Traversing below the Black and Tan wall

Is it possible to traverse below the black and tan wall guys?

The images below are from Rwanqua pass in the north, to the gully immediately adjacent (north) of Pins pass.
On a recent descent of Ledges pass I looked at this area, couldn't quite see everything as a ridge in front of the Black and Tan wall obscured my view.

My proposed route follows the solid pink line, which looks doable. In theory . I think the gully of the dotted pink line might be too steep for hikers, will go check it out soon.

Anyone done it before? Is there a higher route that would be better perhaps?

Nobody done it yet? Or know of anybody that has done it?

Thanks Intrepid,

Your images partly confirms the route I am planning in my mind. That section of rock coming down on the left side (south) of the B&T wall is going to force us to take a lower approach line. Would have been nice if we could stay just below the cliff face but our line will more than likely be at the 2500m ASL level. 

Now there is just one more thing left to do: to go check out those 2 gullies

Hi Riaang, 

Although I have not done the traverse below the Black and Tan Wall you propose, it is quite possible to do it. Your pink line follows the ridge route down Rwanqa Pass into the river valley, follows the river upstream, and ascends one of the Black and Tan Wall Passes. I have done Rwanqa Pass, and both of the Black and Tan Wall Passes on separate occasions, so have basically done your route, although I went up Rwanqa Pass instead of down it. 

Going down the ridge route of Rwanqa Pass to the valley below means that you will descend to about 2200 or 2300 m, lower than your estimate of 2500 m. It is probably possible to do the traverse without dropping below 2500 m, which is the height where you would have to enter the north Black and Tan Pass gully below the cliffs (just above and to the right of the waterfall in intrepid’s photo), although it is very rough terrain and would probably be best to follow the route of your line, avoiding the lengthy sideslopes below the Black and Tan Wall. 

The north Black and Tan Pass (your dotted line) is actually easier than the south black and Tan Pass (your solid pink line). Unfortunately I had a disaster with my camera when I did the two Black and Tan Wall Passes, on my own, and haven’t got any photos, so can’t help you with photos or do pass write ups.

Here is a brief description of what I did. 

On the first day I walked in from MCC, and overnighted in the small cave south of the Rwanqa River on the approach to Rwanqa Pass. On the second day I went up the valley, ascended the north Black and Tan Wall Pass, and descended the south one, heading down river again to overnight in the small cave in the ridge north of the Rwanqa River. On day three I walked out back to MCC. 

The north Pass was pretty standard, with no difficult obstacles (the high waterfalls near the junction of the two passes streams in intrepid’s photo was quite easy to bypass on the grass slope on the true right) and I was at the top at about 11h00. As can be seen on your satellite image, and the contour maps, this pass has two variations at the top, and I did the southern variation as per the dotted pink line on your image. From below I could look up
the northern variation, and I went to look down it from above, and it certainly looks doable too.  

I headed along the highway path to the top of the south Pass, and had lunch at the top before descending. About half way down there is a significant obstacle, a chockstone about 5 m high. My first instinct was to turn around and go back up, it was really scary, but when I had a good look down the pass, I could see that there were no other significant obstacles or cliffs lower down that couldn’t be bypassed on adjacent grass slopes, and could see the lower slopes that I had seen when ascending along the river in the morning. I didn’t have any climbing gear, but had a nylon rope in case I had to
haul my pack, so I lowered my pack down, and then downclimbed the rock, quite a tough and scary experience, after a few seconds of hanging on your hands feeling around with your feet for a foothold you start to doubt your strength and grip. The rest of the way down was fine, with a few detours on grass slopes to bypass waterfalls. I walked out the same way I had come in, down the river to the Rwanqa River, and then along the path to the main Mnweni path.  

It was quite a hard day (I took my pack up and down, as I wasn’t sure if I would get up or down, or would get up and have to come down Rwanqa or Pins, or some other alternative plan), but very worthwhile. It really was awesome to be among the spires in intrepid’s photo. 

You should be able to do the traverse you propose in a day, although I would suggest to rather use the north Black and Tan Wall Pass than the south one.

