Mzimude/Bollard/Walker's Pass area

Ok, just checking, Mashai Pass was the first pass I ever summitted in the Berg and still holds my personal record for the most photos I have ever taken in one day (596, I wasn't very fit at the time, so I used that as an excuse!), so I am familiar with the pass, but just wanted to check to be safe, I did it on 27 December, so ice really wasn't a concern!

Just in case anyone is looking at this thread in the future and is looking for a more definite answer to the question I posted ages ago:

I hiked up the Hidden Valley today - 22km day hikes with non-hikers are always interesting. Good practice to have to carry a day pack for 4 people with random items like sweet chili sauce (almost like carrying a training weight). It was a good test of my current fitness level and good practice for my upcoming hike...

Any way, I got a good look at the bottom of Bollard Pass right through to South Mzimude Pass (well, the photo is just to the Mzimude Buttress):


It looks like you can definitely access north Mzimude Pass from Sleeping Beauty cave, you would just climb that steep ridge past Sleeping Beauty Cave and traverse at about 2400m past Tsepeng Pass till you reach North Mzimude. It may be a mission to do South Mzimude Pass from there, but I think its probably possible without too much altitude loss.

Hopefully I will be writing a hike report that includes successfully having done this in the near future...

@Ghaz, where did you take this photo from?
What a cracker of a day.

We did have amazing weather - lightning was threatening for the last 3 hours of the hike, but it didn't end up raining. That was taken from about 1km after the turnoff to the Hidden Valley from the Giant's Cup Trail. From that spot we had a clear view of everything from Walker's Pass to Rhino Peak.

Here's a picture taken by Elinda that shows more of the route from Sepeng Pass. Taken from the ridge above Whyte's Cave. Excuse the dark smudge near Walker's Peak. Must have been something on the lens.