The Mt Aux Sources - Amphitheatre - Tugela thread

Hi temp1e and welcome to this forum.

I can totally relate to planning a trip to another country and trying to maximise your time and see as much as possible. I'm sure you've experienced it many times that what you see on a map or read on the web doesn't always give an accurate picture of what its really like out there. Lots of sound info and advice has already been given on this topic, and this seems to have helped you in shaping a more realistic goal.

Your fitness level sounds quite good. If at the time this serves to your advantage in that you manage to do the trails quite quickly - then great! But rather count on this as a bonus. Things don't always go so smoothly in the mountains and even in my own trips, sometimes the combination of weather, difficulty of navigation and terrain, fitness and endurance levels of the group (and most importantly the mood of the group), don't always work well together. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I just plain underestimate my own goals.

I agree with others - I would head up to Sentinel Car Park early in the morning and do that walk first. If you have any time left at all then do the gorge walk later in the day or the next morning. You have a higher chance of walking in the clouds up there than above them.

Also when you say you want to climb Mont-Aux-Sources, do you mean that you simply want to hike up the escarpment via the Chain Ladders and go see the Falls, or do you literally mean that you want to include the summit peak of Mont-Aux-Sources in your trip? The former is very popular with a pretty good trail all the way. The latter is less popular and there is not much of a trail taking you to the top. Its still possible to do all of that in one day, but it makes the day considerably longer.

Can I enter the park in the very early morning?

Gate times are 06h00-22h00
Check out www.kznwildlife.com/index.php?/Royal-Natal-National-Park.html

Can I reach thendele hutted camp with a car?

Yes, but as already mentioned by drsnoobab, there is a car park before that camp where you would start walking from.

In the early November are the roads going to be good still?

Anything is possible, but I wouldn't be concerned about the road - agree with bigberg. Occasionally under heavy snow this road gets problematic (June-August) and the heavy rains tend to be around February. The road is paved with bricks up to Witsieshoek Resort and very pleasant to drive. After that its steep, bumpy dirt, with one short section which typically is rough but nothing major. Shortly before the car park it is paved once again. Note that you pay R15 pp at gate at the bottom.

How much km are from Sentinel to the top?

Its about 6.3km from the car park to Tugela Falls via the Chain Ladder, according to my GPS tracks, so that agrees well with bigberg's 5km to the top (at the Chain Ladders). Typically 2.5-3 hours of walking, though this can be quicker or slower depending on your fitness level and pack weight.

What is the attitude of the Sentinel car park.

Yep, my GPS measures around 2550m.

There are 2 mentioned paths from Mahai camp via Basuto gate to Witzieshoek Resort and from Mahai via the Neck to Sentinel Car Park road. They have a gps tracks also. The second path is stated closed. How is the current condition with those 2 paths? I hope at least one of them is opened so I don't need to drive 2 more hours

As mentioned already, walking up to the car park is not the best option for you and would take you much longer anyway. Much better to drive and you'll have more energy. For the record, you'd need to walk to Witsieshoek Resort from the bottom and then along the dirt road from there. The trail up to The Neck has been closed, yes, in order to let it rehabilitate after many years of frequent use. Its not that far from the resort anyway.

Is it easy to get lost there without gps tracks?

How well are marked the trails there. I really don't need marks for my first part as it winds around the river. Is it easy to follow the path (Sentinel Car Park to the top of the summit) If it is not marked?

If you are just going to the Falls via the Chain Ladders, the path is well established. However, generally speaking, yes, it is easy to get lost in the Drakensberg, especially on the escarpment, and especially if you are unfamiliar with the area. Make sure you can find your way back to the Chain Ladder when you are on top. It also gets very misty and visibility can be reduced to 20-30m. Don't underestimate this.

In my travel guide I found that only 50 people can climb to mount-aux-sources daily. Is this limitation true and how they count the people wishing to go there?

I don't think the guys at the car park regulate this, especially if you are not staying overnight. We were there a week ago for the Sentinel Centenary Climb and there were a lot more than 50 people around.

You have already been warned about potential security problems up there. Be sure to read some of the security related articles on this site. Don't leave your gear unattended.

Also be aware of the dangers in these mountains. Over the years several lives have been lost in various incidents on the trail between Sentinel Car Park and Tugela Falls. Take adequate mountain gear with you, extra food, headlamp, good map, and also a cell phone (write down the phone numbers and note the rescue procedure which should be posted in the car park office where you sign the rescue register).

I hope you have a fantastic trip to South Africa! Please do post back on this thread afterward and let us know how it all went and what your experiences were. We hope that the Drakensberg will leave you as enchanted as the rest of us are on this forum!

Thanks for posting those links temp1e, I enjoyed the photos! No doubt you have spent some time in the mountains. Please take our advice and caution as friendly concern. We see far too many people set off on the trail to the Amphitheatre who are ignorant of the mountains.

I've had an idea of how you will make your intended walks a whole lot more manageable in one day. I don't know where you were intending to spend the night before, but you could drive up to Witsieshoek Resort that night instead. From there its under half and hour drive to the car park. You could get going very early in the morning and do the walk to the Falls up the Chain Ladders. From there you'd drive to RNNP and do the Gorge Walk with the time that is left. This way the day is a lot more enjoyable and do-able. They only serve breakfast there at 7 though, so you'd either have to skip it or eat it very quickly.

You can also sleep at Sentinel Car Park. Very basic dormitory with bunk beds. No electricity and sometimes no water. And you'd have to bring along your own food and sleeping bag.

SeriousTribe2 wrote:

There also used to be a run, from Royal Natal NP, up Gudu pass to Witsieshoek, on to the carpark, up the ladder and down via Buttress Gully, to car park and back to RNNP, in a day [and for some a few hours no doubt]. I thought you might be after something similar. I am not sure if this event still takes place but it was deff for the SERIOUSLY-FIT-MARGINALLY-INSANE-ENDORPHIN-ADDICT.

Yep, it still takes place and has just been recently. See the latest blogs.


temp1e wrote:

By the way can anyone advice me where is the best view point toward the falls? And also am I going to see the full length of the fall while on Mount-aux-sources track.

At the falls, if you walk a few hundred meters away on either side, along the edge, you will get to fairly good view points for the upper half of the falls. I don't think there is a place where you can see the full length, it cascades too much.