Route options - Giant Castle area

17 Apr 2021 12:26 #76746 by supertramp
My wife and I are planning a 4 day hike in the Giant's Castle area during the make-shift long weekend and would really appreciate some route suggestions. We've both only done a couple of hikes / passes in this area (down Giant's, up/down Bannerman's, down Langies) but none of the passes in between. The current plan is to ascend Giant's Castle pass (via the Giant's Ridge approach) and overnight in Giant's Cave on night 1. Day 2 to summit Giant's Castle (for the 1st time), cross Durnford Ridge and then the plan opens up a bit...

We would like to camp on the escarpment on night 2, descend a pass and camp again on night 3 (probably at contour path level) and have a short last day back. Any suggestions on an interesting pass to descend and campsite for night 3 will be super helpful 

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17 Apr 2021 13:08 #76747 by Richard Hunt
Hello Supertramp. Something different. Leave from Highmoor. Go over the Gable on the shortcut and tent below Elandshoek Pass. Day 2 go up Elandshoek and tent 50 m from Giants peak...there is a tent spot there. Day 3 go down Lotheni Pass and proceed on the smugglers route and into the Elandshoek valley and you can tent near the bottom of Elandshoek Pass/Elandshoek river, near the 1st night spot. Day 4 back over the Gable short cut and back home. If you are interested I can mark it out on G Earth for you....Richard

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17 Apr 2021 13:29 - 17 Apr 2021 13:35 #76748 by supertramp
Hello Richard. Thanks a million, now that does sound like something completely different. Have only ever looked down into that valley from above and we are very keen to continue exploring all sections of the Berg. Will really appreciate it if you could mark it out for me. Thanks!!! Danie 
 
Last edit: 17 Apr 2021 13:35 by supertramp.

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17 Apr 2021 13:54 #76749 by Drakie1
Hi Richard. I had planned to go up Elandshoek pass from Giant's camp and down Giant's pass over Easter last year but couldn't do it because of Covid. As you know we did Giant's-Langalibalele during Easter this year.
I am considering a winter (hopefully with snow) hike at Giant's, Makhaza. Looking at going up with Elandshoek pass and down with Lotheni. If you have GPX files for this route, possibly with way points for camping, I would really appreciate it if you can share those with me.
Thanks.

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19 Apr 2021 16:53 #76766 by TheRealDave
North or Central Jarding would be easy descents, and North Jarding has a good view back towards Giant's Castle. The stream-bed where the passes meet is soft and lush, and you'd find good camping spots just out of the valley towards Middle Ridge, which would make for a short hike out.



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19 Apr 2021 19:39 #76768 by supertramp
Thank you RealDave, that looks like a real viable option , much appreciated!! Definitely like the view of Giant's Castle. Have been going out of our way to tick off as many new passes as possible and this one fits the bill nicely. 

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20 Apr 2021 10:31 - 20 Apr 2021 10:34 #76770 by Richard Hunt
@ Supertramp. Here is the route from Highmoor, over The Gable, up Elandshoek Pass and down Lotheni Pass. There is a path the whole way, except a short section up the Elandshoek River...just before Tent 3rd night. That whole area behind the Giant is amazing and wild!! If you zoom in on G Earth, you can pick up the path....

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Last edit: 20 Apr 2021 10:34 by Richard Hunt.
The following user(s) said Thank You: firephish, supertramp

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20 Apr 2021 17:41 - 20 Apr 2021 17:44 #76774 by supertramp
@Richard Hunt - Thank you so much for all the effort with this, it is highly appreciated. By looking at your map I am especially interested in the "Gable shortcut" as it appears to save one quite some time and effort. Can you perhaps recall what the condition of this path is, and is the turn-off on the southern side (on Elandshoek pass itself) easy to spot? Looking at Google Earth and previous photos shared on the Elandshoek pass VE thread, I can see that the turn-off from the contour path (northern side) is quite clear. 

The tracks that I have on Basecamp only shows the full route (the red line in the photo below was just my estimation from the aerial photos).

 

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Last edit: 20 Apr 2021 17:44 by supertramp.

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20 Apr 2021 19:01 - 20 Apr 2021 19:02 #76776 by Smurfatefrog

 

We did this in February after coming down Elandshoek. You can clearly see the saddle ahead and the path is quite clear, it splits just before the saddle, take the upper (left) path. This is obviously heading from Lotheni to Giants Castle side.
This might help: www.strava.com/activities/4738929286
Last edit: 20 Apr 2021 19:02 by Smurfatefrog.
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20 Apr 2021 21:31 #76777 by supertramp
@Smurfatefrog - this is exactly what I needed, thanks a million!!! I managed to download your GPX track from Strava and extracted this section. 

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