3-Day hike for some newbies

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for any suggestions for a relative easy 3-day hike anywhere in the berg north of Giant's Castle. I am a pretty experienced hiker with a couple of berg and other hikes under the belt. However, my friends sister said she and her friends (4 ladies) would like to do a hike in the berg and asked me and my friend if we could organise a trip. I said yes but the more I look the more I struggle to find the perfect route. Can anyone help me out with some ideas? Here are a couple of things to keep in my for any suggestions:

1. I don't want the route to take longer than 3 days because I think 3 nights will be just too much for new hikers.

2. I believe that going up to the escarpment is a must since that is were I always experience the real beauty of the berg.

3. I am looking for non technical routes, a steep pass is obviously okay, but just not too rocky with a lot of boulder hopping at steep gradients

4. I've never had any safety issues when hiking but that might be because of sheer luck (and because I do decent homework and avoid hotspots). So I am looking for the hikes with few incidences (eg I've read that there have been issues at Giant's Castle).

Just to give an indication of our (me and my friend) fitness and what a difficult route is in my opinion: myself and 4 other guys did the mafadi route going up corner pass and down leslies in 3 days earlier this year, which was quite tough for us but we made it (the route was not really technical in my opinion but corner pass is steep to go up with some boulder hopping and leslies is a long descent). However, the rest of our group is a mixture of fitness levels with little hiking experience

Oh that might make a bit of a difference. I really thought the parks were open for overnight hikes as well. We are only planning to go at the end of September so maybe the other routes will be open by then. I had Mnweni in mind anyways, since I've read that the mnweni and rockeries passes are some of the easier passes in the berg but still extremely beautiful. It is quite a far walk in and out though.

Smurfatefrog wrote: Seeing as the only place officially open for overnight hiking at the moment is Mnweni then I'd suggest the classic Mnweni and Rockeries loop.


www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/drakensberg-hiking-amangwane-mnweni/1492-mnweni-pass-rockeries-pass-loop.html

Hi.

I'm planning to take small group of friends hiking a classic Bell traverse + Rolands cave loop in the Cathedral Peak area starting 24 September. Could I ask for some direction as to who or what organisation to contact to find out if we may actually do so?

Thank you.

@Andreas.....Phone Didima Resort (Cathedral Peak) 0364888000

www.kznwildlife.com/

Hi Josh,

Last weekend a few of us did a hike at Giants Castle. This is a beautiful area of the berg and will get everyone onto the escarpment quickly. The benefit of starting at Giants Castle, is that your starting point is already fairly high (roughly 1700m ASL).

The route we took was on Friday to go up Langibalele pass. I had actually wanted to do Hlubi pass south, but was fighting some sort of virus (no, not covid) so I was walking really slow and once we were on the contour path that goes towards Bannermans hut, decided to rather do the easier of the two passes. All in all it took us 5 hours from the camp to the top of Langies. I am pretty sure your group of ladies will get to the top in a day, even if they are unfit. Maybe just try for an early start to be sure. We then headed up to bannermans cave for the night. The sleeping area has been expanded a bit, so besides fitting two large and 2 smaller adults inside, there is space for 3 more hikers outside. More exposed, but if they are in bivvies they should be fine. Sleeping in bivvies vs tents will make the carrying weight less, which always helps, especially if you are unfit and haven't done specific leg strength exercises. All in all about 15km's for the day max

For Saturday we walked down towards the intersection with Durnford Ridge (this ridge is about 430m high), dropped down the other side and got up on the Long Wall. Also fairly high but with awesome views all round. We walked south all the way and then had to drop down on the western side to get water. From here we approached Gians Castle pass, dropped down the pass itself till we found the main caves about 250m lower. Note - the floors are damp,so make sure your ground sheet is waterproof. This was an easier day, maybe 12kms long with less climbing than the Friday. We took it very easy due to my condition, and everyone wondered what we were going to do with all the time on our hands as we to to the caves long before sunset. It was quite a nice change, I must admit. The caves are quite sheltered, and there are a number of other caves in the vaciniy to choose from. Just be careful on the pass itself, lots of loose scree lying around.

On Sunday morning we got up early and walked back to the car. First it was misty, and by the time we got hiking it started to sleet rain. The wet rocks made our progress slow initially, but once we climbed out of the gully we could maintain a comfortable pace back to camp. Took us just over 4 hours and we weren't trying to go fast, so your ladies should get back to camp long before dark. Again a rather short day, maybe 12km's or so - I still need to check my GPS.

This route is relatively easy, with not too much climbing, and not very long either - perfect for beginners. Just take note - Giants Castle can get really cold, so take enough warm gear if in doubts.

Enjoy!!!