Manxome Pass

@ Anthony
From ChiChi Bush Camp it took us about 5 hours to get to the top. We weren't hiking at a record pace by any means, but instead we took it steady, and had a few snack breaks. About an hour and a half of that time was spent just getting into the main gully, since we kinda had to scope it out as we went along(and lucky for us, we never had to re-route along the way).

COMMENTS !!

Please could you let us in on the NAME of the pass.
Is it a SOTHO word or does it stem from literature ie:
The Jabberwocky -
"He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the MANXOME foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought."

There has been some debate!

Right on the money there. While we were probably not the first to go up this gully, we gave it the name Manxome Pass.

I was taught the poem Jabberwocky on my way up Mnweni Pass on a previous trip (great painkiller btw! ) and we thought the dragon references to be quite appropriate as well.

At the time we did joke that if other hikers saw the name in print, they may pronounce in with a Xhosa click - and it seems we were right

Thanks Stijn

@Serioustribe :- There is no Xhosa in it boet, just pure English Lit !

thanx stijn

I like the story of where the name came from! What is this pass like? Do you need ropes? How far from the start at Mnweni is it?

As much as my hiking plans don't feature Mnweni any time soon, its always cool to have passes in mind for future hikes...

Thanks to this thread I can now almost quote the entire Jabberwock poem (instead of learning for my exams - its important to blame others ), I may need the Vorpal sword to fend off some locals and the odd dragon when I do this pass some day...

Last weekend five of us did Manxome Pass, returning via iNtonyelana Pass.
From an early start at Chichi Bush Camp we used Intrepid's alternative approach to Manxome Pass up the knife ridge separating Manxome and Pins, finding the access into Manxome from the ridge exactly as per Intrepid's photo.

We also thought we might be stuck at about 2 500 m, as the photo of Angus on the traverse from the ridge shows. Check out the vertical lines on the background peaks around Eeny, Meeny, Miny and Mo to get the true exposure of this ridge traverse.

This photo shows the final traverse route down the grass in the middle of the photo, over the big rock and diagonally left up the foreground grass slope into Manxome.This was indeed a steep, spectacular traverse with lots of invigorating, although fearsome, exposure. We also marvelled at the views from the 2 700 m viewpoint, although hazy weather made for disappointing photography.A view up Manxome Pass with the knife ridge separating Manxome and Pins from the grassy viewpoint.

Also saw Manxome Cave, and marvelled at an incredible pass that just carries on and on.

After summiting in sunny weather, we tented next to the Senqu River, and spent a wet morning trekking to iNtonyelana Pass in mist, subjected to rain and ice rain, to overnight at a welcome dry Waterfall Cave.
Congrats to hiking buddies John and Christine, who have now each done all the Mnweni Passes, Manxome and iNtonyelana being John's last, and Manxome being Christine's last.

Many thanks to Stijn and Intrepid especially(and everyone on VE) for their motivating and informative write ups, without which us average hikers would be a lot poorer for specialist Drakensberg information.

Hi Tony

Thanx for the write up and some stunning images. It is quite bizarre, likely as you were climbing up Manxome Pass, I was busy on the other side of the world drawing up a prospective line up a ridge between Manxome and Pins Passes, and wondering what it would look like. Your images give me an idea that it would have a fair amount of exposure, but would be exhilarating to go up.

That flattish area where your friend is standing looking up the pass, do you think there would be an area flat and large enough to take a tent? You also mention Manxome Cave, do you have any images, and where about in the pass is it?