Tag Archives: climbing
The Magic Valley
“I can say with a fairly high level of certainty that Hilton Pass is not a pass that will ever form part of my list of bagged passes” – me, 31 August 2011 Hilton Pass has been a bit of a Drakensberg mystery for a while. I had read an old account of a team […]
Vergelegen Passes: Hitchhikers Guide to the Drakensberg
My charge through the marked passes I had not yet done south of Giants Castle in the KZN High Berg had been going amazingly well. A cluster of 4 passes near Sani Pass was all that remained. My logic was simply – drive to the lower Sani border post, hike up Mqatsheni, down Ntshinshini, up […]
Verkyker/Mzimkhulu loop: Looking ahead
Earlier today I was reading something I wrote in 2012. In the comment I had said that I wanted to do every pass at Giants Castle and Garden Castle. Over the years of trying to cover as much ground as possible, I have learned that you can never do “every” pass in an area – […]
Vergelegen traverse
On 27 December 2009 – an article clerk who had wanted to try Drakensberg hiking for years finally got a chance to hike to the top of the Drakensberg. Mashai Pass was hard, and even scary in places – but despite not being fit enough, that younger version of the person known as Ghaznavid made […]
Masubasuba Pitsaneng Loop
I don’t really recall a time before Masubasuba Pass appeared on my radar. When I visited Underberg for a stock count in February 2009, before I had ever hiked to the top of the Drakensberg, I wondered if there was a route up the very obvious saddle between the Hodgeson’s Peaks – not that I […]
Pins Pass/South Saddle Pass: T’is but a scratch
My slow progress of loading my old hike reports here continues! This was a 4 day hike in March 2016 which remains one of my most memorable hikes. 2016 was the year where I trained the hardest, with the Double Grand Traverse being the end goal. I hiked 1375km in the Drakensberg that year, by […]
The Hlathimba Passes
On 7 September, Marco and I did the Hlathimba Passes at Lotheni as a day hike. Awesome route!
Cathkin Peak
Cathkin is one of the best known peaks of the Drakensberg. It has a notorious reputation – so how will Ghaz cope with this one?
Giants Castle via Sherman’s Route: through the fire and the flames
Giants Castle is one of the most recognisable peaks in the Drakensberg. It can be seen from as far away as Harrismith, Ladysmith, Escourt, Hilton and Underberg. It is a peak I have summitted many times, and is one of my favourites. For many years I have looked at the eastern ridges of the peak […]
Pyramid Standard Route
The Pyramid is a large, well, pyramid shaped peak at Didima Nature Reserve in the Northern KZN Drakensberg. I first saw it in person on a hike in 2010. For many years I admired it knowing I would never stand on its summit, I would never take up rock climbing for a number of reasons, […]
Ghaznavid Hiking 
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