Giants Cup Trail

Ok - yes, I know the Giant's Cup Trail is often looked down on by hikers, but there are ways and means of making this more challenging.

My objective is simple - do the Giant's Cup trail in 2 days south to north, hike up Sani Pass, traverse to Isicutula Pass, do Knuckles Traverse Pass (possibly with a detour up the Knuckles), find the Lesotho Sehlabathebe border post and finish back at Bushman's Nek having spent 6 nights in the mountains.

Sounds easy enough...

Some questions on the route:
- Does anyone have a GPS track for the trail, or do I not really need one? The map shows a network of trails at Cobham, I don't want to end up in the wrong place
- I assume Sani Pass has a hikers shortcut similar to the one on Mikes Pass? Anyone hiked up Sani recently?
- How do I find the Sehlabathebe border post, and if I don't make it there, are there any issues with not being stamped back out of Lesotho? Naturally I will get them to stamp me back into SA at the BN post
- There are 2 routes down from the Isicutula escarpment ridge to the river behind Walkers Peak. I have done Isicutula Pass twice, and it is an easy pass, but I would like to give the variation route a go. This is walking down the south slopes of Walkers Peak (I believe its as per my photo below). Does anyone have any info on this route - difficulty, obstacles, GPS co-ords of the top.



Thanks in advance for the info

I'd recommend using Masubasuba Pass instead - then there is no need for any border posts. The BN border post lets hikers through no problem.

Masubasuba Pass is an option, but then we miss the end of the Giant's Cup Trail. I'm in 2 minds on this one!

The guys at the Sani Top border say there is no border post at Sehlabathebe, Bushman's Nek was happy to stamp us back into SA without a matching Lesotho stamp though. Hike didn't go entirely according to plan, but this will all be in an excessively long report about how we spent 7 days in the Berg. A few hundred photos and a few videos to share

Giant’s Cup loop: the Cup of Hithlum (part 1)

The Giants Cup Trail has always been a hike on my to-do list, but the fact that it starts far from where it ends has always bugged me. I have always thought that I would combine it with an escarpment loop someday, and this last week I finally got my chance!

The team ended up being just myself and Hobbit. The plan was to do the Giant’s Cup Trail backwards and the traverse north to south, including the Knuckles Traverse. I had planned on doing the Giant’s Cup Trail first and head up to the top with lighter packs, but due to the risk of a team of just 2 (one of whom is 13), I opted to move the start to Swiman Hut in order to facilitate bailing if necessary.

Day 1: never trust a Dragon (Swiman Hut to Mzimkulwana Hut, 24km)

The Giant’s Cup is easy, right? Well it most certainly could take a line that would be designed to make it easier, but that was not the intention of the route – or so I gather.

So we arrived at Garden Castle at 7:30, and were walking by 8:30 – not sure what happened to that hour, but I did audit Hobbit’s pack, fill in the register and get everything ready for 7 days of hiking.

If that first hour was hard to account for, the second was even stranger. The Giant’s Cup Trail is very well marked – if you do it in the right direction that is. However, the trail is not really marked for those trying to get from Swiman Hut to Wintershoek Hut. Swiman Hut, one of 2 with electricity, is over 1km off the main trail, and is relatively close to the Garden Castle offices. There is a very clear and well-marked trail for day 5 of the standard route. We walked south for about 1km looking for a turnoff to the left. After findings some with blue paint, and then finding that these were just a way of reaching Drak Gardens, we eventually found the elusive trail. Somehow we only found this at 9:30 – so 2 hours had passed and we could basically still see where we started. Not exactly the way to start a long day, but the Giant’s Cup trail is easy, I’m sure we can catch up, right?

The trail begins to climb the ridge on which Garden Castle Peak is found. This hill is steeper than one would imagine. Eventually you start traversing high on a ridge looking down on the road far below. It was a hot and hazy day. Naturally there is no water when you are high up on a ridge after the driest winter in years.

