Mini Hike Reports
12 Aug 2018 19:17 #73812
by ghaznavid
Replied by ghaznavid on topic Mini Hike Reports
Seeing as Tony will probably post a detailed writeup on Didima Pass, I'll keep this post nice and short - although I have a lot of photos.
Over the long weekend, Tony, Lorinda and I did a 4 day hike at Didima. Day 1 to Schoongezicht Cave, day 2 to Didima Cave via Didima Pass, day 3 back to Schoongezicht Cave via Tlanyako Pass and day 4 back to the car. We were going to do day 3 to Rolands and day 4 down Windsor Castle Pass, but there was too much snow, so we opted to head back down.
Short note on Didima Pass: the approach is slow. We were slower due to persistent rain that made rock hopping rather slippery. The pass starts at 2350m and till about 2700m is made up of a sequence of waterfalls that you have to bypass or scramble up - which are often loose and a bit exposed. If it was iced up or the river was any higher, many of these wouldn't go. Two of them required climbing in the riverbed, and getting wet was inevitable. I wasn't counting but there were roughly 10 waterfalls that we had to contend with. At 2700m, there is a large grassy bank which you traverse to the left to hit the summit gully, which is a standard steep grass gully. The pass is more slow than difficult and definitely not one for beginners or those who don't enjoy scrambling. The views are great, but most certainly not a pass I would want to do again.
Also note: when the weather forecast predicts 30cm of snow, go in hiking boots, not trail shoes
Over the long weekend, Tony, Lorinda and I did a 4 day hike at Didima. Day 1 to Schoongezicht Cave, day 2 to Didima Cave via Didima Pass, day 3 back to Schoongezicht Cave via Tlanyako Pass and day 4 back to the car. We were going to do day 3 to Rolands and day 4 down Windsor Castle Pass, but there was too much snow, so we opted to head back down.
Short note on Didima Pass: the approach is slow. We were slower due to persistent rain that made rock hopping rather slippery. The pass starts at 2350m and till about 2700m is made up of a sequence of waterfalls that you have to bypass or scramble up - which are often loose and a bit exposed. If it was iced up or the river was any higher, many of these wouldn't go. Two of them required climbing in the riverbed, and getting wet was inevitable. I wasn't counting but there were roughly 10 waterfalls that we had to contend with. At 2700m, there is a large grassy bank which you traverse to the left to hit the summit gully, which is a standard steep grass gully. The pass is more slow than difficult and definitely not one for beginners or those who don't enjoy scrambling. The views are great, but most certainly not a pass I would want to do again.
Also note: when the weather forecast predicts 30cm of snow, go in hiking boots, not trail shoes
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