The upcoming hikes thread

Ghaz, will reply soon. Its not likely at this stage that I'll be able to get away that weekend. If I do, I want to take it easy and use it to test gear, as per my most recent post in this thread

tonymarshall wrote: Ghaz, hope you have a great hike, but don't underestimate those Mnweni Passes, Fangs and Rwanqa are both tough, and that won't be a short hike, even if you cheat the road, especially if you add in khulus. I'm hoping to post a write up soon on Christmas Pass (which I did over Easter), and which was much tougher than I had imagined.

I have switched Rwanqa out with Mbundini (@Intrepid: don't forget to email me your backpack so I can carry it for you ) - basically because I have done all the khulus between Fangs and Rwanqa already. Also the traverse between these 2 is easier.

I am aware of the Mnweni reputation - but Mnweni is equal to Giants Castle for my top khulu spot (14 at each, more than I have done anywhere else), yet I have still only done 2 passes there. This needs a bit of rectification. And I'm never going to get out there by just reading up about these routes on VE.

The plan is roughly - night 1 camp at base of Fangs (I recall the walkin to the split between Mnweni/Fangs being quite far), day 2 up Fangs, day 3 down Mbundini and back to the car.

Seeing as Mnweni is far from being somewhere I know well, I am hoping to find a GPS track of the walkin - I distinctly remember various different trails in the Small Berg there. I will download GPS tracks for the passes as well - the escarpment bit shouldn't be an issue seeing as I made a good mental map of it when I walked through there in December (I will also have the GPS co-ord of the top of Mbundini Pass).

I do have some questions on the pass, but those wonderful writeups of the passes will have all the info I am looking for

Ps. I have done 38 High Berg passes to date (High Berg being defined as topping out in Basalt on the border)
- Giants Castle 13
- Garden Castle 8
- Didima 6
- Bushman's Nek 5 (not counting Tarn Cave Pass or Bushman's Nek Pass)
- Mnweni 2
- Free State 2 (Chain Ladders and the Gully)
- Monks Cowl 1
- Cobham 1

Also Lotheni, Vergelegen and Injisuthi need some work! Some people count Judge and Corner Pass as Injisuthi Passes, but I rate both are Giants Castle passes.

Super, that sounds great, and is a good route choice for three days with the easier summit route. I didn't want to try to put put you off, but just to point out that the passes in that area have really long walk ins (and outs) and that this time of year you have the added hassle of the Mnweni long grass, way above my head on the walk out from Mnweni Pass over Easter, and in mist and rain that is no fun and slow going.

Please email me what tracks you need, I can help with tracks and various waypoints for both passes and the various approach route options.

PS: joshilewis if you read this please check your pm inbox, there is quite an old one on the tent spares that you haven't opened.

intrepid wrote:

ghaznavid wrote: (@Intrepid: don't forget to email me your backpack so I can carry it for you )

Any chance you can make your hike a few days earlier? I'll be in the Mnweni and my pack will be extra heavy - would have been an awesome opportunity!

Do I smell an epic climbing story under construction

I have planned a four passes hike in the Vergelegen area starting next weekend, over six to seven days. Unfortunately everyone but one person, have cancelled. Is there anyone out there who is keen on this adventure? The passes we will be doing are: Mlahlangubo, Mkhomazi, Nhlangeni, and Ka-Ntuba.

please pm if you're interested.

I also have a hike planned for this weekend and have extra space if anyone is interested. Plan is to drive through to Cathedral Peak on Friday afternoon (leaving Joburg at 3pm latest, I have space for max 2 passangers and gear) then Saturday up the Camel and tenting on the escarpment, Sunday traversing accross to Easter Cave and Sunday back down via Cockade pass and back to Joburg.

Send me a pm if anyone is interested.

Seems that the Didima/Cathedral Peak area is going to be a busy place over the next couple of weekends; Adding to the jamboree atmosphere, a group of seven hikers of varying ability, (including andrew r and bartvandijk), will be attempting to go up Cockade Pass via Neptune Pools, across the Escarpment (hopefully including Cleft Peak), down Organ Pipes Pass / Camel, and back to Cathedral Peak Hiker’s Parking via Tryme Hill (as an aside: is that pronounced Try-Me or Trime?).

All this in the space of three days (1/2+2+1/2), leaving late on Friday afternoon and hopefully back by noon on Monday. If it becomes apparent on the hike up that this is too ambitious, we will head down via Tseketseke Pass (taking careful note not to be lured into False Tseketseke Pass, and prepared mentally for the various challenges as documented in “Tseketseke Pass-not good at the moment”).

The reason for doing the loop this way around is to a) get the bundu-bashing below Cockade done early in the hike, and b) to go down Camel with mountain-legs acquired after several days of hiking.

Anyone have thoughts on how far up the path to Neptune Pools we can get in the dark (waxing crescent moon, setting a 9pm)?

Looking forward to meeting some VE dwellers on route

andrew r wrote: Tryme Hill (as an aside: is that pronounced Try-Me or Trime?)

I say "Try Me"

andrew r wrote: Anyone have thoughts on how far up the path to Neptune Pools we can get in the dark (waxing crescent moon, setting a 9pm)?

You can get the entire way to the contour path, assuming you don't start on the wrong trail or lose the trail at the river crossings. You can camp at the junction with the contour path, but there is no nearby water. If you push on from there, you will need to reach the turnoff to the pass (i.e. on the river that comes down the pass) before your find a suitable camping spot (GPS co-ord included on the track under downloads, but I specifically don't recommend doing this at night). Not much in the way of great camping spots near Neptune Pools unfortunately, but if you keep an eye out, you will find something that is good enough and near water eventually - but just be careful of camping too close to the Mlambonja River, it has a massive catchment area and could very easily be involved in a flash flood. There is also Xeni Cave, but it is a bit out of the way.

Ps. Anyone know why Cockade Pass has become so popular suddenly, or have I just missed the fact that it is a very popular pass

Ghaz wrote:
Ps. Anyone know why Cockade Pass has become so popular suddenly, or have I just missed the fact that it is a very popular pass

probably several actually; in our case we were looking for somewhere other than Northern Berg, and then your posts in "Suggestions needed for amazing 3 day hike" pointed us at Didima/Cathedral Peak. It's nice to be able to loop, and some of our group have already been up Mlambonja Pass and are keen to try another route. Also, just being so well documented recently leads others like us to try it.

I suspect also that there is still a lot of hiking happening elsewhere, it's just not being written about as much.