Day 1/5 Drakensberg Mini Traverse
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 10.51 mi
- Elevation gain
- 3,133 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 1,768 ft
- Max elevation
- 10,515 ft
- TrailRank
- 39
- Min elevation
- 8,399 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- 8 hours 10 minutes
- Coordinates
- 1568
- Uploaded
- October 25, 2015
- Recorded
- October 2015
near Bonjaneni, Province of KwaZulu-Natal (Republic of South Africa)
Viewed 1599 times, downloaded 55 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Day 1/5 Mini Traverse in the Drakensberg, guiding by Gustav Greffrath:
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g662254-d4972791-Reviews-Itchyfeet_SA-Winterton_Drakensberg_Region_KwaZulu_Natal.html
Early morning start at the Sentinel Car Park overlooking the Amphiteatre peak. Easy but steep hills bring us slowly up to a first viewpoint where we see some of the best views of the Drakensberg escarpment. After the magnificent views, we continue off to reach the infamous chain ladder. 30 meters of vertical ladders not for the faint of heart. But if you remember to look up it s all ok. The hike continues in the valleys of the escarpment, passing a river and giving you the opportunity to take in a view every now and then if you are not in a rush. As we were on a bit of a tight schedule, we had to go up and down the valleys and save the views for the end of the day. But they were worth it! After filling our eyes with such beauty, we then walked down towards another river to camp in between the mountaintops. Cold as the mist was coming in, but the beautiful sunset made it all worth the trip!
Moderate difficulty but with weight and having to adapt rapidly to an average altitude of 3000m made the first day difficult for some of us on the trip.
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g662254-d4972791-Reviews-Itchyfeet_SA-Winterton_Drakensberg_Region_KwaZulu_Natal.html
Early morning start at the Sentinel Car Park overlooking the Amphiteatre peak. Easy but steep hills bring us slowly up to a first viewpoint where we see some of the best views of the Drakensberg escarpment. After the magnificent views, we continue off to reach the infamous chain ladder. 30 meters of vertical ladders not for the faint of heart. But if you remember to look up it s all ok. The hike continues in the valleys of the escarpment, passing a river and giving you the opportunity to take in a view every now and then if you are not in a rush. As we were on a bit of a tight schedule, we had to go up and down the valleys and save the views for the end of the day. But they were worth it! After filling our eyes with such beauty, we then walked down towards another river to camp in between the mountaintops. Cold as the mist was coming in, but the beautiful sunset made it all worth the trip!
Moderate difficulty but with weight and having to adapt rapidly to an average altitude of 3000m made the first day difficult for some of us on the trip.
Waypoints
Panorama
9,934 ft
RiverComments (1)
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Thanks for posting this route - I have to do this, looks like fun !