Eventually the trail stops the gentle but sustained climb along the top of the ridge. This marks Black Eagle Pass. The route down this is by no means the most logical line and includes a bit of very minor scrambling. It is well marked though, so no difficulty finding the route. Eventually you see Wintershoek Hut – well, actually a cluster of huts. We stopped here for lunch around 1PM. Knowing we still had far to go we only stopped for half an hour. This morning session had been much harder than I thought it would be, and the weight of our packs (both slightly over 20kg with water) didn’t help.

As we set off for what would normally be day 3, we passed 2 different groups planning on overnighting at our lunch spot. The weather was threatening, and we both knew the infamous saddle between Bamboo Mountain and Little Bamboo Mountain loomed in front of us.

Leaving Wintershoek Hut you follow a short poorly marked section before hitting the 2km road section. I have a great deal of sympathy for my poor car when it has to handle this hill – it’s not as easy as it looks! Having managed to spot the point where the trail leaves the road (well, normally it would join the road here – so it wasn’t well marked). The trail briefly crosses a farm before taking a rather inefficient line through the valley.

We finally crossed a river with average quality water. Well average may be a compliment, it tasted like some form of a plant, but was really necessary after having run out of water a few hours beforehand and being forced to use the plastic tasting water from Wintershoek Hut.

The trail winds through a beautiful valley full of caves and pools as it approaches the unexpectedly high plateau between the Bamboo Mountains. As you continue to climb you begin to realise how much higher the Little Bamboo Mountain is than the Bamboo Mountain – the col is almost as high as Bamboo Mountain itself.

As we continued to climb, the storm continued to threaten, but was never close enough to make lightning a real danger, and after a very hot day, some rain would have actually been welcome. No such luck though.

This hill is a real killer when coupled with day 4 and a 20kg backpack. Feeling like it will never end, when you eventually reach what feels like the top, you simply take a reminder of what the term “false-top” really means.

Eventually the trail crosses the top and begins to drop down towards the river. It was late in the day, already around 5PM when we began the descent. We kept hoping to see the elusive Mzimkulwana Hut, and kept dropping down with no sign of it.

Eventually we reached a cross roads not far above the river. As we would come to find on many more occasions – the Giant’s Cup Trail is not marked to be done south to north. At these junctions there would be a white footprint on the trail you just came from, but no footprints on the part you need to take. After taking an educated guess, it took well over 100m before we were reassured that we were on the right trail. White footprint – yes, but still no sign of Mzimkulwana Hut.

My GPS said we had done 22km for the day, I knew this was supposed to be a 24km day, and it was getting dark. Eventually we reached the river near a large suspension bridge. We decided to give up and just pitch the tent here. Hobbit decided to check the map, and, as it turns out, Mzimkulwana Hut is just past a bridge on the river. So we put our packs back on, walked over the bridge, and there it was.

Mzimkulwana Hut is in pretty good shape, and has a great view. But be aware that it doesn’t have mattresses. It was getting dark, and before long we were eating supper by head lamp light. A tough day, but a good day.

Day 2: the secret pool (Mzimkulwana Hut to the Sani Road, 24km)

7AM and we were walking once more. It was day 2 of the hike and we were on day 2 of the Giant’s Cup Trail. This is the shortest day of the route, and definitely the easiest. The trail starts by walking gradually up a large hill. This morning was clearer than day 1, but was also really hot. Once more we had full water-bottles knowing that our next water was near Pholela Hut.

The views as you climb this ridge are rather special. Once again, a more efficient line could result in an easier route, but this trail was never designed to be any easier.

From the top of the ridge you eventually walk past the Tortoise Rocks – a spot where we stopped for our first proper break of the morning. I am pretty sure there are some usable caves amongst these rocks, but I really couldn’t be bothered to try and find one.

As we dropped down the hill towards Cobham we passed a large group of grade 4s who were on an exciting 2 day outing ending at the road before Wintershoek Hut. One of the teachers told me how they do the different days through different grades so that they do the entire trail, but without ever being away for very long.

