Cowl Pass

Hi Wildingo,
I have attached the gpx. file of cowl pass.
Just take the route with a grain of salt as I think the gps started jumping around, especially towards the top of the pass. But I think it is pretty accurate for the lower 2/3rds of the pass.

I have also attach a gpx. file of my full route as I am not completely sure which one you were asking for.
Have a great day

Regards

In August 2025 Harry, Ruan and tonymarshall did an ascent of Cowl Pass from Injisuthi. We hiked up Van Heyningen’s Pass and overnighted in Wonder Valley Cave the first night, went up most of the pass via Shada Ridge and the contour path and overnighted in Cowl Cave the second night, and then completed the pass on the third day. 

The photo below shows Cowl Pass from near the contour path, with Monk’s Cowl the peak at the middle of the photo, and Champagne Castle on the left and Cathkin Peak on the right. Cowl Pass is the gully on the right of Monk’s Cowl, and Cowl Cave is at the top of the gully on the left.  

 

As the previous photo shows, the terrain at the lower section of the pass is very bushy. We managed to find a way up on the left (true right) of the stream, on a terrace just above the stream, without any issues with the bush. Once we got into the stream, we followed the boulder bed the rest of the way up, with a few minor detours to get past minor obstacles. I knew from reading the previous posts that there were some waterfalls on the pass that weren’t obvious, and that they could be bypassed on the right (true left) by exiting the boulder bed, and re entering after bypassing all the waterfalls. And so, in due course, we came upon the waterfalls without much warning. They were not very high, and thus there wasn’t a noticeable change in the gully to indicate where they were. The photo below shows the area where the three waterfalls are, in the shadow at the centre of the photo.  

 

It was apparent when we got to the base of the first waterfall that we had missed the place to exit the gully onto the right, and the waterfall didn’t look too difficult, so we decided to climb up it. I was able to scramble up with my pack on, but it was quite tricky, and I used my rope to haul the other guys packs up. The photo below shows the first waterfall (photo courtesy of Ruan).  

 

At the second waterfall I scrambled part way up with my pack on, and then passed it down to Ruan and continued to the top and hauled all three packs up. (photo courtesy of Harry)  

 

At the third waterfall we were familiar with hauling packs, so I scrambled up and got assistance from Ruan to get over an awkward chockstone, and then hauled all the packs up. There was a convenient rock above the chockstone to use as an anchor, so I tied the rope around it enabling the other guys to use the rope to come up. The photo below shows the view from the top of the third waterfall.  

 

We were up the waterfalls without any problems, although I wouldn’t have liked to down climb them. There was a fourth waterfall a short way above, but it was not difficult to ascend with packs on. With hindsight it would probably have been quicker to go back below the first waterfall and find a spot to exit the gully and bypass all the waterfalls on the true left, but it was quite fun although slow to ascend them. The photo below shows the view down the fourth waterfall.  

 

We continued up the gully, and just before the split of the two gullies either side of Monk’s Cowl, there was no more water in the stream. We collected water for the cave, even though we could see a lot of snow in the gullies above, and went up the left gully to Cowl Cave. The photo below shows the split of the two gullies, with Harry and Ruan going into the left gully.  

 

The view up the left gully.  

A view back down the left gully, with the lower section of Cowl Pass in the background.  

 

The gully was steep, and with the extra weight of the water our progress was slow, although there was no flowing water above where we had collected water, and that had been the right decision. We got to Cowl Cave after dark, and it was very windy at and in the cave. Cowl Cave is in the nek between Monk’s Cowl and Champagne Castle, at the top of the gullies, so is quite exposed to wind, and on the south or Champagne Castle side of the gully. I had been to Cowl Cave before, ascending the gully on the other side between Monk’s Cowl and Champagne Castle from Keith Bush camp, so had a good idea where to find the cave in the dark. 

The next morning we went back down the gully from Cowl Cave, having some fun sliding down in short patches of snow.  

 

The slopes of the traverse ledge around Monk’s Cowl to the top of Cowl Pass were covered with snow, as we had expected, and were too risky to chance, so we descended to almost where the two gullies join. I was in front and saw a possible traverse into the Cowl Pass gully, so went across using it. As I approached the Cowl Pass gully I saw another possible traverse a bit higher up and directed the others to it. The photo below shows where we traversed across, and the snow low down in the gully.  

 

A view up the top gully of Cowl Pass.  

 

We had seen the snow the day before, but it was unexpected how thick and continuous it was.  

 

In the lower section of the gully we could avoid the snow by walking on the edge of it, but higher up it was unavoidable to walk in the snow. Near the top of the pass I moved out onto the grass above the snow, but this wasn’t a good idea as there was ice in the grass and it was probably more treacherous than the snow. A view back down Cowl Pass from near the top.  

 

Our summit photo with tea at the top of Cowl Pass.  

 

We descended the other side towards Keith Bush camp.  

 

After lunch at water in the stream upstream of Keith Bush camp, we walked out in the afternoon, and tented that night at Blind Man’s Corner campsite. It was a great hike, good to finally do Cowl Pass, and fantastic to have the opportunity to overnight in Cowl Cave.

Thanks for the write up Tony.  
Is a nice trip.  I have done it twice both from the same side as you guys, once dropping over to Keith Bush camp, and the other using Cowl Cave.  We must have climbed that waterfall section, but for the life of me I just dont remember it.

My mind is very sketchy as I went that way about 30yrs ago. We had the old waterproof Drakensberg North maps, and there were no mentions of Cowl Pass on that, but one of our older MCSA members said that is was possible. So we set off from Keith Bush Camp in the morning climbed up to this neck which from that side, is just to the left of Monk's Cowl. From what I can gather this is now called Cowl Pass. I remember having tea in that neck and how impressed I was with the MSR boiling water in no time.

We descended the other side and I think we camped on the contour path that night. I remember a lot of boulders in a stream bed and I remember one party member rolling down a boulder which smashed my walking pole,
But for the life of me I cannot remember climbing past waterfalls or even having to rope down a waterfall. As I said my memory is vague,

Hi everyone

A group of us ascended Cowl Pass from the (would it be) Monks/Injisuthi side. We managed to find a songline on the right of the river that avoided much of the overgrowth and obstacles. 

Where the contour path reaches the river we turned into the pass. We stuck in the boulder bed for about 200m and then headed directly for the mound that can be seen below. 


From here we stuck on the grass banks on the right (river left) until about 2500m where we traversed back into the gully. There was one minor waterfall that we walked up. From here we continued straight for a very large boulder, crossing it on the left and continuing up a scree slope. The scree was steep but stable - giving way to a grassy bank to the top.