Lotheni Pass North Fork
06 Mar 2019 03:27 #74724
by intrepid
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
Lotheni Pass North Fork was created by intrepid
This is the official thread for Lotheni Pass North Fork.
Though the North Fork is a route to the escarpment, it is undoubtedly Lotheni Pass South Fork that is the easier and more obvious route of the two (complete with trail forged by smugglers and/or rustlers). Oddly enough only the North Fork is indicated on the hiking maps, where it is also described as a "rock pass". I can easily imagine that this is one of those Berg misnomers, and that it should in fact have been the South Fork marked as "Lotheni Pass" on the maps - but this is just a guess and I don't know the history on this. Perhaps someone can fill us in. I have suggested the "North/South Fork" suffix in order to distinguish between the two.
I have not done the North Fork, nor spoken to anyone that has, but if you do the South Fork you get a very clear view into the North Fork at the junction of the two (which is about two thirds of the way up the broad grassy gully shared between the two).
It would appear the North Fork is a narrow gully, with a mix of boulders and grass. It does have a section near the top where it looks like you may need to bypass it using the grassy slopes on the true left of the gully.
If anyone has done this route or has more useful info, please let us know.
Though the North Fork is a route to the escarpment, it is undoubtedly Lotheni Pass South Fork that is the easier and more obvious route of the two (complete with trail forged by smugglers and/or rustlers). Oddly enough only the North Fork is indicated on the hiking maps, where it is also described as a "rock pass". I can easily imagine that this is one of those Berg misnomers, and that it should in fact have been the South Fork marked as "Lotheni Pass" on the maps - but this is just a guess and I don't know the history on this. Perhaps someone can fill us in. I have suggested the "North/South Fork" suffix in order to distinguish between the two.
I have not done the North Fork, nor spoken to anyone that has, but if you do the South Fork you get a very clear view into the North Fork at the junction of the two (which is about two thirds of the way up the broad grassy gully shared between the two).
It would appear the North Fork is a narrow gully, with a mix of boulders and grass. It does have a section near the top where it looks like you may need to bypass it using the grassy slopes on the true left of the gully.
If anyone has done this route or has more useful info, please let us know.
Take nothing but litter, leave nothing but a cleaner Drakensberg.
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