Drakensberg Northern High Traverse in a day

The Northern High Traverse is probably the most widely known route in the Drakensberg Mountains. For that matter, it’s likely the only multi-day hiking route in South Africa to appear on several lists of the best hikes in the world – with Walkopedia rating it the 7th best globally.

I’m not a fan of lists and can think of at least seven loops in the Drakensberg alone that beat this one, but nonetheless, it’s a worthwhile route – especially for those who can’t complete a full traverse due to time, fitness or financial constraints.

Map of the Northern High Traverse route. Image: Hiking South Africa.

Our group of five gradually diminished, leaving three chartered accountants. I suppose certain puns might be tempting, but let’s not go there – this was going to be a taxing route, after all.

Having not been to the top of the Drakensberg in a few months, I was curious how I’d cope, but since the others hadn’t been up in months or even years, I wasn’t too worried.

At Sentinel Car Park, we found the hut already occupied, but they made a plan – after mopping the floor, we rolled out our sleeping bags on thin mattresses in the hut offices.

Settling in for the night at Sentinel hut offices. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

At 4AM we were up, and by 4:30 we were walking. We could see stars above the mist – good news, since mist at 2,500m often means clear skies on top.

Early morning mist en route to the escarpment. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

The zig-zags went off easily enough, and the high trail was in good shape. We found ourselves on top of the Chain Ladders before sunrise.

Ascending the famous Chain Ladders at dawn. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

The Chain Ladders give access to the escarpment plateau. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

The slog up to Mont-Aux-Sources doesn’t seem so bad when your pack is 4kg and your legs are fresh. We reached the summit ahead of schedule, just as the sun was rising, before descending towards the Kubedu River.

Sunrise from the summit of Mont-Aux-Sources. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

The climb up the gentle Stimela Ridge was where I started to feel the day catching up. We stopped briefly near the top for our first break – I was feeling nauseous and low on energy.

Taking a break on Stimela Ridge. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

Soon we were moving again, crossing the long summit ridge before dropping down to the river behind Fangs Pass. My energy levels were fading fast, and by the time we reached the Mnweni Cutback Highway, my target pace was out the window. I’d hoped to run the section – but 4km/h was all I could manage.

Along the Mnweni Cutback Highway ridge. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

We dropped down prematurely on the east side of the ridge, adding distance and vertical gain before the big descent to the Senqu River. We followed the Nguza River trail to the junction leading up to the Ntonjelana Saddle – a climb that nearly broke me.

Following the Nguza River towards Ntonjelana Saddle. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

We found the harder Ntonjelana Gap easily enough and soon passed Ntonjelana Pass. With the light fading, finding Mlambonja Pass was going to be tricky.

Technical night descent on Mlambonja Pass. Photo: Hiking South Africa.

We ended up using headlamps to find the gully below Twins Top and dropped straight down to the Twins–Mlambonja trail. The upper section was rough, and recent burns made navigation harder. The overgrown lower section shredded our legs and patience, but eventually we hit the contour path and climbed the final section to the finish – exhausted but intact.

At 1:00 AM we reached the hotel, clocking 20h30 for the 65km route – not fast, but respectable. Since Didima Camp was closed, we spent the night at Amphitheatre Backpackers, arriving at 3AM.

On a side note – we saw almost no one else along the route, apart from a team camping near Mnweni Pass. Even livestock were scarce, with only a few horses and goats seen, likely due to the drought conditions.

Lessons learned:

• Spend a day or two at 3000m beforehand to acclimatise.
• Avoid Mlambonja Pass for speed attempts – Bell Traverse is longer but faster overall.
• Try to arrange a driver rather than juggling multiple cars for logistics.
• The Northern High Traverse via a speed line is less scenic than a Didima circuit of similar challenge.

Stats for the trip:

Distance: 65km
Time: 20h30
Moving time: 18h59
Stopped time: 1h31
Average pace: 3.2km/h
Moving average: 3.4km/h
Elevation gain: 3038m

For more of Jonathan’s adventures, visit Ghaznavid Hiking.