Cathedral Peak - Monk's Cowl link-up via escarpment

Enjoy your trip, Adrian! We will definitely look forward to the report and some pics!

Indeed! Slogging up my DSLR (no ways I leave it behind) so let's hold thumbs. Knocking back a few reds wines and turning off the chomp just now

Finished the trip yesterday. But logged in via my phone and have one question as I am dying to know the answer.

Grays Pass, does it have a huge boulder in it about 170m down that drops about 5 metres of more down the other side and is fully hemmed in by rocks? Or did we go down the wrong pass?! The gulley was about 15 metres wide and super steep... we started at 17:15 to avoid some Basotho in the valley however this proved to be a terrible mistake as this boulder choke meant we had to climb out again. Did we miss the pass or miss a ladder or obvious way or am I a mouse? That pass was terrifying... thanks!

82,73 km walked. Ended at Injisuthi. Will post pics and full report soon.

Did it look like this?

Nope A super steep gully literally only 15 m or so wide and very loose rocks. Co-ords of the spot are: 29 04' 17,3" S 29 19' 35,1" E. The top was marked with a big cairn and a dedicated path leading up to it. I am convinced it was Grays Pass however reading the reviews there is no mention of this spot. About 50m up is also a steep bit of rock climbing about 5 metres high on the left (when going down) with boulders in the middle with passages through it. Definitely not Xeni. We had just been past Vulture's Retreat some 30 minutes or less before. I am incredibly confused. The gully is fully enclosed with massive cliffs either side. Maybe there is a ladder there? Maybe we went wrong but in my mind I am convinced this was Grays.

That GPS co-ord is in the correct gully for the pass. But you are only supposed to stay in the gully for about 50m in altitude loss before the trail leaves the gully on the true right. This leads to a traverse that leads to the scramble in the photo I posted, and the trail goes down from there. If you went the entire way down the gully, you were far off the route - in which case I am very happy that you are ok, that gully is very loose and dangerous (from what I hear anyway).

Thanks VERY much for clearing that up. I don't know how we could have missed that! It was late and got dark within minutes of entering. We had already been hiking for 9,5 hours before entering at 17:15. It got super steep and to be honest I have never been that afraid as that night. Massive lessons learnt. I almost killed my mate with a boulder too. Truly a terrible experience. We emerged at 22:00 and the stars never looked that beautiful...

Jeez that is terrible. We got stuck at 2750 if I recall. What idiots we were.

At least we got to do Ships Prow, however that bundu bashing at the bottom is nightmare stuff!

AdrianT wrote: Jeez that is terrible. We got stuck at 2750 if I recall. What idiots we were.

At least we got to do Ships Prow, however that bundu bashing at the bottom is nightmare stuff!

Glad you are ok, and decided to turn around. It is an easy mistake to make, especially after a long day.

Looking forward to the writeup