The double pass over the Misty Mountains connected the headwaters of the River Bruinen and the vale of Anduin. Its formal title was the Cirith Forn en Andrath (S. "High-climbing Pass of the North") or simply the High Pass. The route itself was quite ancient. The lower of the two passes had been cleared for cart traffic in the early Second Age by Dwarves of Durin's City. The higher had been opened up by Arnorian engineers in the early Third Age. It was normally used only when the Goblins of Goblin-Gate , which was directly under the mountains to the north, harassed traffic on the lower, safer route.