Giant's Castle Pass

Willsy wrote:

Edwin128 wrote:

Willsy wrote:

Intrepid,

I camped at the base of Giants pass twice last year with no issues. (August and October)
On both occasions I didn't notice any fresh signs of livestock/people, other than the odd animal skull or bone and old piece of litter.

During the October hike, the top of Elandshoek pass looked unused. Lower down on the contour path towards Oribi Ridge/Elandshoek, I notice some fresh dung and hoofprints. (There were horses in the around and a fellow VE user also reported sheep/goats in that area)
There was also a SAPS helicopter showing off around the pass on the October hike, perhaps this has deterred the rustlers?

Personally I've seen more traffic and signs of it on Grays, Bell and Camel.


 

ok. thx for the replies. I think it is safe as long it is done in stealth way and far away from the trail. Any suggestions for a good spot?

 

Not far from the trail, but this is the spot at the base of the pass I've used twice with no issues.
You'll see a little flat spot, close to the edge, with some rocks in the middle.
www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=16.3/29.4726/-29.3315&pubLink=Uka2l0DT8nUTUkeLArSkO0bx&waypointId=7a717241-6f26-4194-aee3-29202c3720a0

You could also push on towards Giants Hut, although ruined, there are plenty of flat spots around there.
 

ok i will check it. thx.

Hello. I found that there is an additional case in the giants pass. It is called Giants Summit cave: drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-summit-cave

There is not pics, or I was able to find info in this forum. Does anybody has any experience with this cave?

Are are also pics for Giants Cave 2? drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-cave-2

I found only pics for Giants Cave 1 here in the forum.

Cheers.

Smurfatefrog wrote:

Edwin128 wrote:

Hello. I found that there is an additional case in the giants pass. It is called Giants Summit cave: drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-summit-cave

There is not pics, or I was able to find info in this forum. Does anybody has any experience with this cave?

Are are also pics for Giants Cave 2? drakensberghikes.com/directory/explore-by-category/caves/giants-cave-2

I found only pics for Giants Cave 1 here in the forum.

Cheers.

Details and pics are all here Edwin
www.vertical-endeavour.com/forum/12-drakensberg-caves/56000-giant-s-caves.html?start=0

ok thx. I missed that post.

Edwin128

Plenty of caves to choose from in this region. The main Giants caves has quite a lot of space, with a low roof. Note that they are almost always wet, and in summer has drips, so do take a bivvybag or some form of waterproofing for the floor along. I take a bivvy as it protects from drips. I've never slept in the cave opposit these 2 caves, but have checked it out often - from the inside of these 2 caves The terrain is fairly steep p to this cave, and last time we approached it was in the rain and the mud was pretty thick so we decided to rather not explore it. On my to do list this wnter!

The cave at the top of the pass is more like a tiny overhang. On a previous hike we could fit 3 people in here (2 comfortable, 3 cramped and will not work if they are tall). We slep 2 people under the overhang, and myself and my cousin slept out in the open on the nice broad grassy section near the dropoff. Beautiful views, especially of the stars at night, but WINDY!! he wind actually made it difficult to sleep on my side as it was pushing me flat! Quite an experience. There is another smaller overhang a little bit further along the rockband, but there was a carcass of a sheep in this spot, so we decided not to disturb it You can maybe fit one person in here, should you need more cover from nasty weather. All in all, either tent on top (lots of flat spots, often wet in summer but from now onwards, even if there is water it should be frozen so you can sleep on it) or use the 2 main caves. They are not too far from the top, maybe about 200m ASL?

Riaang wrote:

Edwin128

Plenty of caves to choose from in this region. The main Giants caves has quite a lot of space, with a low roof. Note that they are almost always wet, and in summer has drips, so do take a bivvybag or some form of waterproofing for the floor along. I take a bivvy as it protects from drips. I've never slept in the cave opposit these 2 caves, but have checked it out often - from the inside of these 2 caves The terrain is fairly steep p to this cave, and last time we approached it was in the rain and the mud was pretty thick so we decided to rather not explore it. On my to do list this wnter!

The cave at the top of the pass is more like a tiny overhang. On a previous hike we could fit 3 people in here (2 comfortable, 3 cramped and will not work if they are tall). We slep 2 people under the overhang, and myself and my cousin slept out in the open on the nice broad grassy section near the dropoff. Beautiful views, especially of the stars at night, but WINDY!! he wind actually made it difficult to sleep on my side as it was pushing me flat! Quite an experience. There is another smaller overhang a little bit further along the rockband, but there was a carcass of a sheep in this spot, so we decided not to disturb it You can maybe fit one person in here, should you need more cover from nasty weather. All in all, either tent on top (lots of flat spots, often wet in summer but from now onwards, even if there is water it should be frozen so you can sleep on it) or use the 2 main caves. They are not too far from the top, maybe about 200m ASL?
 

Thx for the info. The main caves look better bc are far from the pass top as there an incident with hikers in 2020, so I prefer the main caves or a place far from the pass base just to be safe.

Cheers.

Hi. I went to Giants Castle pass, I was looking for the pass caves but I could find them easily, at least from where I was able to go up the pass. I went up only to the point where the trail enters the gully. |I saw this cave from the distance. It does not look like Giants Cave 2, so I did not go there as I did not know how good was the cave.

Looking in the giants cave threat seems to be the third cave, mentioned there that is further down. Am I right?. I forgot about it when I was there, but at least my pic is more clear than the previous pic that is almost 10 years old.

Cheers, Edwin.

Just a heads up - I did Giants Pass a week ago, there has been a rockfall onto the top of the pass, possibly man-made, that obstructs the top of the pass. It looks like someone undercut the rocks at the top and then used something to cause a collapse into the gully. Most of the rocks are far too large to have been moved by hand. Part of the wall appears to have been built. My guess is that this is to prevent animals from wandering down the pass. We easily scrambled up to the left, but this does make the top of the pass a bit trickier than it used to be.
      

Its been like this for a long time already