Without too much difficulty (but at the cost of a lot of sweat on this very hot day) we finally reached Pholela Hut. This hut looks a bit run down, but has hot water and is accessible by a tarred road.

We sat under a tree for half an hour eating an early lunch/late morning tea. This was the first time we were on schedule since we started. We knew the afternoon session would was the longest “day” of the trail, and included 2 separate hills.

We set off around 11:30, walking in the hot sun preparing for our first hill. We filled up our bottles at the river and started up the hill. We resisted the urge to take the bypass ridge shortcut. There are a few scrambles high up on this hill, but nothing serious. We had planned to have lunch at Ngenwa Pool. Having carried our full capacity in water from the river just past Pholela Hut, we were out of water long before reaching the Gxalingenwa River. The day was hot, midday had passed and we were both thirsty and tired.

The tarred end of the Sani road came into sight, giving us hope of reaching the end soon, but we both knew that we were still had a fair distance to go. Eventually the Gxalingenwa River came into view – and immediately we realised that we were either about to drop a lot of altitude, or traverse far before reaching it. But the sight of distant water did give us hope once more.

After a lot of traversing the path suddenly drops, even going through a moderately exposed section. It then drops into the Ngenwa Cave and walks out the other side. This cave is rather large and very well sheltered, possibly one to revisit in the future.

Eventually we hit the Ngenwa Pool and managed to fill our bottles and get something to drink. We sat in the pool for over an hour, cooling off after what had turned out to be an unexpectedly difficult session. Anyone who knows me well will know how hot it must have been that I voluntarily entered a large body of water!

After a late lunch/early afternoon tea we set off once more. As I have mentioned before – the trail is very well marked if you are going in the right direction. So, faced with 3 trail options, we opted for the most worn, and had to climb right to the top of a rather steep hill before we actually found one of those elusive white footprints.

This hill would probably be an easy one if done first thing in the morning, but more than 40km into a hike with heavy packs, you do feel the hill. Even more so when you spent the entire first day with a sore back only to find that the metal support on your pack was incorrectly inserted when last you fixed up your pack – and even though I had fixed this earlier in the day, the damage was largely already done. This would be a problem that would continue to haunt me.

The trail soon starts dropping down to the Sani Road. A large wooden sign marks what would normally be the start of the trail. After posing with a sign post we began to walk up the Sani Road. Looking for a spot with water was going to be tricky, but we eventually found a tiny trickle with some flat ground above it. We pitched the tent just out of sight of the road and filled up our bottles. A thunderstorm was threatening once more, but once again, no rain. This meant we had done 2km on the Sani Road, enough to make the following day slightly easier.

My original plan was to camp on the river – the map shows the road as being rather close to the river. While it may be close in map distance, there is a massive drop off between the two, so it didn’t help much!

Day 3: the road goes ever on and on (Sani Road to the Pitseneng River, 23km)

The day was finally here – the longest and hardest day of the planned route. Not only where we hiking from 1800m to the top of Sani Pass, but we planned to also tackle the Hodgeson’s ridge.

Yet another hot sunny day was upon us. We had debated trying to hitch a lift to the border post, but agreed that we must refrain from cheating. So at 7AM we began the long walk up the Sani Road.

After 45 minutes we found a large river that flows across the road. It would have been a better spot to camp, but there was no way we would have known that it would be flowing, so it wasn’t worth passing up on the river the previous day. We took advantage of this river to refill our bottles and do some laundry. One disadvantage of walking on a road is that it is not entirely acceptable to have your drying washing hanging off your pack, but not much one can do in this kind of situation.

By 8:15 we were moving again, with cars passing us at regular intervals. It was a slow 8km march from the start of the day to the border post, with the road going up and down as it winds in and out of every valley. The border post was a quick procedure, quite frankly we could have just walked straight through if we wanted to. They didn’t even ask whether or not I had written permission to take a minor out of the country – something that only occurred as we neared the border post. But anyway, it all turned out just fine and we were soon walking very slowly up the dirt road known as Sani Pass.

