling alone, however, and so I'll have to tag along with other groups... and as I'm flying straight into Port Eliz before heading to Namibia, it would probably be easiest for me to join in late July and early August, as I'm flying back home from Joberg the 7th (and so I could quite easily head to the Drakensberg region and stay there for 2-3 weeks until my flight)
I really want to do some good stuff in the mountains! I've only done thru-hikes and long backpacking treks in the summer -- although I've done some 2-3 treks with snow camping -- and have pretty limited winter mountaneering skills, but I'm really motivated to learn if anyone feels like inviting a beginner to teach!
cheers.

Welcome to VE!

Port Elizabeth is quite far from the main Drakensberg - close to 1000km (I think that's about 600 miles). How many days are you planning on spending there and how much gear are you bringing?

The mountains get really cold in winter (well, cold for those of us who live in Sunny South Africa), people who are used to hiking in colder mountain ranges have often underestimated the Drakensberg in winter.

I'll have some winter day hikes, I can inbox you about plans closer to the time if you're interested. They will be long full day hikes (12 hours+), always fun