Outer Mnweni Needle traverse

After visiting the Mnweni Pools as part of an Mnweni exploration hike last weekend, Sabine, Cathy and tonymarshall undertook a traverse along the lower slopes of the Outer Mnweni Needle to the Ntonjelana eshonalanga valley (Rockeries Pass route).

From Mlambu’s Kraal, we contoured around the lower slopes of the Dassie, and crossed the Nceda valley, before ascending the ridge running up to the Outer Mnweni Needle, as depicted in the photo below, ascending the Outer Mnweni Needle ridge to the top of the grass slope in the middle of the photo, and then contouring to the left around the Outer Mnweni Needle. On the skyline of the photo below the Outer Mnweni Needle is at the centre, and to the right the Inner Mnweni Needle, Mponjwane and Ncedamabutho plateau.



In places the ridge was quite steep, requiring some minor scrambling through the rock bands.



Higher on the ridge we passed a tarn.



The whole escarpment to the north was visible, from Pins Buttress to Devil’s Tooth and Eastern Buttress. In the photo below, the Dassie is the ridge at the right foreground, no doubt seldom seen from this angle.



The top of the ridge which we ascended, with the Outer Mnweni Needle to the left.



The Outer Mnweni Needle from the lower slopes at the level which we contoured around, 2050 – 2100 m.



In one section there was quite a good path which we followed until it turned away to the left at a saddle, where we had to continue to the right.



We then got into a series of very steep sided valleys which were quite difficult to cross, and had lunch at the second one where there was surprisingly quite a lot of water, in the photo below, showing the steepness.

Climbing up the near vertical slope of the one valley.



Looking back to the Outer Mnweni Needle and steep sided valleys we crossed, from a path we found that continued to the Intaba Inezilonda ridge above the Ntonjelana eshonalanga valley.



We had crossed from the Mnweni to the Ntonjelana valleys, and now had the panoramic view from the Cathedral Range north (right) past the Saddle, Rockeries and Mponjwane to the Inner Mnweni Needle.



The Inner Mnweni Needle (left) and Outer Mnweni Needle.



The Rockeries right above us, a seldom seen perspective, showing why Mponjwane on the right is also known as Rockeries Tower.



View to the Saddle across the Ntonjelana eshonalanga valley.



We had been able to follow a path which appeared and disappeared quite often much of the way around the eastern - south eastern slopes of the Outer Mnweni Needle, and were now on the Intaba Inezilonda ridge above the confluence of the Itshana Elibovana and Ntonjelana eshonalanga rivers. We scrambled/downclimbed a steep slope from the top of the ridge, and headed down a ridge into the Itshana Elibovana valley below.



We would have been quite happy to tent near the river here, but across the valley there were some cattle and a herdsman (who we presumed to be under the influence) singing loudly. We couldn’t see where he was, and his singing never stopped or changed pitch, so we assumed he hadn’t seen us, but decided to head further downstream to tent away from this merry soul. We found evidence of large scale grass cutting in the valley, and another path which we followed downstream, eventually tenting near a wooded area near the confluence of the Itshana Elibovana and Ntonjelana eshonalanga rivers.

The next morning we walked out down the Rockeries Pass route, taking a break to collect water at the river, before entering the inhabited area downstream. The photo below shows Cathy, Tony and Sabine at the Ntonjelana eshonalanga river with the Saddle in the background. (Photo courtesy of Sabine.)



After passing the first couple kraals and getting onto the road, we passed a guy with a bakkie who was about to depart down the road towards the MCC and offered us a lift, without us even asking, so we accepted and were back at MCC before 10 o’clock.

Great write-up and photos Tony (as always)! And such an awesome out-of-the-box idea for a route. I should spend more time exploring the Little Berg.

I've been thinking of the possibility of following a contour path type route around the Mnweni for several years and this was the first stage of realising that. So when Sabine suggested a weekend hike at Mnweni, I looked at a few possibilities between the well known routes and we decided on this one.