Strong winds in our faces and cars passing every few minutes didn’t make for a particularly enjoyable start. This was also the first time that Hobbit was beginning to show signs of strain on the route. Considering his size relative to his pack, the fact that I had struggled to keep up with him for the first 2 days was impressive – but learning to pace yourself over a longer period is a lesson this young man has never been forced to learn before.

With plenty of breaks we gradually made our way up the pass. About 1km in there is a hiking trail. The trail is great in some places and a bit overgrown in others. I suspect this is the old donkey trail as it is very wide and obvious, even when overgrown. It also includes a large concrete bridge at one point.

The hot sun was getting to us once more. As we rejoined the road, preparing for the windy top section, we had both run out of water.

Excavators were at work high up on the pass, and as you approach the top section you begin to realise how eroded this pass has actually become. I imagine that this is a preview of life with a cable car.

Just before entering the zig-zags, a car driving down stopped to ask us what we were doing. They were also kind enough to give us something to drink. It is always funny to see the varying responses you get when you tell someone that the 13 year old you are hiking with has already done almost 60km. They probably wouldn’t believe you if they didn’t physically see him standing with a pack on near the top of the pass.

The zig-zags on the pass look really technical for a car. Walking up them you realise how steep they really are, I couldn’t imagine trying to drive it. The turns are also very sharp. I rate that a tarred Sani Pass would cause numerous accidents, I really don’t know how so many people manage to negotiate the route without incident – although I believe the number of incidents is by no means minimal.

With an audio book of Tolkien’s Children of Hurin playing in my ears, we finally topped out at 1:30PM. We got through the Lesotho border post without any trouble and headed off to Sani Top for a well-earned burger and chips.

The lodge was packed, and we ended up sitting with some people who had travelled from Bloemfontein and Kimberly through Lesotho and were enjoying the last stretch of their holiday. They were greatly impressed by the feat the young Hobbit had undertaken. While he may not have a goal of slaying Smaug, he most certainly wanted to see the golden treasure of the Dragon. No burglars required…

We stayed at Sani Top for well over an hour before filling up our water and planning an assault on the Giant’s Cup itself. There had been talk about conquering some khulus, but after a very hot day and plenty of distance and altitude gain, this was not realistic.

At around 2:45 we began a slow walk across the Sani flats before the climb up the North Hodgeson’s Ridge. We had both done this ridge from the other side before, myself on GT2012 in fresh snow and Hobbit in December last year with a lost hike leader in thick mist. So to do this ridge on a clear but overcast afternoon was a good change.

We picked our col and slowly got there. Upon reaching the col we followed a local trail that leads to Masubasuba Pass. It was a great trail and was rather efficient at retaining our hard fought altitude. Near the top of the pass we left the trail and began the slog up to the South Hodgeson’s saddle. This turned out to be much easier than I remembered from GT. Perhaps it’s the Pitseneng river valley south of the ridge that makes the ridge harder from the south, perhaps it was the snow back in 2012 or perhaps I am much fitter now than I was back then. Maybe it’s all 3.

As we descended the south slopes I remembered how much lower the ridge was on the south side. We soon had dropped between the cliffs only to find a bone dry Pitseneng River. We followed the riverbed for a while hoping to find flowing water, but occasional stagnant pools were all we could find.

We saw one solitary Basotho on top of the hill to the south of the river, he kept his distance. He would be the last Basotho we would see on the mountain. Probably because of the lack of water.

We found a spot near a stagnant pool and prepared to sit by the river for a bit. We then heard thunder nearby and thus went from sitting near the river to the setting up and getting inside of a tent in roughly 3 minutes!

3 days and 71km into the hike, and we were still on target. Was it possible that we might just manage to get all the way to Bushman’s Nek Pass and complete the Giant’s Cup Trail? It most certainly felt so at this point. Tune in soon for the final instalment (and some photos)…

Batch of photos relating to days 1-3 of the hike. Days 4-7 will be up in the next few days...

