Long Tom Pass, Mpumalanga, South
Africa
The Long Tom Pass gets its name from the Long Tom cannons
used during the Anglo-Boer war.
The original Long Tom Pass was a treacherous one, steep
gradients hairpin bends and hair rising drops. It was originally
the route followed by pioneer wagon drivers transporting goods from
Mozambique to Lydenburg from as early as 1850. The road tumbled
over the so called Devil's Knuckles, and many wagons were lost in
this area as it was so dangerous. At Die Geut (the gutter), ruts
can be seen in the slate where the locked wheels of the wagons slid
down the steep gradient. The road followed down to Spitskop and
then across the Lowveld, which in those days was a dangerous area
where wild animals roamed freely, this coupled with the mosquitoes
made it a difficult journey. Whiskyspruit's water, however, was
reputedly so good that it made an excellent drink regardless of the
quality of the whisky!
Today as you travel on the new tarred road you will still see
the old road twisting over its dangerous course. The pass used
today was opened on 22 July 1953 and was tarred in 1964.
Traveling from Sabie, which is situated on a small
plateau underlain by the Black Reef Formation, take the Lydenburg
road to the south west. Up to where the R37 road from Nelspruit
meet this Lydenburg road, you have traveled over dark brown
weathering dolomite, but near the intersection you will clearly see
the overlying quartzite and pale-weathering shales that form the
base of the Pretoria group. This sequence continue for the next
20km as you travel up the pass, dipping gently to the west and
revealing occasional thin quartzite bands sandwiched between the
predominant shales, as well as rounded boulders of intrusive
diabase. Near the top of the Long Tom pass, at the coordinates of
this EarthCache, the dominant quartzite and diabase sills provide
resistant cap rocks. When parked at the lookout point you can look
back to the mountain to see this and which is suitably called
“The Staircase”. Over the top of the pass the road more
or less follows the shallow dip slopes of the shale rich Pretoria
Group down into Lydenburg.
What is a pass?
In a range of hills a saddle (also in certain instances, it can be
refer to as a gap, notch, col, mountain pass, bwlch, brennig or
bealach) is a point in between two areas of higher elevation. If
following the lowest possible route through a mountain range, a
pass is locally the highest point on that route. Since many of
the world's mountain ranges have always presented formidable
barriers to travel, passes have been important since before
recorded history, and have played a key role in trade, war and
migration. Topographically, a pass has the general form of a saddle
between two mountains (the elevation as a function of two position
coordinates is mathematically a saddle point). They are often found
just above the source of a river, constituting a sort of "bridge"
over to the headwaters of a different river. Roads have long been
built through passes, and more recently railways. Some high and
rugged passes may have tunnels bored underneath, so as allow faster
traffic flow year-round. For passes with roads, it is also
customary to have a small roadside sign giving the name of the pass
and its elevation above mean sea level.
The word gap is more commonly used in the southern Appalachians,
while notch is more common in New England. In Scotland, the Gaelic
term bealach (anglicised "Balloch") is often used. In the Lake
District of North West England, the term hause is often used,
although the term pass is also common. One distinction is that a
pass can refer to a route, as well as the highest part thereof,
while a hause is simply that highest part, often flattened somewhat
into a high level plateau. In most cases, the formal term will be
that which has been used locally over a long period. As well as
allowing easier access between two valleys, a saddle also similarly
provides the route between two mountain tops with a minimum of
descent, making it important also to hikers. Because of these
advantages, it is common for tracks to meet on a saddle, making
them often convenient routes even when traveling between a summit
and the valley floor.
Resources:
Wikipedia
Sabie
Geological journeys: a traveller's guide to South Africa's rocks
and landforms, By Nick Norman, Gavin Whitfield
To log your find, answer the following questions and
email them to me (do not post the answers in your log):
1. Look at the nearby rocks and tell me if you think this is
igneous or sedimentary rocks.
2. The highest point of the pass is not at the co-ordinates but you
will find a sign next to the road at the top. What is the altitude
above sea level according to that sign?
3. Name 3 other points of interest on the pass.
Uploading photos to the cache page is the best way to say thank
you to the cache developer and to encourage others to visit the
location but is only optional.
Note
You can sent me your answers in either Afrikaans or English.
