Gray's Pass - Ships Prow Pass Loop

Ok, so we had an awesome hike this weekend, we found water as advised above on the way to Grays pass and there was a bit of water at KBC. Going up Grays we found icicles and a little bit of snow remaining on Saturday morning, but by now that will be long gone, so take it no water till you get to the top of Ships. Then going down Ships we found water on and off at the bottom of the pass. At certain places it would flow on top and then disappear underground only to appear again 300m further. Problem is, 300m down the bottom of Ships takes quite a while with all that thick undergrowth. And me being 2m tall didn't help when I had to crawl underneath some of the tree branches. From Ships plenty of water back around to Blind Man's corner.

Hi Viking,

Yes Sir, will do so soon , just finished catching up with emails and outstanding work

Hi there kind folks

I am planning a three day trip up Ships Prow and down Grays at the end of January, and need the usual points of advice please:

Doability - one noobie on the trip, and one relatively inexperienced.
Water and caves along the way - starting from Monks Cowl.

Equipment includes all the essentials, GPS, tents etc... Fitness up to scratch (in training already)...

I would like to be able to go up Ships and across to the head of Grays in a day on day 2. How long would that take, rough estimate?

Anybody with a GPS track of a route, please.

Thanks again.

Good old Gray's - not one of my favourites, but a really scenic pass.

I haven't done Ships Prow, but I have done Gray's and did KBC again earlier this year with MCSA JHB. Elinda has a nice writeup on both (I think they are called "and the crown goes to" and "the gray matter"). I also have a writeup (something like "the dragon's breath" - can't remember the exact name). Stijn also has a blog on both. Plenty of info on these passes on this site!

Its a classic - enjoy and good luck

Hi DarkwingDave,

I did it with my wife and two complete novices about two months ago. Posted a trip report, think it was called "Round trip Grays to Ships pass" or something like that.

So, not technically difficult (we struggled a bit n the up section on Grays when we missed the split in the path to the higher route and ended up with a scary bit of exposed scrambling, going down you shouldn't have any trouble staying on the upper route).

Ships is a long pass so as long as everyone is fit it shouldn't be a problem. The not so nice section is the approach, as you are in for LOTS of bundu bashing, which is quite tiring. We went criss crossing the approach area, budu bashing, then down the rocks, then down the rocks in the riverbed, then back to bundu bashing. My advise, stay in the riverbed and boulderhop till you get out of the gully. Some big rocks where you will have to go around (I had some short people on the trip and they struggled a bit with some of the higher steps).

I got a track from Sabrine, pop me a mail then I will forward it to you.
We camped in tents - KBC, then at the bottom of Ships. Don't really know of nice usable caves in this area (Nkosazana cave wet in summer).

Enjoy!

Hi DD,
Like Riaang, I've done the same loop as you are proposing but in reverse order (up Grays, down Ships). Most are likely to agree that the route: up Ships, Down Grays is harder than: up Grays, down Ships. So I take it you are aware of this and want to do it the harder way!

If you do end up going up Ships, my advice would be to clear as much of the bundu bashing as you can on day 1 and stop somewhere about 2 hours above the contour path but before the start of the steep bit of the pass itself - i.e. in the river valley. The skill will be in finding somewhere flat enough to camp.

The alternative is to go Keith Bush on Day 1, up Grays and down Ships Day 2 and home on day 3 - as Riaang and I did on separate occasions.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I tend to try and make day 1 the hardest (ask my cousin Phreedom ). Am still chewing on a few ideas. Might even do Cowl Pass to the cave and down the other side to KBC the next day, maybe on to Zulu Cave from there and then back to Monk's Cowl campsite for a thorough exploration of the area. First time in the area...

If we do the Ships - Grays loop, the plan would be to get the bushwacking whacked on day 1 and get up and over on day 2. Can you access Cowl Cave from the escarpment... doesn't look like it, but maybe?

Shot

DarkwingDave wrote: Can you access Cowl Cave from the escarpment... doesn't look like it, but maybe?

Shot

Not without a very, very long abseil off the escarpment!

Up to Cowl Cave from the road via Keith Bush is possible in a long day. I've done it a few times with novices. The other side is a bit more tricky.