Day 4 – where no man has gone before (Pitseneng River to Mashai River, 17km)

After a surprisingly warm night on the escarpment, which included a minimal amount of rain, but a lot of lightning – we set off. This is now the real meat of the hike. We had done Sani the day before, 3 ridges to do today, and 2 ridges with Isicutula Pass tomorrow. This is also unknown territory for young Hobbit. He had never done a hike longer than 3 days, actually he had done very few 3 day hikes. This was also about to be the longest he had been away from home.

So we set off along the dry Pitseneng River with plans of leaving the gorge early enough that we would get a good view, but not so early that we would make the day more difficult. As it turns out, we left the river valley too early, but no harm done. We had camped very close to a kraal, but this wasn’t an issue in the end.

The morning was clear, but a bit windy. For a reason I can’t recall, we decided to pack up and find a spot with a good view to eat our breakfast. We found a spot before the Stones Buttress where we sat and ate breakfast.

After breakfast we were off again. Over the small bump that is the Stones Buttress and thereafter the Sandleni Ridge. I have to say that the Sandleni Ridge was much bigger than I remember it being. But the view from there was well worth it.

We took a break in the dry valley between Sandleni and No Man’s Peak. The blisters on my back were getting really bad, even though I had fixed my pack settings on day 1. I found some gauze in first aid kit and it did the trick.

We sat for a while at the base of the No Mans ridge – this ridge had been a key point on GT2012 for me. How I looked forward to tackling it once more. We agreed that we would climb the khulu itself irrespective of how we felt when we got up the ridge. I have learned that you have to commit to a khulu before you get too close to it, otherwise you will always feel too tired to do it when you are in the best position to bag it.

The wind was picking up and high clouds were rolling in. One small step at a time, we slowly made our way up the ridge. While No Mans Peak may not be particularly high, it starts lower than many other escarpment ridges. It is perhaps what makes the southern Berg so dramatic – some of the ridges are in fact very high, but the valleys in-between tend to be lower than elsewhere. A classic example would be the valley between the Leqooa and Walker ridges.

We followed the spur that comes off the ridge. This approach worked well, and after a concerted effort we were nearing the saddle. We found a spot to hide our packs – not that there was anyone in sight, nor had we seen anyone on this particular morning – but soon we were slogging up the obvious gap in the cliffs on the north slopes of No Mans Peak. The drop-off on the south side was rather substantial, and the Berg gale was making balance difficult. After some summit photos we returned to our bags and began to drop down the south slopes of the peak.

We found a spot sheltered from the wind just before the Mzimkhulu Passes where we had lunch. The wind was getting worse and there was probably going to be a storm at some stage. No water in sight, but the view was great.

After lunch we continued the slog through the valley as we approached the Verkyker ridge. This was when the first real signs of Hobbit struggling with the route began to show. Considering that we were already past half distance and half time on the route, he had been doing very well. Carrying a heavy pack for long day after long day when you are 13 years old is a really impressive feat. As we approached the Verkyker ridge he began to fall back and require more stops than he had before.

We slowly made our way up the ridge, and he declined to bag the Verkyker khulu – a peak I had bagged in February 2013. The wind was very strong, so we dropped down the south slopes for a short distance before stopping for a break.

Once we hit the river behind Rhino Peak, Hobbit started suggesting that we set camp soon. Once we had found a spot near a stagnant pool, we pitched the tent. This was the strongest wind I had ever pitched my 360 Degree Cool Mountain II in. I opted to place the snow flap pegs and put rocks on the flaps as a backup. The wind was strong enough that the frame was actually bending in the wind. I simply got out and adjusted one of the guy ropes and the problem was sorted.

Day 5 – where no man has gone before (Mashai River to, well, Mashai River, 6km)

So having conquered all the ridges for day 4, but not getting through the river section at the end of the day, we started day 5 behind schedule. There was a bit of mist in the morning, but nothing too serious.

We set off in a strong wind, threats of rain where clear. I asked Hobbit if he was doing ok, and he said he was, I pointed out that Mashai Pass was a great spot to bail, but he was sure he was doing just fine.

