Hlubi Pass North

After descending Jarateng South Pass on the second day of our four pass hike at Giant’s Castle in mid December last year, The Real Dave and tonymarshall had lunch at the contour path stream crossing near the bottom of Hlubi Pass North, and then that afternoon we ascended Hlubi Pass North. 

It clouded over and rain was imminent as we started our ascent on the approach from the contour path, as shown in the photo below, where Langalibalele Pass is on the left, going up to the low point on the horizon, and the Hlubi Passes are the two gullies in the centre of the photo.  

 

Higher up on the approach, the view to the gullies of Hlubi Pass South to the right and Hlubi Pass North to the left in the photo below.  

 

A view back down the approach slopes, we had walked up the ridge in the centre of the photo below, going into the left background, and a few drops of rain had fallen, although the rest of the afternoon would have no rain.  

 

A view into the middle section of the pass, we would continue on the ridge on the right (true left) of the stream, aiming for the gap in the rock bands where the stream passes through.  

 

Approaching the rock bands, we were closer to the stream.  

 

A view downstream as we got into the gully, with Giant’s Castle in the background.  

 

I contoured into the gully and followed the stream, while David chose a line a bit higher up on the true left. The waterfall in the photo below was a bit of an obstacle for me, while the higher line on the grass slopes went more easily for David.  

 

Above the waterfall the rock bands force you into the stream bed, which is a mix of a boulder bed and grassy patches, and wasn’t difficult. We saw Hlubi Cave above us, in the rock band on the right (true left).  

A view to Hlubi Cave, which was quite a bit above the stream, and involved quite a challenging scramble to get to, with sloping wet rock outcrops and patches of mud. David was a bit more cautious than me, and turned back at a tricky slanting traverse.  

 

I made it up to the cave, and it was quite roomy inside, with a large area of flat floor that was dry, and useable, and without drips from the roof of the cave. It was a difficult scramble to get to the cave however, worse than the photos suggest, and I would not have liked to try to get to the cave, and back down, with my pack.  

 

A view down the gully section of the pass, with Hlubi Cave in the rock band at the left of the photo below.  

 

A view of the grass slope upper section of Hlubi Pass North. A little bit lower than where I took the photo below, we saw a clear trail going towards Hlubi Pass South, on the grass slopes between the upper rock bands and the lower rock bands where the cave is. It would seem that this trail is used for grazing of livestock by Lesotho herdsmen.  

 

At the top of the grass slope, the cliffs of the escarpment block the top of the gully, but there is a grassy ramp with a low rock band to scramble through to the left (true right), not visible in the photo, and this is the way to avoid the cliffs at the top of the gully.  

 

A view back down the gully from just below the cliffs at the top of the gully.  

 

The grass ramp to the top of Hlubi Pass North, with the low rock band requiring some scrambling.  

 

Our summit photo at the top of the pass, with The Thumb in the background.  

 

We went into Lesotho and overnighted in Bannerman Cave, and descended Thumb Pass the next day.

Thanks for the writeup Tony. It has been almost exactly 11 years since I did that pass, with Hobbit/Mike's fall on the pass it was never really on my to-repeat list. It doesn't look too bad in photos, and without melting hail to slip on, probably isn't nearly as bad as I remember. Definitely more complex than the south gully, though.

We found Hlubi Pass North to be quite a pleasant pass, and it shouldn't be a bad memory for you, although the conditions and dangerous fall understandably influence your perception of the pass.

I agree, the North Pass is certainly more complex than the South one, in terms of navigation and the ability to see far ahead, which is difficult with the curving gully of the North pass, versus the straight South Pass, although the difficultly of the two Hlubi Passes is pretty identical.