Although I’m very much an amateur photographer, I jumped at the chance of joining Richard and Karl Beath on a 6 day photographic hike in the mountains. The plan was to spend time walking and photographing areas which previously, we have just bypassed . We ascended Ntonjelane Pass, headed northwards and descended 5 days later down North Black and Tan Pass. The latter would be a new Pass for all of us, so the prospect was quite exciting!
Day one - Mnweni Cultural Centre to Ntonjelane Pass
We met bright and early at the Centre and arranged a lift to the end of the Rockeries Valley road. Having done this trek a few times before, we thought we would save ourselves a 5km walk with heavy packs. Carrying photographic gear as well as 6 days worth of food is quite daunting and we felt a short day would help ‘acclimatise' ourselves to the weight. It was a beautiful warm day and Spring had most definitely arrived with the vivid red Mountain Bottlebrush starting to flower. We made our way up the Ntonjelane Valley, stopping at Waterfall Cave which I had never seen before. Even at this dry time of year before the Spring rains, the waterfall was flowing and I should imagine would be an impressive sight in the height of Summer. The cave behind the waterfall was not impressive, hard to get to and very sandy. The little forest glade below would be a better bet, and has space for 2 or three tents. From here we went a little further and after scouting around for a while, found a hidden spot below the main path in which to put up our tents.
