Mini Hike Reports

This weekend, my father and I went up Tseketseke Pass, stayed in one of the Ndumeni Dome Caves, and descended via The Camel. The Cathedral Peak area is currently covered in firebreaks, many on the upper slopes above the contour path. They were burning one on the hills opposite Cathedral Peak Hotel when we set out, and the crackling coming across the valley was astonishingly loud. We could still hear it as we approached Ribbon Falls; I can only imagine how terrifying a wildfire must be.


Here is the approach to the Tseketseke Valley, showing the extensive firebreaks:

Our night in Tseketseke Hut was cold, considerably colder than our night on the escarpment.

This was my first time up Tseketseke, which offers exquisite views back down the pass. It's probably best done in autumn or winter, like Cockade, as the shrubbery on the lower grassy sections could become frustrating in summer. The steepness of the upper slopes is unrelenting.


At the summit, we were greeted by the rather concerning sight of smoke pluming out of the top of Cockade; a Basotho was hollering somewhere. I supposed this to be another firebreak, but the upper part of Cockade, above the rocky section, seems an odd place for a firebreak to be done.

Fortunately, the smoke had died down by the time we were up on the plateau en route to Cleft Peak.

We started losing the light as we made our way to the Ndumeni Dome Caves, so I suggested that we try the Lower Ndumeni Caves, which I mistakenly thought to be down Organ Pipes Pass.

Luckily, when we got to the top of Organ Pipes, we heard some loud voices bellowing up from below, so we stuck to the original plan. We didn't manage to find running water in the tributary coming down from the top of Thuthumi Pass, but we had enough to see us through the night. We followed the cairns, which took us first to Roland's Cave, a prospect that appealed to neither of us - not in the dusk or at any other time (what if a bowel movement were to creep up on one during the night? I sure as heck wouldn't want to negotiate that ledge in the dark). Had I known the correct location of the Lower Ndumeni Caves, we would have gone down the gully. In any case, we carried on up, looking for the Dome Caves. By this point my pops was resigning himself to sleeping out in the open under an overhang (the weather was perfect, as it happened - perfectly still and mild), but we found the cairns to the north-western cave just before dark. This cave is just big enough for two people.

The view from outside the cave, towards the Bell Traverse, in the morning:


In the pic below, taken from the shallow valley coming up to Thuthumi Pass, I've marked the location of the north-eastern cave. Could someone please indicate the location of the north-western cave? I was unable to find it, despite quite intent searching at the same level.


We descended via The Camel, and here again you can see the high firebreaks:


The route felt exposed at only a few points, where one crosses over a narrow rock-ledge or the path skirts above sheer slopes. Here is pops negotiating the tricky section, which is not that tricky in good weather: you can simply walk across it.


I have to say that the amount of litter on The Camel was truly disgusting (the packet attached to my father's pack in the pic above is full of it). We found bottles, wrappers, even a nappy. This route is clearly being used regularly by the Basothos - we encountered a young man later, just after Ribbon Falls, who was presumably going to ascend that way - and I really wish KZN Wildlife would do a bit more patrolling of, and enforcement in, the area - or at least put a "don't litter" sign at the start of the path. If these people were only visiting relatives or doing some smuggling, I would turn a blind eye, but they're desecrating what should be a pristine natural environment. Aside from that ugly reminder of the nobility of our species, it was a great hike.

Correct, at the bottom of the rock band on the same level as the 2 man cave,about max 150m or so Northwards, I'd say the middle or right circle.
Very easy to find, if you carried on far enough you would have bumped into it.

Quite tight, VERY low, but we managed to squeeze 4 adults into this alternate cave. Not one if you are claustrophobic

Thanks, Riaang and Smurf. I thought the one with more floor-room would also have more head-room, but it seems the two-man was best for us lanky fellows.

We spent 5 days in the Berg over the long weekend in September hiking up to the escarpment in the Upper Injasuti cave area. We left from Giants Castle and our aim for the first day was to tent near the bottom of Judges Pass. The weather did not play along and we spent the morning trudging along in thick mist which changed to a steady drizzle by the time we reached Bannermans Hut for lunch. We were glad to have a little shelter for a while and met some fellow hikers who had attempted to climb Bannermans Pass earlier and bailed, returning to the hut as conditions were so miserable. We headed out in to the gloom and cold again and fortunately found a path for most of the way.I had heard that it was practically non existent but it was not too bad at all. It was growing colder and wetter and I for one was very pleased to reach our tent site and put up our tents, and then try and get warm. It seemed that everything was wet and damp despite rain gear and backpack covers - that persistent drizzle gets in to everything! Poor Farouk spent a very uncomfortable and cold night with a leak in his tent and wisely decided to return to camp the following morning. It turned out to be a good decision given the extreme weather conditions we were to endure later………..
We got off to a very misty but thankfully rainless start, and as we headed upwards, I could not help remembering our epic snow hike up Judges Pass of some years back. Although visibility was poor, we could hear the voices of another group that were slightly ahead of us - they had come up from the Injasuti side. This was Henks group - they were headed for the top and intended to camp at the top of Leslies pass that night - a long way, but they were young and strong - say no more…... It was great meeting up with you guys Henk! We were nearing the top of the pass when the clouds started to part and we could see blue sky - great excitement! A strong wind was blowing on the escarpment and we had lunch behind the shelter of a rocky ridge before heading for the long, sustained climb that is the back of the Trojan Wall. Our intention was to try and find John Hones campsite - this is on the cover of his well known book ‘Encounters with Dragons’. We found the spot and set up our tents and enjoyed the magnificent view.




