Vergelegen Hiking

VERGELEGEN WEEKEND EXPLORATION TO SHELTER CAVE

Elaine and I decided to visit Vergelegen as we were looking for a place we had not been to before. From Howick we took the Impendle Rd which turned off from the Underberg Rd. This road is much better than the Nottingham Road/Lotheni road and was tar much of the way. The gate going into Vergelegen is now always locked and we had to phone the Cobham OIC to arrange for the gate to be opened for us.  While signing in the mountain register, we noticed the last hikers in Vergelegen were in December! What an isolated and little visited part of the Drakensberg. In the early days hikes used to take place here on a regular basis and I reckon during summer most of the paths here will be overgrown due to unuse.The hike was not too long and a good start for Elaine who has just recovered (nearly) from a broken rib. We walked from the Vergelegen EKZN Wildlife office and headed up the Mlahlangubo River. We went over The Hook and down into the Hlathimbe Valley and River. We then headed up the river towards Shelter cave. This valley is very deep with very steep sides and rock bands most of the valley sides. This is why there are no paths connecting Lotheni and Vergelegen through this valley. There was no visual way through on the whole Lotheni side of this valley. Anyone wanting to hike from Lotheni to Vergelegen would be better to go up Hlathimbe Pass and down Mlahlangubo Pass. Would be interested to hear if anyone has gone through that valley from Lotheni to Vergelegen. The valley was very beautiful with lots of rocky formations, but difficult to walk up due to the long grass. We were sure not to see any other humans around due to a very isolated part of the Drakensberg. First we passed Runaway Cave which was full of scrub and had place for 2 to sleep. We finally got to Shelter Cave after a long rough walk, and it was 150m from the river up a steep slope. At the cave was steep 95-degree, 10 m climb up a bank into the cave. I had to make a few foot holds in the bank to get up safely, but due to this unsafe climb up and the thought of going up and down for water, we decided to tent next to the river.The next day we found a way through the rock band close to the cave and climbed up a 75-degree slope on slippery dry grass, and onto the eMahoshiya Ridge and then back down The Hook and to the Wildlife office. We had an enjoyable hike in a very remote part of the Drakensberg and discovered new territory.

 

Hello. Thanks for the post. You got a nice ultraligth zpacks dyneema composite fabric, I do not see these around in ZA.

Do you have the a gps track? Or maybe the coordinates of your campsite?

Best, Edwin.