Gray’s Pass

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So next weekend I should finally get to do Gray's Pass

I have downloaded a GPS track, checked the route on my photos from the top of Sterkhorn (you can see the path for at least half of the route on my one photo) and have read Stijn's RD of the pass (very informative, thanks )

Anything important I need to know?

We are heading up from Monk's Cowl offices in the morning and pushing right through to Nkosazana Cave. The next morning we will be up bright and early and try to get the sunrise from Cowl View Peak (I think it's also known as Champagne Castle Ridge Peak), and reversing the route to get back.

My time guidelines are roughly:
- Aim to leave car park by 7:30
- After leaving car park at 8, be at Blind Man's Corner by 10
- Be at Keith Bush by 1
- Be on the escarpment by 4
- Find Nkosazana before its too dark (although we are carrying a tent and I have the GPS co-ord)

I will be carrying a gas stove for the first time this year - have to be prepared for having to melt ice etc, plus soup is always a pick-me-up in winter...

Since it takes a ridge/slope line, Gray's is a dry pass. The snow may have helped but I'd still be drinking lots at every opportunity after Blind Man's corner noting that Keith Bush can sometimes be dry too. Nkosa cave is not hard to find if there is no mist.

Hi Intrepid

For those of us who enjoy the non-technical aspects of VE for photos, mountain portrayals, trip reports and occasional intelligent discussions on Berg issues, the use of descriptors that are also non GPS related such as the above Gray's Pass alert is much appreciated. Some readers may share my avoidance of GPS tools and data while relishing the more literary depictions of the reasons we go to the Berg in the first place. I certainly dont go to share GPS points(!) I'd prefer to relish the "taste and smell" of what the mountains are about. For each his own but thanks for accommodating all likes.

Hi Thomas,
I'm writing as one who found all the Berg caves I know without GPS, so I share some of your views. But why, exactly, do you not like GPS? Does objecting to having a map not amount to the same principle?

I'm kind of replying to questions not directed my way, but anyway

Personally I like GPS devices for statistical reasons (e.g. average speed and how long your breaks have been), they also help with pacing. Otherwise I will always trust my eye and Berg knowledge over a device that works out where I am based on random man-made objects floating around in space. That being said, I don't expect I could find a pass summit or cave in thick mist unless I get really lucky - so its a good backup to have.

I've been looking at my photos from Sterkhorn and spotting the pass line (you can clearly see at least the first km of the pass). If I am correct, the topo of the pass is roughly this:


The blue line would be the lower path is very exposed if I have this right?

ghaznavid wrote: The blue line would be the lower path is very exposed if I have this right?

The photo captures a scene which has x,y and z dimensions. If x is width (left to right), y is depth (in and out of the screen) and z is height, then the y dimension is collapsed in the photo and this has the effect of everything looking steeper and more exposed than it is.....