Mafadi from Giants Castle

So I would say Judges is easier and Riaan agrees with me..

ASL #Bivak wrote:

So I would say Judges is easier and Riaan agrees with me..
 

ok. base on your recommendations. it makes sense to start at gigants castle base camp, follow the trail to bannermans hut, turn left to judges pass, camp in a hidden place not too close the pass base, and go up the second day to UIC and go to mafadi on the third day.

best, edwin.

Edwin,

In my opinion Judges is easier than Bannermans. The gradient is more linear and the path is easy and clear for most of the way. Bannermans starts off easier but has a more exponential trajectory, so the latter part of Bannermans is steeper than Judges. Bannermans is also more rocky so a bit more difficult under foot.

You can read my April fools hike where we did this exact route. We went from Giants Castle camp to UIC in a day. ASL was still recovering from the cough so we didn't hike fast. We drove in from Joburg so had a bit of a late start, resulting in us only arriving at UIC around 8pm if my memory serves me right.

So, entirely doable in a day with reasonable fitness levels, but it will definitely be easier over 2 days. 

An option you can also consider is an easy day1 from Giants Castle camp to Bannermans hut, and then do the push to UIC on day 2 via either of the passes. 

Note that you will be in the sun all the time on Judges, but mostly in the shade if you go up via Bannermans as the pass is quite narrow and well sheltered from the sun. If it's rainy that could be a problem, in which case I would rather recommend Judges.

Whichever option you go for, enjoy the Berg!!!

Judge Pass is probably the easiest route, as everyone has said below. On he Heritage Day weekend earlier this year Tony and myself went up Mafadi and Makheka from Giants Castle side as a 3 day hike. Giants was a slightly longer drive than Injisuthi, but we agreed it would be the easier way up. We did day 1 to Upper Injisuthi Cave, and day 3 was from the cave to the car - which we did in just under 7 hours. Giants to the cave in a day is notably a big day. That writeup is at this link:
jonathantheghaznavid.wordpress.com/2022/12/11/makheka/

Incidentally in 2016 I did a hike where we hiked to Bannerman Hut on a Friday evening after work, and then went up Bannerman Pass and up the Greater and Lesser Injisuthi Buttresses before heading back to Upper Injisuthi Cave for the night. The next day we came down Around the Corner Pass (without using the NHA) back down to Giants Car Park - including Popple Ridge definitely didn't make things any easier, though. In 2018 I did a 3 day hike up Giants Pass and down Langalilabele Pass, with a big escarpment detour to Mafadi on the middle day. Notably these are big days for most people, so I am not generally recommending these to anyone - just saying that it is definitely doable for a fast fit group.

Having done Mafadi from both Injisuthi and Giants on multiple occasions, I rate it is definitely easier from Giants - if nothing else, just because getting from Upper Injisuthi Cave to Giants Car Park in a day is considerably easier than it is at Injisuthi. Incidentally I have stood on top of Mafadi on 10 different hikes, and have walked past it a few times as well.

Riaang wrote:

Edwin,

In my opinion Judges is easier than Bannermans. The gradient is more linear and the path is easy and clear for most of the way. Bannermans starts off easier but has a more exponential trajectory, so the latter part of Bannermans is steeper than Judges. Bannermans is also more rocky so a bit more difficult under foot.

You can read my April fools hike where we did this exact route. We went from Giants Castle camp to UIC in a day. ASL was still recovering from the cough so we didn't hike fast. We drove in from Joburg so had a bit of a late start, resulting in us only arriving at UIC around 8pm if my memory serves me right.

So, entirely doable in a day with reasonable fitness levels, but it will definitely be easier over 2 days. 

An option you can also consider is an easy day1 from Giants Castle camp to Bannermans hut, and then do the push to UIC on day 2 via either of the passes. 

Note that you will be in the sun all the time on Judges, but mostly in the shade if you go up via Bannermans as the pass is quite narrow and well sheltered from the sun. If it's rainy that could be a problem, in which case I would rather recommend Judges.

Whichever option you go for, enjoy the Berg!!!
 

Hi. I do not think I could from Bannermans pass base to UIC in a single day. That is why I was asking for place to spend the night between the bannermans pass top and UIC. But, I think I better spend the night at the base of Judges pass, go up as early as possible  and push it to UIC as it was suggested.

Thanks to all for your replies.

Edwin,

It's not too far from Bannermans hut to the base of Judges pass.I would personally sleep over in Bannermans hut, but if you want to sleep nearer (and a bit hiher) to the start of Judges pass, I remember that there was this one section on the contour path where the path was wide enough to pitch a tent, and it was sort of slightly sheltered from the wind as it was immediately behind a low wall.

When we did it last time, there wasn't any water at this section, so just be aware of this fact. However, with all the rain lately in the berg, there should be lots of small streams running accross the contour path atvarious places - I doubt you'll have to walk far to find water.

Edwin.

You can camp here, see yellow circle on map attached.
It's just north of the Judges/Contour Path intersect. Level ground. Water close enough.

 
 

Carl Gebhard wrote:

Edwin.

You can camp here, see yellow circle on map attached.
It's just north of the Judges/Contour Path intersect. Level ground. Water close enough.

 

 

Ok thx. Is it a bit flat?

Yes. As you can see from the contour lines it's level. But here's a pic to conclude... 



(For future reference -  those contour lines are at 20m intervals, so an area dispersed like that on a 1:50 000 map should be sizeable. Only things map won't show is terrain ie bushy, scree etc)

Carl Gebhard wrote:

Yes. As you can see from the contour lines it's level. But here's a pic to conclude... 



(For future reference -  those contour lines are at 20m intervals, so an area dispersed like that on a 1:50 000 map should be sizeable. Only things map won't show is terrain ie bushy, scree etc)
 

Thx for the info. I will look to camp there soon.

Best, Edwin.