Mini Hike Reports

On Wednesday this week, Fred and I did a scouting trip for an upcoming trail run he is guiding soon. The route was from Cathedral Peak Hotel to Monk's Cowl, via Camel & Gray's Passes - 48km with bang on 3000m of climb. I've got Expedition Africa coming up next week, so used this as a perfectly-timed training hike, with some solid time on the feet. We didn't do any running on this scouting mission, but kept up a brisk walking pace all day.

The day was pretty much perfect, with blue skies and interesting patterns in the very high clouds (clearly pre-empting the cold front which just dumped some snow this weekend). It was quite chilly on top with a strong icy wind blowing, but we were well kitted out with the necessary jackets etc. I got to summit 2 new peaks (Didima Dome & Buttress) as it was the first time I didn't take the Yodeler's Cascades route in this section. Loved the gully route on Didima Buttress as a much more spectacular alternative!

We started an hour before dawn and finished an hour after dusk, for a 14-hour day in total. I just love these long days in the mountains!!

And the GoPro highlights video here:

On Saturday I lead a team of 12 up Rhino as a day hike as event #1 of the MCSA Mountain Challenge. We started walking at 7AM and were back by 6:10PM, just late enough to need headlamps at the end.

All 12 got up, and the snow on Mashai Pass made for an awesome day out. Notably our oldest member was 73!

Weather couldn't have been more perfect - it was cool with no wind. Most people were carrying down jackets, but I don't recall anyone actually put one on.

We met up with Karen M's team on the summit, hence the summit shot of 17 members. They spent Friday and Saturday night in Pillar Cave.



I finally got to use my crampons and ice axe - which both came in handy - although a trekking pole would have worked just as well as the ice axe - as the snow wasn't very deep.

Nice photos Smurfatefrog.

At the end of April I decided to hike the Central Jarateng and Giants loop. Over the coarse of the 3 days I had really good weather. I decided to look up Intrepid's cosy cave, and spent the first night there. I felt a bit like a caveman, having to do everything in the cave bent over or crouching. Nevertheless, the night was pleasant, with an occasional bat flying over my sleeping bag for company. There was a drip right in front of the cave, maybe able to fill 100mL in 2 minutes. During wintertime, it probably dries up.

On the second day, I was up early and started walking by 7:00 am, going up the last part of the C Jarateng pass. A very steep grass slope, but quite manageable.
The view from Mount Durnford towards Giants (just after 8 am)

After some mist started to roll in by 12 am, I decided to abandon the thought of walking to Giants Castle peak for safety reasons. I made a quick detour to the escarpment cave around the corner from where Giants pass peaks out. The cave is not very deep, but would provide some shelter. Also a small grassy area in front of the cave to pitch a tent. It is however very close to the escarpment face, so I do not recommend any sleepwalkers camping there.

Another highlight of my trip was camping near the contour path, and having spectacular views of Giants and Long Wall. I also saw a herd of 20 Eland on the third day, when descending Giants ridge (about 2100m asl).

Overall, I enjoyed hiking alone and I am glad I decided to do it for the experience. No issues, also I did not see a single shepherd on the top of the escarpment. However, probably 20 horses scattered and grazing in the Jarateng valley. I will probably do it again sometime, but on the other hand it is also nice to share these type of experiences with companions.

Smurfatefrog,

That pic of yours on the near vertical section (guy with an orange bag cover with a VE buff over his head - [nice buff , looks remarkably similar to mine ) ]), where was that pic taken?

Can't seem to remember the spot. Was it there in the vicinity of the chessmen? I seem to remember a spot thereabouts where the path dissapears and you can either walk higher and closer to the cliff faces, or a bit lower. This looks like the lower bit.

Come to think about it no, it looks more like the last bit of the chessmen, basically the last dodgy section on the Bell traverse?

This last weekend was the second event of the MCSA Mountain Competition. Unlike the last meet, this meet was just myself and Jenni.

We went up Tryme Hill, Camel Pass, overnighted in Roland's and came down Thuthumi Gully the next day. I also bagged Lomo-se-Fubelu (a mountain as per AndrewP's mountain list) and Ndumeni Dome.

There was no water on the route prior to the bottom of Thuthumi Pass. I knew there wouldn't be water on the way up, but seeing as it had snowed a few days before, I expected water at the usual spot near the top of Thuthumi Pass - but it was completely dry. I managed to harvest some snow, and we melted enough ice on Sunday morning to have a cup of soup each - but even ice was hard to find, and we melted all we could find.

On the way down the pass, we saw a cluster of 9 pine trees, and stopped there for lunch (our first water of the hike - we had both run out long before this). We did some gardening while there, pulling 5 pine saplings and 4 slightly larger trees - two of which required us both pulling to get them out.

Random occurrence at Roland's Cave - we had just got to the cave and were looking at the view, and we both saw something strange in the direction of Harrismith. We both looked at each other wondering if we were seeing things, but it seemed we had seen a flying fireball. I joked that it was probably a meteorite, thinking nothing much of it. Got home only to find that it actually was a meteorite! It happened so quickly that I obviously don't have a photo of it - but pretty awesome nonetheless.

Observations on the exposure of the route:
 - Camel Pass doesn't warrant a reputation of being scary - none of it was any worse than anything on the Chain Ladders. Obviously be careful - but this is true of anything in life, including staircases and walking through mall parking lots.
 - Roland's Cave: why did I find that so scary last time? All the holds are flat and big enough to put your entire foot on. None of the steps are even large. Awesome cave, though!