Mzimkhulu Pass South

Hi All

Needing some advice again. I have done a search on the forum section but I have not come across any specific info on the south Mzimkhulu Pass. I did find some info in the pass section. Anybody done it?

Next week Thursday I am doing a day walk to tick off Mzimkhulu north and south passes. The north seems well used by Basotho's

Regards
selous

I did north Mzimkhulu earlier this year ( report here ). I know Dave Gay has done the south pass, I think he said it does have a path. He did say its also really easy. He has a full GPS track and some photos on his website (www.berg.co.za).

The north pass is awesome, really easy, but very scenic. The route goes through a rock art site that has been so servery vandalised that its not worth stopping and checking out - quite sad

Are you aware that there is also a middle pass? It apparently has a tricky waterfall in the middle, isn't that great, but is doable. One of the many odd passes on my to do list...

Hi Ghaz
Thanks a mil for the info. I did know about the central pass but thought that It might be a bit difficult due to the "Rock" tag attached to it. Looks like I will have to go back and do it in conjunction with Sandaleni Pass or Verkyker Pass. I will try and scout the top section and maybe drop down into it for a 100m or so to check it out. I will get some photos and submit them too.

Looking forward to reading your write up.
Regards
Selous

I did a solo hike at Garden Castle on Saturday. The loop was up Mashai, down Verkyker, up South Mzimkhulu and back down Mashai Pass. I dropped to the Mzimkhulu trail at 2350m just to make sure I did both passes properly!

I had hiked up North Mzimkhulu Pass from Fun Cave back in 2013 - so I didn't mind skipping that bit this time. The Mzimkhulu Valley is spectacular, but you either have to get permission from the farm owner to cross his land, or you have to slog for ages over Small Berg ridges - neither of which seemed appealing. Hence this approach.

My line was different to Intrepid' line - I followed the north pass trail until just before the gullies split. I then followed the right bank (true left) of the river down the middle gully till the middle and south gullies also split. From here I just made my way into the middle of the south gully and followed it to the top.

This pass is steeper than I anticipated. It was my 3rd pass for the day, so it is possible I was just tired (or perhaps not as fit as I would like). There are no gremlins hiding in this pass - navigation is easy, ground is solid and stable. It is above average in terms of Drakensberg pass standards, but not that far above the middle of the field for Drakensberg passes. Verkyker Pass was far more impressive.

With this pass, I have now done all the High Berg passes marked on the Geoseries maps south of Sani.

Full story at this link .

In April 2018 after ascending Verkyker Pass in the morning, our group of Kim, Chris, Kelly, Karen, Warren and Tony descended South Mzimkhulu Pass in the afternoon as a day hike from Fun Cave.

The group at the top of South Mzimkhulu Pass about to commence the descent.



Views down South Mzimkhulu Pass from near the top of the pass.




A view back up to the top of the pass.



A view lower down the pass. Generally the gully areas were boulder, whereas on the sides of the gully the terrain was more grassy.



A view back up South Mzimkhulu Pass. Apologies for the poor photo with my arm and hand shading the sun; when I took the photo I thought I could crop it out, but that would cut off the view to the top of the pass. Lower down we crossed the stream of the pass a few times, and several steep sided side streams, taking the route of least resistance.



Some more views down the middle section of South Mzimkhulu Pass.

A view up the middle section of the pass. The sun was at an awkward angle to get photos back up the pass.



A view down the lower section of South Mzimkhulu Pass, with the grassier terrain expected lower down.



Another view back up the pass.



Nearing the bottom of the pass, with the valleys of the middle and north passes at the left of the photo below.



A downstream view of the Mzimkhulu valley from the bottom of the three passes.



Back on the path of North Mzimkhulu Pass, heading downstream with Speir’s Cave in the centre of the photo below.



A final view back to the Mzimkhulu Passes.