Race to Rhodes ‘24 - Lehana’s Pass

Lehana's Pass 2012

Lehana's Pass is a fancy name for a footpath between South Africa and Lesotho. I'm told that it was a regular route for people of nefarious intent to ply their dubious wares between Lesotho and Mount Fletcher. Today it's little more than a ragtag collection of sheep tracks that run 7 km from the last villages snuggled up against the Drakensberg mountains climbing nearly 900 metres to the south east corner of Lesotho. At the top of the climb there is a blue container perched above the cliffs. This container is the focus of riders attention as they make their way up the mountain. I say riders, but walkers is a more apt description. A bicycle is superfluous and is in fact a hinderance. 

The container is, or was until recently as I have seen no signs of life over the last decade, used by the stock theft unit of the police to monitor livestock on the slopes below. Being adjacent the Lesotho border stock theft is a constant challenge. I'm told there are a couple of similar containers dotted along the border to the north. Years ago I stopped and spoke to the officers on duty. They would serve time at the container which had a fireplace for cooking and heating as well as somewhere to sleep when they weren't on duty scanning the slopes. As I said, it's been many years since I last saw smoke emanating from the chimney of that container. As it's fallen into disuse so has the access road that comes in from Naudes Nek to the south west. 

The race brief is to make your way over the mountains to get to Naudes Neck. Going up Lehana's Pass is one option, the other is to take a route that lays further east. It is the Mcambalala route. It's a lot further but said to be less taxing. It also serves as an alternate route if Lehana's is snowed over. That said, going over the mountain on the  Lehana's Pass route is iconic. 

There are a number of route options and permutations of route options which makes for good dot watching. The two most common routes to get on to the mountain is to take the "standard route" which is the route shown on the tracking site or the "Pyga Line" which is a more direct but physically demanding route.  The latter term was coined after Oliver Burnett, one of the owners of the Pyga bike brand, skipped the standard route first spur and went up the second spur which is now referred to as the Pyga line. Whether this was deliberate or as a result of poor navigation has never been revealed. In any event, it caught the eye of the race fraternity and subsequently has become the route of choice for many riders. 

The standard route and Pyga line come together just before a feature called the first kraal. This kraal, like the others you encounter further up the mountain, are a combination of a small walled in area for overnighting livestock, which are primarily sheep, and a small low roofed structure that the shepherds use for sleeping. The shepherds spend many days on the mountain. The structures they build are drab affairs but if you have a good look you'll notice that they are built entirely of rocks that have been rounded up. The roof of these structures is made from galvanised sheeting. 

The first time I went over the mountain there were two cairns, the larger of which was a perfect spot for a photograph overlooking the Lesotho mountains in the near distance. The last picture I had taken at that cairn was in 2009 when we hauled a tandem over that mountain.  Soon after that the rocks that formed the cairns were repurposed into kraals to house livestock and shepherds. What's remarkable about these structures is the size of the rocks that have been placed on top of each other. Some of them are massive—not Pyramid big or Stonehenge big. But big enough that it would take a least a few people to manhandle the rocks into place. The rocks are tight packed so as to keep out the wind which often reaches gale force up on the mountain. The roof sheets are often tied down with thick fencing wire. They are attached to rocks or the occasional steel fence post that has been driven into the ground. 

Once passed the last of the kraals there are options for getting to the cliff top. Once again there is the standard route or a more aggressive line knows as the Tiger Line. The Tiger Line is shorter and potentially faster but it exacts a heavy toll on your energy reserves. 

Once over the top the two routes merge. A few kilometres later the magnificent Tena Head Mountain Lodge comes into view. Race Snakes typically ride on without stopping while the more sensibly minded avail themselves of the food and coffee on offer. There's nothing quite like sitting on the wooden deck overlooking the Bell river and tipping the first cup of real coffee that'd you've had for the last 4 or 5 days down your throat.