Worst Berg bundu bash?

Richard and I were in the Ships Prow area this last weekend and emerged rather scratched and dishevelled but survived to tell the tale……………Ok, I’m not talking about the bundu bashing at the bottom of the pass when climbing Ships Prow, but rather the nightmare that is involved when trying to get into the pass when approaching from the Injasuti side.
Our plan was to do a loop – from Injasuti, up to Grindstone Caves and continue on, contouring around that valley and on to the ridge above Cataract valley, down to the river and up the other side and eventually get on the path to Ships Prow. We wanted to continue on to Cowl Fork where we would tent overnight, and then the next day come back via Shada Ridge/Van Heyninghams Pass to Injasuti Camp. Ships Prow had other plans in store for us.
Initially it all went according to plan and we enjoyed exploring the very scenic upper reaches of Grindstone Valley and the beautiful views from the Cataract Valley ridges. Ships Prow Pass is very impressive and one enjoys uninterrupted views from a long way back when using this approach. However we learnt that there is a downside as once the path turns and heads down into the first side river gully, things become somewhat tedious if not downright sadistic thereafter. This first gully is not too bad and one boulder hops down the river bed as there are cairns to guide the way. From here we made our way up an extremely steep vegetation choked bank – literally a jungle and shades of Icidi came vividly to mind. Very muddy and slippery and we hauled ourselves up by any means possible. There was no sign of a path or indeed any way through at all and you are on your own from here onwards! We reached the top of the bank and congratulated ourselves – Ahead was an area of that high bushy spiky grass that delights in stabbing you as you pass through it. Once we had negotiated this we discovered to our dismay there wass yet another small gully to descend and battle through. There was no path or indeed even a suggestion of one so we literally bashed our way onwards through dense vegetation, slippery steep mud banks and pulled ourselves up with any vegetation that looked like it would vaguely hold weight. Another spiky section of bushy grass and now we were looking for a way to get in to the river bed proper. We picked up a path and thought we were out of the woods (Excuse the pun!) but were to be disappointed after this headed into thick Chi Chi trees and then disappeared. After blundering about in scratchy, dense undergrowth for a while we eventually found a slightly less dense area of trees and slid/pushed/fought our way down the slope until we at last arrived in the river bed. Nasty stuff!
This had all taken some time and quite a bit out of us energy wise – we set up our tent and reflected on the fact that although that bundu bashing had eaten us up and spat us out, we were nonetheless happy to be in this most beautiful wild place.
It seems to me that there is no ‘official’ route into this area from the Injasuti side and one makes one’s own way – or perhaps there was in previous times, but it has just become so massively overgrown that it no longer exists? I have been up Ships Prow before and the bundu bashing further up pales into insignificance in comparison.
So, where would you put your winner in the ‘Worst Berg bundu bash’ category? For me it would be Ships Prow ( Injasuti approach) followed by Icidi…………



This is where the path ends and we go down into the first side gully




Boulder hopping down the riverbed - we need to exit to the left up the steep vegetated bank




Richard scrambling up the bank




Crossing the spiky grass to the next gully




Our last obstacle before descending into Ships Prow river bed




It all looks so easy when viewed from the other side the following day!

The last time I did that approach was with Intrepid in 2011. We knew what was coming and took great care to stick to the "path" as much as possible. We managed to follow it through both tributaries (and the spiky grass in between) but then lost it on the final descent into the pass.

Things may have worsened since then, but I seem to recall the path crossing the tributaries directly? I.e. No following cairns down the boulder bed - look for the path directly across the opposite slope.

That sounds pretty nasty!

I think the worst Berg overgrowth is probably a spot that none of us would ever dare venture into (perhaps not even possible to venture into). I remember a pretty nasty bit of overgrowth above Singati Cave that we slogged through on a VE Berg trip a while ago. My absolute worst was near the river just above Monk en route to Cod's Eye Cave a few months ago - we turned around after an hour of slogging and covering less than 1km. I know we didn't have the right route through there though.

Stijn - I don't remember seeing any suggestion of a path directly across the river bed from where the official path ends - and as there were cairns we assumed this was the way to go........we will know better next time - if there is a next time!

Ghaz - I have done that route into Cods Eye several times and if you stay too low, its rough - mind you even if you take the higher route there is a lot of stuff to get through! The views in that little gem of a valley are always worth the slog though!

Is this nasty bit before you get to the Ship's Prow River from Injasuthi? Would love to see a screen shot of a google earth track (if you have) to see exactly where this is.

I have a friend, who wants to do something similar, so need to know whether to advise a different route rather.

Hi Sabine

Yes, this is the bit before you get into the Ships Prow River coming from the Injasuti side. Unfortunately I don't have a Google Earth track but my last photo gives a good indication of the area in question.
Unless your friend can find the path mentioned by Stijn, I would not recommend this route unless you relish bundu bashing!

Thanks Elaine. No, she definitely doesn't like bundu bashing

Even if you find the path (if it's even still there), it's still a rough and slow section.

I first did the Ship's Prow section a few years ago and went back for more (other way around) about 3 years ago. It worsened significantly in that time.
And a few weeks back I had a few guys with me. We were going to run/fast hike a circular route via this section. "Fortunately" I felt a little sick in the morning and simply explained the route on the map.
They arrived back at camp about 3 hours later than expected and were not smiling too much.


Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk