Ifidi Pass

As far as I know, it isn't just a park rule. It has something to do with the altitude. Flying a drone above a certain altitude is illegal without all the correct licences and procedures and most of the berg falls above that altitude. So you aren't just breaking park rules but potentially risk arrest and the fact that Mnweni isn't 'part of the park' is irrelevant. 

I'm going up Ifidi at the end of October and will have a full day to explore the area between Ifidi pass and Fangs pass after sleeping in the Ifidi cave. Do y'all have any recommendations for areas to visit between the two passes? Would I be able to see the Devil's Tooth if I go north from the top of Ifidi pass? Are there any interesting areas to visit away from the top of the passes going west? Any information on your favorite spots will be appreciated.

Thank you. 

Hi matroskinn,
It's not possible to see Devil's Tooth clearly from the vantage points in the area around and north of Ifidi Pass, sadly because it is obscured behind the Inner Towers.
I would suggest take in the views from the top of Icidi Pass, although it's similar to the views from nearby points on the escarpment, the sides of the pass add depth to the view and frame the view, and to Madonna & Her Worshippers from the top of Madonna Pass.

Thank you Tony. I remember mentions of Madonna and Her Worshipers in various threads here but didn't realize it's in Mnweni. I don't see a GPX download but will be sure to check it out from the top. 

Thank you intrepid - y'all are the BEST! I won't miss Madonna pass next weekend.

Last week (9 - 13 Aug 2023) a group of us walked up Ifidi pass and around the cutback. I've done this route a few times before, and every time, even with an early start, we ended up arriving at Ifidi cave either at around sunset or after dark. For this trip we decided to take it easy and went up in 2 days. Wednesday was from MCC to Cycad cave, and the Tuesday we went to Ifidi cave. I kinda enjoyed this more relaxed approach as we had 5 days to do it in, vs the usual 3 days roundtrip. Yes, I have been lazy and I haven't written a trip report for a while now - will get one out for this hike. However, for today I have a simple question:

Has anyone ever gone up Ifidi pass via a different route than the riverbed? On previous occasions we mostly stayed in the riverbed, with only occasional forages out to the left bank (true right) before getting back into the boulder-strewn riverbed. On this occasion, we found a faint track not too far from passing through that "vernouing" just after Cycad cave, got onto the left-hand bank (true right-hand side of the river) and stayed on it nearly all of the way till maybe about 350 - 400m or so from the Ifidi pinnacles.

The track was clearly used, but still faint and in places difficult to follow. Nearer to the top where it eventually meets up with the riverbed it completely disappeared (or we just simply lost it). There's some rather large drop-offs so we walked a bit to and fro, but we continued higher up and found a very easy transition into the riverbed with basically no drop-off, which was nice.

Is anyone aware of this alternative route? I suspect it would be a very viable alternative when the riverbed becomes overgrown again in time. Not sure if we saved time by going out of the riverbed on this trip as I could see large areas of open sand below - clearly the last flood had removed a lot of rock and bush from the previously overgrown riverbed. The pass itself was a different story, with plenty of iced-up sections and new, large boulders everywhere. But that is a story for another day - when I write my trip report

Yes, both times I have done Ifidi Pass (2012 and 2021) I have used this path from just upstream of Cycad Cave towards the Ifidi Pinnacles.

It is mentioned in write ups prior to my write up, which is how I knew about it, and in my write up of Ifidi Pass from 2012.

From the route being shown slightly away from the river on the Geomaps (for what they are worth; 40 year old maps not updated or corrected, despite EKZNW knowing there are many mistakes) it can be deduced that this path is shown on these maps. The path is also shown as the standard route of Ifidi Pass on the new 2022/2023 Drakensberg Slingsby Maps.

When I made the first attempt at Ifidi in January '22 my guide took us on the slopes on the true right of the river. The visibility was like a hundred meters so I can't tell you where we got back in the river. I'm also not sure how much of a trail we were on because it seemed to me we were just walking on the grass slopes without any trail most of the time. When I went back to finish it in October '22 with the same guide we stayed mostly in the river. Both paths were challenging but I enjoyed the riverbed more. I hate traversing pathless grassy slopes - my ankles are not happy on those. 

Hi Tony,

This path is quite a bit higher up. Quite different from the KZN Berg maps or the old Slingsby maps, or the track available on VE. I don't have the new Slingsby maps so can't comment on the route they show. The track we followed was about 200m away from the riverbed. See screenshot of our route (blue) vs. the track on VE for Ifidi pass (in pink, which I downloaded just now to ensure I have the latest version).

Anyone interested in this track, pm me for a copy. In summer I suspect this track will be completely overgrown, but it is mostly level underfoot (i.e. not just walking on the side slope) so relatively easy to walk on. It disappeared a few times and we had to scout around a bit, but managed to pick it up every time, except right at the end where we made our own route to get back into the river. I seriously doubt you will find this track when the grass is green and lush and green near the end of summer.

Quick edit - this path starts about 1km upstream from Cycad cave.