Mike's Pass

Unfortunately Mike's Pass is closed for all vehicles. No transport either. I phoned Didima hotel a couple of weeks ago for this update.

Sabine wrote: Unfortunately Mike's Pass is closed for all vehicles. No transport either. I phoned Didima hotel a couple of weeks ago for this update.

Thanks for the info Sabine

Hi all

Compliments of the season.

We are looking to use the suggested path from Didima to the top of the Mikes pass (basically looking to skip the road and reduce the ks).

Questions:
1. is there a path from Didima to the top of Mikes pass, other than the road
2. can someone give me a vague idea as to where to look for it? and would we need to head to the start of mikes pass to pick it up, or is there a path that actually starts from Didima?
3. if we used it for the descend from the top of mikes pass, where would we pick up the path?

Thanks

Excellent thanks Smurf

There are several different 'short cuts' from Didima office/car park to Mikes Pass, and two major ones on the pass itself.

It's hard to see from Smurfs track, which one he has used from the car park, but it looks like the one I prefer, which uses the wheelchair friendly (although very overgrown) concrete path from the car park to the Ndumeni River. You then cross the river, and a path is developing up the slope from the river to join Mikes Pass road. Smurfs track uses the newer shortcut on the road, which I dislike intensely, and there is also another path when using this shortcut to cut off the hairpin bend section near Cambalala House turnoff, that is just past the Cambalala House road - clearly visible in the picture at the south of the eastern U bend - and then the path goes westwards cutting off the western hairpin bend closest to the top of Mikes Pass.

I prefer to use the old shortcut, which I believe is the one the forestry workers used years ago when walking between the bottom of Mikes Pass and their accommodation along the road to the old forests. This shortcut starts at the lower hairpin bend of Mikes Pass, visible at the bottom left of the picture, and zig zags up the ridge, and can be vaguely seen in the picture to the east of the hairpin bend, at the white cliffs of the ridge. It then heads south along the ridge, to the east of the clump of bush in the picture, and joins the old forestry road near the weather station on the way to Organ Pipes Pass, out of the bottom of the picture. When going up Mikes Pass this shortcut is very easy to find, as it starts right at the hairpin bend, and the zig zags up the ridge are clearly visible, but when coming down the pass it is not so easy to find the start of the path from the road near the weather station, and I sometimes just head down the grass slope till I find the path lower down.

The reasons I prefer this shortcut to the newer one in Smurfs picture are simple, it's a much more consistent even gradient, a lot flatter than the steep newer shortcut, and slightly shorter. There is also (usually in the wet season) water at the first drain pipe under the road near the hairpin bend, whereas the other shortcut has no water.

PM me if you want more info.

Hi Tony

Thank you for all the detail.

Given the heat last weekend in the Berg, we may well be hunting for water by the time we get to the weather station after descending the organ pipes, so the note with regards to where to find water is really appreciated.

@WarrenM...You can walk to Mikes Pass from Didima reception across the valley but it will be bundu bashing abit OR you can walk from Didima reception to the boom gate at the entrance and then go up the Mikes Pass road (easier but longer) Once you pass the Wildlife Staff buildings you will get onto the pass road proper. A couple of 100m past the sign which says 4x4...low gear (or something like that) you go off the pass road and connect with a well worn path that goes straight up on the left as the pass road swings to the right.

This is where you leave the pass road.......
The path which is easy to walk up connects again to the pass road at the sharp corner and from there you walk up the road until you reach the top. This path cuts out a big distance!

And bundu bash we did! WarrenM certainly knows how to make trips a little more interesting..