Winter hiking in the Drakensberg

Hi Mr T.
Rather go for the best boots you can afford. The boots are what you spend most of your time in, not your sleeping bag. They are also what you walk your way out of trouble in, if the weather is bad. It is true that there are very few properly waterproof boots around, but even so "waterproof" boots will stay dry for longer and keep your feet warmer in the process. Sleeping-bags that are warm enough are great, but there are plenty of ways of gaining extra warmth. 1) wear thermal clothes when in it. 2) use a thermal liner 3) inside a tent at night it is much warmer than the outside. This is made better if you are sharing a tent. The extra body makes a big difference.
Gavin Raubenheimer

Awesome to have Gavin on the forum!

In the words of Mrs Brown:"so feckin true!"

Yeah funny but probably true hope we get lucky, will report back lol

Hi everyone.

A friend and I are interested in doing a winter hike in the Southern berg this year over the long weekend in June. Done a lot of hikes over summer in the northern and central berg, but rather unfamiliar with Southern berg. Looking for some advice on the following;

- possible circular routes (4days). Thinking of Giants cup, suggestions?
- how difficult is it to find water?
- What routes/passes are the best from vergelegen to Thabana? Also, what's the condition of the road like getting to Vergelegen?

Remember that the Southern Berg is quite big - on a traditional 10 day GT, you will spend roughly 4 days in it. So it is a rather vague question. Please also let us know how fit you and your team are.

Wezza wrote: - possible circular routes (4days). Thinking of Giants cup, suggestions?

A nice circular route with the Giants Cup would be up Thamathu and Isicutula Pass, down Mashai Pass and return via the Giants Cup Trail. This is a solid 4 day trip, though, not suitable for beginners or people of questionable fitness.

Wezza wrote: - how difficult is it to find water?

That is a bit like asking "how difficult is it to find a petrol station in Jo'burg?" - depends where you are. On top of Verkyker Peak - practically guaranteed to be dry, while the Mzimude River by the crossing on the Giants Cup Trail is practically guaranteed to have lots of good water. The Southern Berg is just like the rest of the Berg, there are rivers and there are ridges - although the far south (Walkers Peak area) gets far more rain than Vergelegen north of Thabana.

Wezza wrote: - What routes/passes are the best from vergelegen to Thabana? Also, what's the condition of the road like getting to Vergelegen?

If you don't have a good ground clearance on your vehicle, Vergelegen is best avoided. I drove my Etios there, but it took around an hour to drive the 17km between the turnoff and the car park, and even at what felt like 0.01km/h, I still felt like I had done damage to my car. That time requirement was not an exaggeration, by the way.

Also a heads up on Thabana - don't expect the best view in the Berg, it is quite a boring summit (aside from being an ultra-prominence peak, one of the most isolated summits on earth and a country high point - which is all statistical). If you insist on going up it, also go up Thaba Putsoa or KaNtuba Buttress (marked as 3244m without a name on the map, the peak above KaNtuba Pass - actually 3344m) - both have spectacular views.

Nonetheless, the norm is to head up Mkomazi Pass. The walk in to Birds Nest Cave is easy, the cave is adequate, and very close to water. I haven't done Mkomazi Pass, but I can tell you that it tops out quite far from the peak. Nhlangeni Pass is a big pass, probably the fifth highest pass top in the Berg, but is a really awesome route. KaNtuba Pass is pretty fun - it is the only Berg pass that tops out above 3300m (Ships Prow is 3288m and Cathkin Mountain Pass is 3295m according to my GPS).

The most direct route to the top at Vergelegen is South Ngaqamadolo Pass - but the majority of the walk through the small Berg has no trail (unless I just didn't know where to look for one). The pass itself has a trail, though. Commonly used by locals [illegally] hunting in SA. All the other routes up have very long walkins.

Ps. if you want to climb something really worthwhile at Vergelegen, ignore Thabana and go for Ntsupenyana, Ngaqamadolo and Nhlangeni (the 'normous N's). They are probably the most intimidating peaks on the Drakensberg escarpment! As far as peaks one can simply walk up, and are properly on the escarpment - you will struggle to find something that is as difficult as these - Ngaqamadolo being the biggest, with topographical prominence of somewhere around 200m. Other big impressive monsters on the top that come to mind: Icidi Crown, Mbundini Abbey, Didima Dome, Starboard, Tent, Hawk and Mzimude - I could have missed some, but there aren't many.