Wilson's Pass
07 Feb 2021 14:09 #76493
by karlrottcher
Replied by karlrottcher on topic Wilson's Pass
Thanks Ghaznavid
Great advice to cross over the ridge into the Mashai River Valley above Sleeping Beauty. Our party has done some hiking with steep sections but with no rope work. If that is the case for Wilsons, we wont rule it out just yet.
Regarding your option of Mzimude Pass, I see it is not marked on my map. I am a guessing you come down the valley just south of Mashai Peak. Could one then cross the ridge further down in a northerly direction and head passed Sleeping Beauty Cave?
Another question, are there any suggestions where best to tent between Mashai and Wilson's pass?
Regards
Karl
Great advice to cross over the ridge into the Mashai River Valley above Sleeping Beauty. Our party has done some hiking with steep sections but with no rope work. If that is the case for Wilsons, we wont rule it out just yet.
Regarding your option of Mzimude Pass, I see it is not marked on my map. I am a guessing you come down the valley just south of Mashai Peak. Could one then cross the ridge further down in a northerly direction and head passed Sleeping Beauty Cave?
Another question, are there any suggestions where best to tent between Mashai and Wilson's pass?
Regards
Karl
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08 Feb 2021 07:59 #76494
by ghaznavid
Replied by ghaznavid on topic Wilson's Pass
Mzimude Pass is marked on the maps. It has a few caves right at the top as well, but does require crossing the Leqooa Ridge (Mashai Peak), which isn't trivial. Notably the 3rd highest ridge in the entire range! If your team is fine with some scrambling, Wilsons Pass is probably fine. None of the scrambles are particularly difficult or scary, but there are a lot of them.
Tsepeng Pass ends with a traverse onto a ridge and dropping into the valley above Sleeping Beauty Cave, but Mzimude Pass ends up too far south. You can skip a lot of distance by jumping over the ridge around Puffadder Rock (a large rock pool with a massive boulder next to it), but in my experience, this is no faster than just following the trail and walking around via the Giants Cup Trail.
For camping, once you hit the top of Mashai Pass, you will need to head for the river between Matebeng and Mashai, which can be done by heading down stream to the confluence, or crossing the ridge below Mlambonja Peak. I personally prefer the higher line as it is much shorter. Once you are on that river, there is no shortage of potential camping spots. There are a lot of kraals in the area, although I've camped in that valley a few times without problems, so just take the usual precautions (shoes in the tent, be friendly etc).
Tsepeng Pass ends with a traverse onto a ridge and dropping into the valley above Sleeping Beauty Cave, but Mzimude Pass ends up too far south. You can skip a lot of distance by jumping over the ridge around Puffadder Rock (a large rock pool with a massive boulder next to it), but in my experience, this is no faster than just following the trail and walking around via the Giants Cup Trail.
For camping, once you hit the top of Mashai Pass, you will need to head for the river between Matebeng and Mashai, which can be done by heading down stream to the confluence, or crossing the ridge below Mlambonja Peak. I personally prefer the higher line as it is much shorter. Once you are on that river, there is no shortage of potential camping spots. There are a lot of kraals in the area, although I've camped in that valley a few times without problems, so just take the usual precautions (shoes in the tent, be friendly etc).
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22 Apr 2025 17:21 - 22 Apr 2025 17:24 #79590
by Smurfatefrog
Replied by Smurfatefrog on topic Wilson's Pass
Not sure why its taken me this long to do Wilson's pass. I will definitely use it when doing a loop with Mashai pass / Rhino peak. (over Rhino pass due to its long side traverse)
There is quite a nice trail heading up above Engagement cave which we took although it was heading diagonally east up to the ridge, this got us to a nice view down into Cods Eye Valley, and a possible sloping wet rock traverse on top of the ridge, so we descended a little and went up the ridge further towards the escarpment, so avoid that random path (really nice viewpoint though!)
Bottom right of the below, where the picture is shown
We hit the ridge at approx 2400m, headed up the ridge until 2500m and then contoured towards the gully, getting to it at 2600m
As mentioned above, from there its fairly obvious with lots of options. We generally stuck to the gully, although the river was flowing well and all the way to the top of the pass.
At the larger waterfall we took the grass slope on the right (true left), we chose to stick to it for about 100m elevation before having to get back into the gully.
There was a section higher up where we needed to stack 4 rocks to get out the gully to the left, slippery rocks made a small waterfall a bit dangerous. We probably could've dropped down a bit and got out though.
From there we mostly stayed on the left grass slope (true right) to the top.
The climb up from Engagement cave
On the ridge at 2400m, we aimed for above the waterfall in the circle. Most of the year it would just be a rock slab
Waterfalls to bypass
Grassy bypass on the right (true left) As you can see the opposite side is also possible, although you'd need to exit the gully sooner
Really bad picture of the overhang near the top (true right) that has been referred to, its a lot deeper than it appears in this pic
Summit with a little leftover snow
There is quite a nice trail heading up above Engagement cave which we took although it was heading diagonally east up to the ridge, this got us to a nice view down into Cods Eye Valley, and a possible sloping wet rock traverse on top of the ridge, so we descended a little and went up the ridge further towards the escarpment, so avoid that random path (really nice viewpoint though!)
Bottom right of the below, where the picture is shown
We hit the ridge at approx 2400m, headed up the ridge until 2500m and then contoured towards the gully, getting to it at 2600m
As mentioned above, from there its fairly obvious with lots of options. We generally stuck to the gully, although the river was flowing well and all the way to the top of the pass.
At the larger waterfall we took the grass slope on the right (true left), we chose to stick to it for about 100m elevation before having to get back into the gully.
There was a section higher up where we needed to stack 4 rocks to get out the gully to the left, slippery rocks made a small waterfall a bit dangerous. We probably could've dropped down a bit and got out though.
From there we mostly stayed on the left grass slope (true right) to the top.
The climb up from Engagement cave
On the ridge at 2400m, we aimed for above the waterfall in the circle. Most of the year it would just be a rock slab
Waterfalls to bypass
Grassy bypass on the right (true left) As you can see the opposite side is also possible, although you'd need to exit the gully sooner
Really bad picture of the overhang near the top (true right) that has been referred to, its a lot deeper than it appears in this pic
Summit with a little leftover snow
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Last edit: 22 Apr 2025 17:24 by Smurfatefrog.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Serious tribe, elinda, Stijn, Christine, JonWells, DeonS, firephish, ghaznavid, tonymarshall, Riaang, hikingviking
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