So we began to find our way around the ridge of Matebeng and its neighbours aiming for the Leqooa ridge – 3rd highest ridge in the entire Drakensberg. As we began to climb I realised that Hobbit was not doing ok. I asked him what was up and found he was feeling quite sick. We sat for about an hour before we set off back down to the Mashai River. I set up the tent and got him nice and comfortable inside the tent.

After about an hour he was back to his normal self, but I realised that we would need to spend the rest of the day in the tent. In my mind I really wanted to climb Tsepeng, Wilson and Matebeng, all really close to where the tent was pitched, but the reality is that you can’t leave a 13 year old who isn’t feeling well on his own.

The plan was to see how he was doing, if he got worse I would call mountain rescue, if he got better we would head down Mashai Pass in the morning.

The wind was much stronger than the day before, but I had learned from my guy ropes mistake of the day before, so, aside from hectic vibrations the wind was causing, the tent didn’t even budge. There was also a series of hail storms that unloaded a fair amount of ice on the tent. By far the most testing conditions my tent has been through, and yet again it passes with flying colours.

We spent the day chatting and listening to music/audiobooks on my MP3 player. While we didn’t do what was planned, it was still a great way to spend a day – well, aside from the chlorine water we were drinking courtesy of yet another stagnant river.

Day 6 – onward and downward (Mashai River to Mzimude River, 16km)

In the Morning Hobbit was feeling mostly better. There was rain on and off outside, and a bitterly cold wind was blowing. Seeing as we were heading down Mashai Pass – which was over 4km away – I wanted to get going asap and get off the escarpment. I believe the most dangerous weather is a combination of precipitation and wind, and I was not prepared to take any chances.

The plan was, once we moved out of the tent, we would not stop for any reason until we were off the escarpment. So we got out of the tent, packed it away as quickly as possible and hiked the 4.8km to the top of the pass without so much as a brief stop. We dropped the top hundred metres in altitude on the pass before Hobbit took a rather fortunate fall – fortunate in the sense that it was one of the few spots where the exposure wasn’t too bad. He slipped and managed to regain control about 2m below where he had fallen from. He was fine, no harm done. At this point I realised we really needed to take a break. More than an hour in and we had barely had breakfast or anything to drink.

This was the fourth time I had done Mashai Pass, incidentally the first pass that I ever did in the Berg. Every time I do this pass I notice that the erosion is substantially worse. Most of the heavy erosion isn’t anywhere near the trail, but I rate that this pass will have to be closed at some point in the future.

We continued along the trail down the pass, looking forward to being out of the gale and finding water that didn’t taste of chlorine. The last chlorine-free water we had was at Sani Top. The river on Mashai Pass was dry at the point of the first river crossing.

Taking plenty of breaks and in no rush at all we eventually reached the river crossing near Clam Shell [not a] Cave, at about 2400m. This was the first running water we had seen in days, and it was flowing into what would normally be a pool and simply getting soaked back into the ground. We didn’t care, this was finally some drinking water.

We continued along, the river barely flowing even by Pillar Cave. We took a few more breaks as we walked along the trail back to Garden Castle. Hobbit was back to his usual self, so we agreed that we would at least see the Giant’s Cup Trail through to its conclusion.

At 2PM we reached Garden Castle car park, from which I drove us to Drak Gardens Resort for a burger and chips with a milkshake. This was a rather enjoyable way to have lunch. We then drove back to the car park, and walked the easy stretch of trail to the Mzimude River where we would set up camp for the final night.

Just before the river drops into the valley there is a large boulder field. Hobbit spent over an hour trying different lines on different boulders here (which is why we only set up camp after 6PM that night).

His bouldering is a lot more impressive now that it was last time I had seen him do this. I got a few videos of the different routes, some he conquered first time and others took a few tries. The rock was better than I expected with only the occasional hold breaking in his hands.

He decided to name the boulders/lines after some characters from the first age of Middle Earth (sources being Children of Hurin and Unfinished Tales). The one route he called “Túrin Turambar” – after the man who slayed Glaurung King-of-Dragons in Tolkien’s Children of Hurin. Seems kind of fitting for the Dragon’s Mountains. This ascent was filmed and has been loaded onto Youtube – I will share a link shortly.