I have been to this area several times and never get tired of the amazing scenery. The following day was to be spent relaxing and taking in the sights - Richards son, Jeremy was along on the hike with us and keen to experience the sights and sounds of the mountains. He had last hiked with his Dad when he was 12 or so. It was still quite early when we noticed the growing darkness of the skies to the north of us - something was brewing and it was coming fast! Within minutes the winds hit us, accompanied by driving rain and we all got into our tents rather hurriedly. What happened in the next half an hour was astonishing - I have never experienced such a storm and there were many anxious moments when I imagined our tents and us being sent over the escarpment. We were all holding on to our tent poles for dear life and hoping for the best. After what seemed an age the gale force winds abated and the worst of the storm was over us and heading into KZN. Luckily all of the tents held up but it was quite sobering to think of what could have happened. After this bit of excitement, we thought it would be a good idea to spend that night in Upper Injasuti Cave as the forecast was for more bad weather and the possibility of snow. So we packed up and collected water and went up to the cave where we settled in. I am glad to report that the cave is clean and habitable again - the last time I was here the locals had been burning fires and it was pretty dirty. Mind you, we did discover some rubbish that some hikers had left behind in a heap - sad but true. Hylton carried this out with him when we left. Thora and I went for a walk down to the river and to the waterfall that plunges over the edge in front of the Eastern Triplet, whilst Jeremy and Hylton set off for Mafadi and Red Wall Peak. The river is still flowing but the waterfall is a small stream going over the edge. The wind was still gusting quite strongly and dark clouds kept scudding across the sky so we kept an eye on the weather. I am always surprised as to how deceptive the distance looks down to the edge of the escarpment from the cave - a lot further and steeper than it looks. We decided to make our way back to the cave when a few drops of rain started falling and the skies grew darker. Fortunately the guys got back just as the rain started again and for the remainder of the afternoon, we chilled in the cave. Chilled is the operative word as it was pretty cold and it did not take me long to get right in to my sleeping bag. As we settled in for an early night, the wind became more fierce and continued to grow in strength. After supper I awoke a few hours later ( only 9.00pm!) to find myself and sleeping bag covered in dust and sand from the wind that came sweeping in. It was raining hard and it sounded like we were in the middle of a hurricane - the gusting winds were horrific accompanied by thunder and lightning. When we shone our torches into the black gloom, we could see that the rain was being swept sideways. We also saw snow showers coming over the front of the cave, but these came and went due to the ferocity of that wind. Any toilet breaks were completed in record time! All I could think was that I was so glad we had elected to stay in the cave - had we been out there in the elements I have no doubt that our tents would have been shredded. But……the excitement was not over for the night. I had no sooner settled back into my bag when I detected the sound of scrabbling nails on our ground sheet above the noise of the storm. Up I shot and shone my head torch to reveal a rather large rat sitting as calm as you please on my pillow - not even a cute little mouse but a huge rodent! Richard chased him out the cave but as you can imagine there was not much rest for me for the remainder of the night - I was sure he ( or she) would be back! After a long night while the wind and rain continued to rage, dawn broke to bruised skies. After taking some photos and then breakfast, we packed up and headed back down the Trojan Wall - there were snow drifts here and there and ice was thick against the rocks. Mafadi was covered in some snow and the mountains further back in Lesotho were white. The sun was out and the wind a lot less fierce so it looked like the day was improving. We were headed in the direction of Bannermans Pass, so went past Judges and then through the saddle of Popple Peak before hiking down towards the Bannermans Valley campsite. There was very little water in the river, the driest I have seen it in some years. We set up camp in the usual GT campsite and walked downstream to find water. We spent a leisurely afternoon and enjoyed the sight of the mass of clouds that were pushing up against the escarpment before another early night in the mountains. That night however was pretty freezing - we think it must have gone down to minus 8 or 9 degrees - the water was frozen in the morning. The wind continued to blow but as we descended Bannermans it got warmer and more sheltered and it was not long before we were hauling off all our layers of gear. It was a beautiful day and we completed the remainder of our hike down the ridge in glorious sunshine enjoying the views we had been denied on our first day.

All in all a great hike with wonderful friends and family, a lot of weather, and yet another one for the memory books!