Well done Tony, you have made history again. Those 2 passes/gullies have been eyed out for a while now....congrats!!!!

Well done Tony

I admit I am surprised the 2nd gully goes. I had a good look at the area while doing Inner Mnweni Pinnacle earlier this year, so knew that the first gully would go. The second gully looks very steep from the pinnacles.

@Riaang. Possible ways to finish off your traverse. You can easily pass through the gully between escarpment and Inner Pinnacle. Go up to get to Pins Cave and the escarpment or go down. Alternatively, aim for the point where the gullies from the 2 saddles either side of Inner Pinnacle intersect. From here,traverse under the Outer Pinnacle and Neffie onto a ridge leading into the Mnweni valley.

Hi everyone,

It’s been quite a while since I have posted anything major on VE, which was probably my previous post in this thread, about doing the Black and Tan Wall Passes and not getting any photos.

I’ve had a hectic few years at work, with little spare time, and have done another long work stint in Africa, and haven’t been to the berg for about a year. Anyway, that is hopefully changing, the project I am working on in Zambia is nearing completion, my workload is reducing and allowing some time to do other things than continuous non stop work, and I should be back home by the end of September, with a few months to take off work for all the extra time I have spent working while I have been away. So in the next few months I hope to catch up on my life, some lost time in the berg, and also the backlog of pass write ups for VE, which will probably be a slower process than I expect.

I will start with an update on the “camera disaster” I had when I did the Black and Tan Wall Passes.

I was too embarrassed at the time to say that I lost my camera on the evening after doing the passes as I got near Shepherds Cave 2, the cave I was overnighting in. I searched for it in the 300 m or so I could determine I had lost it in, from when I remembered last using it, until I noticed it was gone from the (open) pouch I carry it in. About 50 m of that was in quite thick bush, and I couldn’t really search properly in the bush and thorns without gloves or something sturdy to move and look under the grass and bush. I assumed that that was where I had lost it, as I had slipped and nearly fallen, and the camera could have fallen out then, or the lanyard could have hooked on a branch and pulled the camera out. I didn’t find it, and had quite a dejected walk back to MCC. Back at home I wondered a lot about going back to look for the camera more thoroughly, and decided it was worth going back and searching again. Mia, my wife, also thought that I should go back, and suggested that she wanted to come with me! She was curious about the Mnweni Marathon route, and had wanted to see Madonna and Her Worshippers for a long time, after seeing them in photos, although she accepted that she would never see them from above, she thought it might just be possible from below. I watched the weather forecast for a clear period, and in January 2019 we went back to look for the camera again, with gloves, bush knife and grass slasher.

So the plan was to walk in and overnight at Five Star Cave on the first day, search around Shepherds Cave 2 for the camera on the second day, overnight at Shepherds Cave, and walk out on the third day, and it worked out exactly like that. It was also a very interesting hike, because I carried all Mia’s stuff in addition to my own, and she just carried some snacks and water for the day, and her camera, on her first overnight hike in more than 20 years, and first hike at Mnweni.

After the long slog up the ridge to Shepherds Cave 2, we searched the open area of grass and protea trees first, and then nearer to the cave, the bush I had walked through, probing in the bush and moving it with the grass slasher to see better. At mid morning this was completed, and we hadn’t found the camera. We had a morning tea break, when I decided I would slash the bush from where I remember slipping and falling up to where I noticed the camera was gone, a section of about 15 m long. I did this after tea, slashing a section about 2m wide, and just before I was ready to give up, a slash through a shrub revealed the camera under the shrub, virtually at the point where I originally realised it was missing.

So mission accomplished, camera retrieved, and Mia got to see Madonna and Her Worshippers from near Five Star Cave in afternoon and morning light, and a good understanding of the first half of the Mnweni Marathon, without the effort of the approach to Mnweni Pass or the pass. The camera doesn’t work anymore, the batteries were completely flat when I tested them, so I can only guess that rain getting into the camera caused a short and drained the batteries, and damaged the camera electronics in the process. The memory card and photos were fine, which is what I wanted, and I will soon do the pass write ups as the first part of my VE catching up.

Regards
Tony