Day 7 – There and Back Again (Mzimude River to Swiman Hut via Bushmans Nek, 26km)

I guess you could sum up the motivation on the final day with 2 quotes from my favourite TV series – Scrubs (Season 5: my boss’s free haircut):
“My barber once told me, it’s important to finish what you started”; and
“As a recently incarcerated doctor once said, nothing in life that’s worth having comes easily”

So here we were, camping on the Mzimude Valley. Neither of us had set an alarm clock, resulting in us only getting up around 7AM. It was supposed to be an easy day, simply pop over to Bushman’s Nek, tag the border post (and get stamped back into SA), tag Bushman’s Nek Hut and hike back in order to complete the trail. We had agreed that we couldn’t unload any weight at the car as this would be cheating. Otherwise we may well have opted to camp near the car, and finished the hike with much lighter day packs. But by now our packs had lost most of the 5kg of food we had been carrying, and water wasn’t as much of an issue. This coupled with the fact that we were used to our packs by now, most of my blisters on my back were gone – we backed ourselves to do this. Well, at least we did at the start of the day…

The first hill from the Mzimude River isn’t excessively steep, but it does go on forever. We stopped for a few breaks on the way up, sweating heavily in the hot morning sun.

Some eland and baboons aside, nothing particularly noteworthy happened on this climb. Eventually we reached Langalibalele Cave – with the rock art barely even noticeable. The cave looks incredibly well sheltered due to the massive wall that can only be walked around on the sides. We spent a while at the cave. We had both almost run out of water and there was no good water nearby.

From the cave there is a bit of a climb to get over the ridge before the slow descent to Bushman’s Nek. The trail winds a lot, and at times looks like it will finish at a different spot to what one would expect. We opted to avoid the hut on the way in, but to tag it on the way out, thus doing both variations of day 5.

Eventually we reached the car park, and shortly thereafter, the border post. They are doing some renovations there, and the staff was off somewhere at the time, so we had to wait for over half an hour before anyone could stamp us back into the country. When we were stamped back in, the staff member was very confused and almost placed SA visas into our SA passports – as if we were Lesotho residents entering SA. But in the end all was good.

We then went to the large pool above the waterfall right by the border post and sat on a rock for lunch. The traditional feet-in-the-water routine was followed, we must have stayed there for over an hour.

Hobbit had clearly taken strain from these 7 days, throughout this final day we had taken an abnormally high amount of breaks and had been keeping up a relatively slow pace. Considering his age, I would say that even an easy 7 day hike is difficult, but about 120km into a hike, this is entirely acceptable from him.

Eventually we were off again, massive clouds seemed to be rolling in, and the wind had picked up. We hit Bushman’s Nek Hut where Hobbit wanted to stop for another break. This break was another 30 minutes, and would cost us later. I knew it was already past 2PM and we still had over half of our total distance for the day to go. But no point in trying to rush him. For the first time since day 1 (where I carried about 1kg of his pack weight for the morning session), I took some of his weight from his pack. On this occasion I took the other half of the tent. I knew we weren’t going to reach the car before it was dark if we didn’t go faster.

We gradually made our way up the first hill, with two 10 minute breaks on the way up. We stopped again at Langalibalele Cave, and once again it was for over 30 minutes. A biting cold wind had set in, and progress was still rather slow. I knew we still had the hill on the north slopes to the Mzimude River to tackle and it was already well past 4PM.

Jackets on in the cold wind, and a massive parliament of baboons ahead of us (yes, the collective noun for baboons is a “parliament”), but now the urgency was much more apparent. We dropped down the hill with only taking one break. The eland herd from earlier were still around the same area, I find that I almost always find eland on the Mzimude River.

Across the bridge and slowly up the final fill. This hill is probably the easiest hill of the entire trail, but that doesn’t help your motivation much when it is already past 5PM and you know you still have about 4km to go. The ominous clouds continued to get closer, the wind was still icy.

