Thamathu Pass
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Not sure that there would be much water directly at the summit of the pass at this time of year, but I don't think you'll struggle to find water a short distance further in, from the Thamathu River flowing into Lesotho.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
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Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
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This must be the easiest pass in the entire berg (yes, easier than the Chain Ladder route) as it tops out at only 2500m after an easy trundle up a Little Berg ridge. Thamathu Pass is used as the descent route for the Grand Traverse but it's certainly worth doing when you're feeling like a pretty chilled hike. The views of Thaba Ngwangwe and the Devil's Knuckles are impressive and some interesting rock formations can be seen on the way up.
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Does anyone have any tips about this area, security, do we need to do a night patrol, do we need to purify the water, how good is the path?
I hear this route is really easy, would a person who struggled to do Bannerman Pass (and for that matter he also complained a lot about the Bannerman Hut trail) be able to do this hike? The reason he would be joining on this hike is that he would never be able to do Mashai Pass (which is definately harder than Bannerman Pass) as a day hike.
The plan would be to set up my 3 person tent in the cave (to provide extra warmth and prevent locals from being able to pick up any of our things from out packs). I see the cave is at 2300m, it is clearly winter now so this does impact on what we will need. How cold does it normally get at this altitude at this time of the year? (I have never done an overnight hike in winter, only November, December, January, February and April). The Underberg weather forecast for the weekend is warmish (about max 17). What level of warm equipment is needed for this, will a -5 survival rating bag, a warm jacket, gloves and beanies surfice or what level of equipment will we need. (I have thermal inners, a thermal fleece and a bag liner, but the other guys in the group wouldn't have this kind of thing, probably only a few long sleve shirts and a raincoat (the 1 guy has a Russian army jacket which weighs a ton but would probably be good enough).
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I stayed in Thomathu cave a few weeks ago. To answer your questions:
1) Security- We had zero issues, didnt see any Basuthos
2) Water- There is a stream running next to the cave, its clean and safe, but others have suggested that you should perhaps be wary of water on the escarpment as it is a grazing area
3)Path- There is a very good path all the way to the escarpment
4)Difficulty- I havent done Bannermans before, but have done Mashai. Thomathu Pass doesn't remotely compare, its not even really a pass, just a path up to the escarpment. Just out of interest, did your companion do Bannermans with a pack? If they did they should have no problem doing Mashai as a day hike with no backpack.
5) I dont think it would be necessary to set up a tent in the cave, it has a well sheltered sleeping area in the corner, with stone walls to keep out the wind, so I'm sure a -5°C bag will be fine.
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Do you have any pics of what the pass looks like by any chance? I have been trying to find some on the net but had no luck.
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