Great write up as always @Elinda
Treasured days spent in the Drakensberg!!!!
You can also see my photos of the same hike at this link.... richardhuntphotographer.blogspot.co.za/p/upper-injashuti.html

Brilliant photos and write-up - thanks Elinda! Sounds like quite an experience

elinda wrote: This was Henks group - they were headed for the top and intended to camp at the top of Leslies pass that night - a long way, but they were young and strong - say no more…... It was great meeting up with you guys Henk!

Awesome post Elaine, love your and Richard's photos . Seams like we just missed all the excitement . It was really nice to meet up with you guys in the mountain, hope we can do it again .

Regards

Henk

What began as a trip to Wonder Valley Cave, organised for my niece (a doctor at Mseleni Mission Hospital), so she could introduce some foreign doctors to the Drakensberg, turned out to be more a family trip (with some foreign flavour). Besides two doctors and the brother of one of them, the group included two of my daughters, their husbands and my two grand-daughters. Jessica (5 years old) was on her third trip (see A Legacy continued... and Overnight Hiking trip with Kids ) and Julia (2+ years old) on her first experience of the Drakensberg. Jessica refused any assistance until near the cave (10 km). Both thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The weather was good to us (before the recent October snow dump), with a spectacular thunderstorm on our second day. The UK doctor (Patrick), his brother Dug and Kylan were caught in the storm on Shada Ridge and were left with a lasting impression of the fierceness of the Dragon.

Patrick, who is completing his SA training in December, wanted more of the Drakensberg, so a week later (after the snow dump) I took them on a quick trip up the Amphitheatre and to Ifidi Cave. They were suitably impressed and grateful for the opportunity to experience more of the Drakensberg than just a photo-shoot up the chain-ladders. It was great to observe their fresh enthusiasm and awe.

Our group ready to hike

Jessica - part of the gang

Julia - hiking the easy way

Meal-time and play-time

Time to take a nap

A clear, beautiful morning

Patrick, Dug and myself ready to tackle the escarpment

A nicely flowing Tugela

Sunrise from Ifidi Cave

Iced Grass

This past Saturday @simedejong @MuggyIceGoat and I had a crack at the Northern Berg Traverse from Sentinal Chain ladders to Cathedral Peak.

Simons folks live at Monks Cowl, so the three of us met up there and his Dad kindly drove us around to Witsieshoek where we all four of us stayed in the lavishly priced hikers' hut. The drive into Witsies was slow due to the mist and the car temperature gauge touched -1 shortly before we arrived at the resort. That night there was much trepidation over what the following morning would hold for us weather-wise, mostly because none of us wanted to carry any more warm clothes in our trail running packs than we needed too.

The 3 am wake-up alarm came too soon. A glance out the window revealed cold and misty conditions but we got ourselves geared up, had a quick coffee and slowly drove the 7 or so km's up to the sentinal car park. We eventually set off at about 4:45 and began making our way up towards the chain ladders. There was a lot of ice and most of the grass was covered in a thick layer of it. Eventually, we got above the mist and we could see that we were in for an amazing day and not the long cold trudge we had thought were in for.

The chain ladders were iced up, so we took care here, especially myself, not being a fan of dangling off of vertical drop-offs. Then it was up Mont Aux Sources and down into the Khubedu valley. We set into a good steady routine of running the valley sections when we could and walking the rest.

Interestingly, we did not see one single shepherd or any livestock until we hit the valley behind Nguza and Ntonjelana pass. All of the Motibo seemed to be freshly thatched, so perhaps they were still waiting for the last cold snaps to pass before returning.

As we dropped down into the Kwakwatsi valley just behind Ntonjelana pass a donkey train suddenly appeared out of the mist. There must have been about 12 animals all fully laden with Basotho gold. We kept out of their way and moved on and within a few minutes happened on another group of people, this time a group of foreigners on a guided hike with porters.

By now we had almost done 50km and were back in the wet and mist. We headed up towards the escarpment to the head of Mlambonja pass and over the saddle to Twins cave where we had a short break before heading down the Bell Traverse. Having never done the traverse before, I was a little worried (not having the best head for heights) about the wet conditions but we managed to get through unscathed. The worst section for me is definitely the drop down onto the traverse just after Twins. A slip here would make you dead. All of the other sketchy sections I had heard about had no real exposure or had new detours in the grass.

The old legs really felt the final pull over Bugger gulch gully where we finally managed to make a call to Simons dad to tell him we were on our way down. Turned out he had been sitting at the hotel for a few hours watching the Sharks lose the rugby.

Then it was some blissfully runnable trail down the ridgeline below Cathedral peak until darkness took over and headlamps were on again with us eventually finishing on the dirt road opposite the river where our lift had come to collect us, having seen the lights coming down the hill.

Total distance: 64.2km
Total Time: Roughly 14:45
Moving time: 10:59

Thanks, Colin and Simon for a great trot in the mountains.

Pics attached are from all of our phones and in no particular order