Homely Injasuti

Injasuti for me has always been a wonderful retreat. Deep green valleys with lush berg vegetation and stunning rock paintings. The wonderful little Parks board retreat here ensures a quaint character completely different from the commercial haven over the hill in Monk Cowl area. Hikes here are more often than not gentle strolls through the exquisite valleys. However, should the high berg beckon, it comes no higher than here. 3446m of Mafadi is the highest point in South Africa, and Upper Injasuti cave is amongst the highest in the berg. Be warned, this area has a reputation for theft on the summit, and parties are best kept big for the lovely passes. I've included the Monks cowl routes here, because they can be accessed pretty easily from Injasuti. Ships prow especially is as quick to access from Injasuti as from Monks.

eslies

Access walk:The walk in to the base of the pass is quite average, taking the better part of a day and passing some very scenic little berg and pools. The route leads up the Injasuti valley, then swings up towards Old Woman Grinding Corn, before heading up the Marble Baths valley. A clear path leads on as far as marble baths, from where an indistinct route keeps to the western banks of the river before swinging up the approach spur.

Pass Route:For me the route begins where you head up the spur jutting out to the north of the main pass valley. It's a relatively steep start, but gets gentler as you gradually contour across into the throat of the pass. This leads on with a reasonable path, through the valley and on up to the grass slopes ahead. The gradient eases as you approach the top, and it levels out at the wide marked entrance to the pass. Although it's a long route from the bottom to the summit, the gradient is a little easier than a lot of other passes, making it not too difficult overall.

Water on pass and Summit:Water can be an issue on this route although there should be a little in the valley on the way up. The spur is dry, but this comes shortly after leaving the river, which you would have followed on and off for most of the approach. The last section of the climb is dry, but you can see the stream a few hundred metres away on summiting

Caves and Campsites:Junction and marble baths cave provide a good base for the ascent, but the nearest high berg cave, upper Injasuti cave, is a good 6 km walk form the top. This cave has had numerous theft incidents so small parties should be cautious here, and any party wary. There is not much in the way of excellent camping on the approach, but useable ground can be found. The summit, as always, provides ideal sites

Introduction: Bog standard weekend stroll to the top of the berg this. Which makes it quite surprising that it took me so many years to actually finally do it. And if you only have a weekend and want to get in a high berg traverse, this is well worth looking into as your way up. I did abort once on the route years ago when mist came in and I was new to the berg. I've just recently solo'd it in mist, and really, its one of the most straight forward walks in the berg. Yet it remains a surprisingly beautiful walk as you climb above Sterkhorn and deep into the gully.

Access walk:It is in fact quite a walk from Monks Cowl forest station to the base of this pass. If you are going to do it and still summit the pass, leave early. Two different routes tempt you through the little berg above the forest station, but I tends to prefer the old Sphinx route of the simple reason it has water at the top of the climb. Once up the little berg, it's a long winding contour to the valley at the base of the pass. A couple of km from the start of the climb one crosses the river and continues to the base of the pass on the northern bank. The path is clear and easy to follow

Pass Route:The pass is short and fairly steep. If you find yourself struggling early on, don't worry, its steepest at the base. The route sticks to a prominent spur, that takes you, via a good path, most of the way up to the basalt cliffs. The views are lovely on the spur, and you can get more of a feel for the height you make than many of the traditional valley bound passes. After the spur, which takes you to 2850m it's a contouring climb towards the obvious gully, which is fairly steep, but very short by berg standards. From the top the pass starts at a very prominent dip in the basalt's and stays with the gully until almost through the cliffs before heading south out the gully. Watch for this in mist, otherwise it could be fun!

Water on Pass and Summit:You will need water for this climb. There is no water until the very top, except in very wet summers. Stock up at the last little stream crossing shortly before the base of the pass. On the summit, a strong stream is 5 minutes walk from the summit.

Caves and Campsites: On the walk in there are no caves at all. however, the well known Nkozazana cave is close to the summit. The popularity of this route on weekends means that a place is not guaranteed, so a tent is essential. Keith Bush camp, 200m past the base of the pass, is an excellent site, with plenty of flat ground by berg standards. The summit, as always, is great for a little tent village

hips Prow

Access walk: There are two routes in to the base of this route, about equidistant in length. The more commonly used is the route via Monks Cowl. One ascends via the same route as for Gray's, but rather than heading off north along the contour path, a route South is taken. The walk along the contour path from Monks is long, with quite a bit of climbing before you descend to the base of the past. It's a long gentle downhill onto the boulder bed that forms the pass.
The route from Injasuti also seems a bit of climbing up from the camp. You head for the contour path, which keeps a little more level once the climb is over, before it too dips towards the pass. The route into the pass has changed a bit, and while you used to have to descend a little side stream onto the main boulder bed, there appears to be something of a path that now takes one to approximately the same height as the Monks access on the other side of the boulder bed.

Pass Route:  Once on the boulder bed there is little to do but point your nose for the top. However, after a couple of kilometres of walking on the river bed, the easier route leaves steeply to the west, meaning you head to the west of the "prow" Its steep and loose in places. There are some cairns that indicate the way, but often these seem confused and it may well be easier to make your own route. There are a couple of scrambles in the mid section of the pass before you finally make it to grassy slopes. These steadily ease as one approaches the top, which is very high. You top out well above 3200m, making this one of the highest pass summits in the berg. To locate the pass from the top, one summits the ridge coming west off Champagne Castle peak. Here there are some cairns that lead you to the summit. Be careful to choose the route to the west, unless you are feeling adventurous.

Water on pass and Summit:  Water is only a problem on the approach walks, where the path keeps high and dry. Once in the pass, there i a weak stream until the really steep bits, from where it is dry in all but the wettest summers. However, the summit is dry, and water is a 10 minute walk towards Grays or west into Lesotho.

Caves and Campsites: There is a campsite one valley before the pass one the Monks approach. There is also some OK gravely sites in the river bed in the early parts of the pass. Injasuti approach lacks any good camping. Neither approach has decent caves on route, with Grindstone cave the closest on the Injasuti side. The summit cave is Nkosazana, which is close to the summit of Gray's pass, 45min from the summit of ships prowl.