One of the items on my to do list is Mzimude North Pass at Garden Castle, so when I saw that Dave Gay was going to do a hike that included a traverse along the bottom of this pass I was keen to go along. Our route was to Wave Cave for the first night, and then the second day would be spent traversing north past the bottom of Mzimude North and then finally via Sleeping Beauty Cave before finishing off back at the car park.
4 of us set off on Saturday morning, myself, Dave, Geoff and Lindy Ann. We followed the Giants Cup Trail south before cutting off at Hidden Valley and making our way to Puffadder Rock where we stopped for a break. It would seem that Puffadders are very partial to this spot as many sightings have been seen here. Fortunately we were spared on this occasion! The skies that had been overcast and cool up to this point, and ideal hiking weather, became darker and soon rain began to fall. Out with our rain gear and it persisted during the remainder of the walk to Wave Cave. We arrived at lunchtime and after changing into warm and dryer clothes we settled down to a relaxing afternoon. Wave Cave is a small cave and can sleep 4 to 5 people comfortably but I think you would get wet if there was driving wind and rain. As dusk fell we heard what we thought might be African Grass Owls hunting in the area and Geoff confirmed this later – there’s always a first in the Berg as I can’t say I have ever heard them before.
It gets light early in Summer so we were packed and ready to get going at 6.30am the following morning. Today would be mostly off path and we spent the morning ascending, traversing and descending the many ridges and gullies that make up this section of the little Berg. I was happy to see that the bottom of Mzimude North Pass opens up into a river valley that eventually leads in to Hidden Valley so there would be no problem in walking out when we do the pass eventually. I also got a good look up the Pass, and aside from a rockfall section at the top, it all looks fairy doable. From here we traversed further North and crossed Tsepeng and Bollard Passes before accessing the final ridge that runs down into the valley before Sleeping Beauty Cave. After the long trudge down the path towards the river, we were back at the carpark, and happy to be there, as off path is very hard on the feet!
Thanks to all for an enjoyable and interesting hike.
Walkers Ridge mid skyline
Ridge to plateau and Walkers Ridge
Traversing into bottom of Mzimude North valley
Bottom of Mzimude North Vally into Hidden Valley
Tsepeng Pass
Bollard Pass
