Leslie’s Pass

nice to see those old injisuthi pics, definatley my favorite of the KZN wildlife camps

Mine too, love the place for a cool chill holiday. They must be from the early 80's i would say.

Hi guys. This is one of Tony's pictures from his writeup. So would the red arrow be the molar and the green be the top of leslies pass?

Hi John, yes that is correct. Leslies Pass has two top gullies, both are visible in the photo and the other one is just to the right of the green arrow top in the photo.

Thanks Tony! Are both of the two top gullies of leslies pass accessible? Which one is better to use or are both as good?

Yes, both top gullies are accessible, although I think it is more common nowadays to use the southern (left in the photo with green arrow) one. I think the southern one is probably a bit easier, but do know of people using the northern one when approaching the pass along the ridge from the north.

Here are some photos from a solo hike I did up and down Leslie's in September:





I found the riverbed far easier to navigate on the way down using the terrace route, the height advantage making the cairns easier to spot.





There is a steep bit in the path near the start of the bushy section (the darker mound on the left of the valley in the photo above) that is very eroded, so that you literally have to pull yourself up using the shrubbery on either side. This might get tricky if the erosion continues.

Stunning pic's Dave! I hope to do the pass in mid January 2016.

There is already a lot of info on this pass on this thread, so I won't say too much [hey, stop laughing]

We followed the river for most of the stretch from Marble Baths at the base of the pass. Boulder hopping is often faster than fighting through overgrowth.

The trail up the pass is clear till you hit the gully, then you just have to figure out that it goes up the spur in the middle. It is very eroded and loose - some form of reinforcement such as erosion barriers would be helpful.

We lost the trail through the top section, but it is easy to wind up the steep grass banks to the top.

The pass is steeper than average. The pass also starts quite low and tops out high. It was harder than I was anticipating.

The pass is worth doing, even if just for the views. I am not in a huge rush to do it again, but if I end up doing something like Injisuthi Pass some day, I could imagine making a round trip down Leslies.

Here are some photos from the pass: