Central Berg escarpment traverses

thanks so much for the advice this is exactly what i needed, i was wondering what caves in the area are good to check out some san rock art? Main caves seemed close enough to do on the first day before bannerman. And then lastly would you need a gps track for lets say corner pass or is the path finding easy going?

Thanks again smurf this is all really helpful i have managed to download a track for the corner in the VE downloads. I was just wondering about reliable water sources in the area ? What is the likelyhood of me finding water on the escarpment this time of year.

Regards

eisbein wrote: I was just wondering about reliable water sources in the area ? What is the likelyhood of me finding water on the escarpment this time of year.

I did a hike up Bannerman Pass and down Around the Corner Pass a few weeks ago, with a large escarpment detour to just past Hilton Pass, and the water was as follows:
1) Contour path before Bannerman Hut: some small streams, there is good water in the stream that flows down Thumb Pass (the first river crossing on the contour path), but the tarn is dry
2) Martial Eagle Stream (next to Bannerman Hut) - flowing strong
3) Contour path between Bannerman Hut and Corner Pass - not much, Judge Pass is completely dry, and there is a small trickle right at the bottom of Corner Pass.
4) The river south of Mafadi is the lowest I have ever seen it, but still flowing more than enough to collect water
5) The stream between Injisuthi Dome and Trojan Wall on the north side is also low, but not dry
6) The stream between Red Wall and Lithabolong (Red Wall Falls) is also flowing, but not strong.

Bear in mind that it had just snowed when I was there, so snow melt would have helped the flow.

Note that the contour path splits about 100m before Bannerman Hut. The obvious trail goes to the hut, and the turnoff is hard to spot - even after I have taken it plenty of times I still usually miss it. There isn't even a cairn to mark it. The contour path also gets very vague in places after the hut - it also climbs from 2200m to 2500m in the next short distance. I can send you a GPS track of how to get from the split on Bannerman Ridge to Corner Pass via the contour path, if you like. If so, pm me your email address.

Coming down Langies - if you find the top of the pass (which is hard to miss if you know where to look), the trail will lead you straight to the car park. I have done that pass 11 times now, and can usually do the summit cairn to car park in about 3 hours - it is really simple, and actually quite pleasant. Langies has to be the best value for effort in the Berg, simply because the value is good (although relatively poor when compared to some Berg routes - much like gold being relatively worthless compared to some very rare metals) and the effort is relatively minimal by Berg standards. It just lost its experience appeal to me a while ago, but is very practical as a quick way to get from the top back to the car - which is why I have done it so many times (almost all on day hikes).