Mafadi from Giants Castle

Hi guys!

Does anybody have some GPX tracks for a hike to Mafadi from Giant's Castle and back there?

Thanks!
Christiaan

Hi Christiaan.

Have a look at the following:

www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/8-drakensberg-hiking/53639-corner-pass-judge-pass,-mafadi,-leslie-s-pass-loop.html?start=20

There is a gps track from Giants Castle via Judges. We did Mafadi two weekends ago using Smurfs gps route from Injisuthi.

Regards Anton

I have done Mafadi from the Giants Castle camp recently. As AndrewP and Ghaznavid said in the Mafadi FKT thread, the only place where the path becomes non-existent is 500m before you get to the Judge pass junction. I consulted my GPS at this point. On the small ridge, the supposed path takes a sharp left turn and follows the contour maybe for 100m, before you get to the river in this small valley. Beyond the river you can see the path exiting the valley again and follow it all the way to the Judge pass junction.

www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=graphhopper_foot&route=-29.23034%2C29.43014%3B-29.22780%2C29.42682

The river just after Bannerman's hut you just cross perpendicular from your entry point. The riverbed is quite wide, but you should pick up the path again on the exit.
Other than this, the path from Bannerman's hut to Judge pass is small, but comfortably hike-able all the way.

Edit: I'm not sure if the path is more visible during the drier months.

Hey VE Community,

Been lurking around here for years but this is my first post. Yay.

If all goes to plan we will be standing on Mafadi Wednesday next week. Had to change our plans to do it from Giants Castle as Injisuthi is only opening next month.
We want to do it as a "loop" with Bannerman and Judge Pass. Which brings me to the point of my post...

Quick Poll: Would you rather go up Bannerman or Judge, bearing in mind that you want to reach UIC. And why?

Thanks!
M

Hello!

4 days, 3 nights.

We don't really want to do Judge to come up and down, as so much of the hike is already going to be retracing our steps.

How hectic is trying to do Bannerman on the way back form Mafadi, with a summit of Popple thrown in? Or are we planning to big here?

Awesome! Thanks so much for the info.
Cannot wait to get to the berg again.

Langalibalele is actually the shortest option from Giants - funny enough. Somewhere on this site there will be a writeup about a hike up Mafadi where I went up Giants Pass and down Langies - Easter 2018. I remember explaining why Langies works out as the most direct route back to Giants from Mafadi - largely due to the shape of the contour path vs fairly direct lines on top.

Basically it boils down to how many escarpment ridges you want to cross - Judge Pass tops out in the valley south of Mafadi, so you get a harder pass for an easier time on top. Bannerman means crossing Popple. Langies adds Sanqebethu as well.

I'd use Judge one way and Langies the other way, thus the only repetition is between the top of Judge Pass and UIC. Similar to what is suggested already:
Day 1 to Bannerman Hut
Day 2 to UIC via Judge Pass
Day 3 to Bannerman Cave
Day 4 down Langies

Welcome on VE Mariks

Either of the 2 passes will work, and as Smurfatefrog has mentioned, from Bannermans you will have to do a bit more work to get to UIC. Regarding Judges vs Bannermans passes itself, Judges has a path pretty much all the way to the top, Bannermans not really. The top section of Bannermans also contains a lot of rocks, some quite large, which is a bit harder to get over than Judges. That being said, my 2 children were aged about 9 & 10 and loaded with packs when they did a loop with us which involved going up Judges and down Bannermans back to the hut in a day, so it's not too hard.

Also note that if you descend Judges, there is no clear marker where you need to get off the path and onto the contour path. Many people continue down till they eventually realize they've missed the turnoff. It is at around 2200m ASL.

I would recommend going up Judges and down Bannermans for an easier circle route. The reverse if you like a more challenging route. At the end of the day, the choice is yours

Enjoy!!!