Author Archives: Ghaznavid
Cape Trip days 5 and 6: Tulbagh and Saronsberg
When I decided to attempt to climb all 24 mountains with at least 1000m topographic prominence in South Africa, the main objective was to come up with a way of ensuring I get to visit some obscure mountains that are rarely climbed. Some won’t be particularly interesting, but some will be real gems – this […]
Cape Trip day 4: Tafelberg (Cederberg)
Sunday had been the reserve day for Sneeuberg, but with the summit completed on Saturday, my first bonus peak of the trip would be Tafelberg. At 1969m, it is generally listed as the second highest summit of the Cederberg – a statistic that my data is in consensus with. And with approximately 950m topographic prominence, […]
Cape Trip Day 3: Sneeuberg (Cederberg)
Driving into Clanwilliam, I first saw the legendary Krakadouw Peak that looms over the town. A writeup on the Cederberg had stated that it was one of the most worthwhile hikes in the region – and seeing it, I can believe that. I stopped in the town to buy a few items of food before […]
Cape Trip day 2: Elands Bay
Sebrakop had been a major goal for my trip. I knew that access to it would be more difficult than any other peak on the trip, and odds of me being able to arrange a hike up it on a subsequent trip would be low – aside from the drive out to Piketberg being fairly […]
Cape Trip day 1: Sebrakop
The story of how an obscure mountain in the Piketberge named Sebrakop came to be a major hiking goal for me is a bit of a strange one. My tendency to over-analyse mountains is notable – but, in my defense, there are hundreds of thousands of mountains on the planet, and I likely won’t stand […]
Outer Mnweni Needle
The Mnweni Needles are one of the more striking features of the Drakensberg. For some reason, they are often overlooked, and are rarely climbed. In 2017 I attempted to climb them, but a combination of heavy climbing packs and underestimating how slow the approach would be resulted in a 3 day hike to the saddle […]
The Molar: the Dragon’s Teeth
In August 2019, when I agreed to relocate to Gauteng for work purposes, I knew my days of being in the Drakensberg every few weeks were about to come to an end. To make up for it, between September and December 2019, I did 13 hikes totaling 339km in the Drakensberg and including 14 passes […]
Cape Trip day 8 – Cape Town Skyline Traverse
After 7 days, the final Saturday of my trip to the Western Cape had arrived. The plan for the day was simple – Cape Town has one of the most famous mountain skylines, with three distinct peaks. So naturally one has to start on the outer ridge of one peak, hike across all three and […]
Cape Trip days 6 and 7 – rest days
After the Hex Traverse, I took a long scenic drive through to Betty’s Bay. It rained for a lot of the drive – which is unusual in November. I had been planning on climbing Hangklip in the morning, so seeing as I had arrived early, I decided to take a drive. After 5 continuous days […]
Cape Trip Days 3 to 5 – Hex Traverse
When I was little, we used to have a box of tapes and accompanying books with the full text, I guess it would be called an audiobook today, although I don’t think the term was used at the time. The stories ranged from full fiction, such as Grogre the Ogre, to South African heroic history […]
Ghaznavid Hiking 
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