I pointed out the time to Hobbit and informed him that we could not take another break before reaching the car. We continued to slowly climb our final hill, before finally seeing the boulder field where he had done some climbing the day before.

As we began to reach the gentle downhill, we upped the pace considerably. For short sections we even ran (bear in mind – 13kg packs, that light due to basically no food or water being left). It was now 6PM, my headlamp was on – I keep it in my camera bag so that it is always at hand – but Hobbit couldn’t find his in his pack. Light was failing and the ridges didn’t seem to be getting any closer.

We kept our pace up, thinking that we need to be at the gate by 7 so that we could be out before closing time. By the time we were at the section where the trail crosses the rocks it was completely dark and we were navigating with a single headlamp.

We eventually reached Swiman Hut, and then lost the trail as it crosses the road. Fortunately I have done this bit of trail plenty of times, so we bundu bashed through the long grass and soon picked up the trail once more (we had followed the road for about 10m which is how this happened).

This section seems much longer when its fully dark, but eventually we hit the car park at 7:15PM. Hobbit collapsed in the car while I went and signed the mountain register. Now the next goal was getting through the gate before it was locked.

We eventually reached a very locked gate. No alternative route around and only a small place to do a 3 point turn (that felt like a 40 point turn) to turn the car around. We were both exhausted, both wanted to get something to eat and go home. And here we were – about to spend another night in the Berg. Not something I would normally complain about – but with meetings the next morning, we would have to be out of the gate at the moment it opened. Not ideal at all.

So we took a slow drive back to Swiman Hut. A couple from Durban were there. They told us that the guy with the gate key stays in the nearby house. We knocked on the door – no answer. Eventually we realised that he was in the shower. 15 minutes later we managed to chat with him and he was quite happy to come and let us out. Words cannot describe how relieved I was.

A long tired drive back home, but it had all worked out in the end.

Summary

Part of the point of this hike was to give Hobbit an idea of what a longer hike is like, to help him learn to pace himself, how to pack, the importance of some of the smaller technical matters – and I have to say that I could see a big difference in his technique as the hike progressed. Not everything had gone according to plan, but we had both come out unharmed with stories to tell.

Some lessons that I learned on this hike – Nutella may be great for hiking, but I will never feel like fishing out the necessary equipment to eat it on a hike. Was worth a shot though. The revelation in hiking food was couscous (which I had used before, but plain) mixed with powder mushroom sauce (made separately). One of the nicest food types I have ever used in the mountains, and the whole-wheat couscous expands much more than the normal, making it an even more efficient weight saver.

Our total distance came to 136 km, with a rather substantial amount of altitude gained and lost – while I don’t have an exact figure, it should be well in excess of 3km up and 3km down. The Sani day included a low point of 1800m and a height point of 3200m, combined with a distance of 23km and a rather heavy backpack, that must be one of the hardest days I have ever done in the mountains.

All in all, it was a great hike. I rate that the Giant’s Cup Trail doesn’t get enough attention by serious hikers. Sure it looks easy on the map, but there is nothing stopping people from doing it as a 2 day hike. Alternatively you can take your children along and carry most of their pack weight, or just spend most of your time in the pools. You can’t always see the escarpment, but the trail winds in and out of some really nice Small Berg valleys, you climb some substantial Small Berg mountains and encounter some really worthwhile views.

I wouldn’t recommend doing it backwards for various reasons, but one of the big ones is that days 2-4 are spent walking towards the mountain, so doing it backwards means that you spend all your time with the escarpment behind you. It is also very much geared towards being done north to south – we were fortunate to pick the correct trail every time it was unclear.

So, in summary:
Would I recommend the Giant’s Cup Trail? Definitely
Would I recommend walking up Sani Pass? Yes, but make sure you take the trail bit through the middle
Would I do the Giant’s Cup Trail or Sani Pass again? Probably not

Here is a video of Mike bouldering. I will share the rest of the photos soon.