It was really surprising to find so many paths up there, although quite frustrating once you just got going to have the path disappear under your feet. And those valleys east of the Outer Needle were really steep.

Ascending the ridge up to the Outer Needle it was also really surprising to find 5 or 6 very well used paths at about 1700 m running parallel with each other contouring around the slope, which need to be investigated.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) having done this route now, there were a whole lot more things revealed that require further exploration, those seldom walked valleys just offer so much besides the different views. We saw some caves along the way (at a distance) that looked quite awesome, one even with a rock wall built up in front of it, so will definitely require a revisit.

Thanks for the write up TM - such a nice, novel route that. I spent some time looking at the approach to Mponjwane evident in your photos - the non-escarpment one that is. There is a route up that line on Mponj but I don't think it gets many ascents.

I'm really curious about those paths you found on the traverse. Do you think they are game trails? They looked to be in better established than game trails. Is it possible that cows are looked after up there?

Yes, those paths were really puzzling and unexpected.

The ridge we ascended from the Dassie area was like a series of steps almost, with alternating flattish sections and steep sections. We had taken a break after one of the steep sections, on a flatter section, and heard a horse noise nearby, and looking around to find it soon spotted it walking beneath the next steep section. I called out to the horse, and it came running up and stopped about 10 m away from us, but wouldn't come closer, and didn't like it at all when I stood up and approached it (my wife has horses, so I am quite used to working with, and am confident around horses), running away, but soon turning around and returning. I had walked a bit after the horse and found the paths in the centre of the photo below, which I photographed when we ascended the next steep section. I checked on my gps, these five or six paths next to each other were at 1700 m. The Dassie is the ridge in the left background, the Nceda River in front of the Dassie, and the Mnweni River at the right background.



The paths seem to go into the Nceda valley, but we couldn't really see enough to be sure, and were all very clear and well used, although no tracks/prints were distinct to identify the use. The multiple paths suggest animal paths, and the horse right there too would possibly point to cattle using the area. I just can't imagine there being enough game there to make those paths.

We followed some vague paths a bit on the slopes of the Outer Needle, and then saw these paths in the photo below as we came around a spur into the next valley. We dropped down a bit to use the path, which went around the ridge to the left after a while when we needed to go right. The multiple paths to the left again suggest animal paths, but the right angle turn and path junction on the right aren't characteristic of animal paths (well not to me anyway), but why would people be walking enough here to make a path? We did see some Rhebuck in this area, and surprised one quite close by as we came around a corner.



The photo below was in the write up, and we followed this path a long way around the slopes to Intaba Inezilonda, where it just vanished to nothing from a strong path within 10 m. We found the path at the stream crossing behind the ladies, and looking back couldn't see any sign of it across the stream, and there were several areas along the path further on where cattle tracks were visible in dried mud. There was also a large flat plateau where the path disappeared, with steep slopes and cliffs surrounding it, and we thought this path could be from cattle grazing on the plateau using the path to get to the stream for water, so moving back and forth along the path but not crossing the stream.



Another view of a clear path across the valley in the photo below, running parallel with the top of the flat topped ridge.



Difficult to answer the origins of these paths with certainty, but I think the clearer well used paths could be from cattle, and the less distinct less used paths from game. Any opinions on this?

Thanks for the thorough reply Tony.
It looks like horses and cows. The area has probably been settled for close on 200 years and I would guess paths on the grassy slopes last a long time.
One way of understanding these paths is to compare them with what exists in Cathedral Peak, Injisuthi and Giants. Those areas will have been largely free of horses and certainly free of grazing cows for the last 80 years of so. Giants will have more Eland than the other areas and may provide the best insight into the kind of trails that these cow-like antelope could produce.

intrepid wrote: Our musings over the existence of these paths reflect the cultural lens through which we look at this area that we call "the Mnweni"

I agree. Although that lens also explains my curiosity about what goes on there in the first place. I only have a partial view, having only passed through the main valleys of Mnweni. I want to know more. The off-piste revelations that Tony has drawn attention to provides a rare opportunity.