Itineraries for doing the Bell Traverse

Nicolaas, there is a path going up the right, but the trick is to find the start of it, else you are in for a nice bit of bushwacking. Been there, done that a few times myself. The easiest way I know to find the turnoff to the right onto the ridge, is to basically walk down the riverbed until you get to the biggest tree in the riverbed. So, if you come down Mlambonja pas, you will eventually get to the point where the valley opens up a bit, and here you will have to cross a wide open stream/rocky section. I normally stop here for a break after finishing the pass. This spot, incidentally, is also where you need to exit the valley if you want to do the One Tree Hill route back to the hotel.

However, if you insist on going down via the zig-zags, then cross the stream and continue roughly 500m downstream till you get to the largest tree on the right-hand side (true right) of the stream. You will know you are at the correct tree when you see a couple of cleared sleeping spaces underneath the tree. I think there are 2 under the tree itself, and then one in close proximity but closer towards the river. From this spot you will notice a path that will either take you back up the pass, or it splits off to the left to get up to the contour path. It's still steep but will involve less bushwhacking than just trying to find your way up the ridge.

Give the One Tree Hill route a try, you might be pleasantly surprised. I've done it before, but quite a while back, but then last Nov I decided (after going down the Xeni Zig-zags for the umpteenth time) to take my friends down via 1TreeHill, and they all agreed it was a nice change. The path is typically shaded in the afternoon, it is definitely less overgrown (for the most part), there are plenty of water around, and you gradually descend until the last part where the drop is steep down to the river. The nice thing is that the final stretch back to the hotel is shorter than the Zeni alternative, so you don't feel like a baked potato by the time you arrive back at the hotel.

Anyway, enjoy the mountains!!!

The past weekend a few friends and I did the bell traverse and then descended cockade pass. This is a short trip report that might be of use. 

Two of my regular hiking partners and I did the bell Traverse two years ago, but as it was misty for the duration of the hike, we could not take in any of the views. As a result, Richard, Theo and I pledged to be back.

On Friday morning, the three of us together with Richard's two brothers, Hansie and Andre, left the amphitheatre backpackers where we camped the night before and headed towards the mountains. Our group had a bit of packing and rearanging to do so we ended up leaving the hiker's parking at Didima at 9h36. Unfortunately Hansie had a sore knee, so he made the call to turn back just below the summit of the little berg. The remaining four of us reached the top of the little berg around 12h00 and continued  to the top of orange peel gap where we had lunch. 
The weather treated us well with the occasional cloud blocking the sun. On approach Bugger's gully looked as intimidating as always, but we reached the top of it with no hassle. As a lot of the rocks/boulders are loose, Richard and Andre hung back a bit as Theo and I descended the Western side of the gully. Not long after we descended the gully Theo and I each filled a 5L water bottle from as small stream on the actual travers which we carried to our intended camp. We were a bit tired at this stage as it is a fairly long walk in. On arrival at the cave we had a look around and as I was informed on VE, bell cave was a pool of mud. The annex was fairly dry with some drips from the ceiling so we pitched our trusty little tents. We spent a good five minutes moving our tents around to avoid having to listen to water dripping on a fly-sheet all night. 
And then we had coffee. Coffee with an incredible view, great friends and a bit of Jack Daniels(in my case at least, apparently each of us has our very own version of the Drakensberg Irish coffee.) These moments are why I love the berg so much.
Later on we made dinner and went to bed not long after sunset. As I am quite keen on a good photograph or two, the next morning I got up before sunrise and had a good bit of fun with my way-too-heavy-for-hiking 70-200mm lens.  
There were a fair bit of clouds around with the occasional ray of light illuminating the valleys below.  
 
We started our day's trek around 09h00. The traverse is extremely picturesque with a different view waiting around each bend.  
At one point we got enveloped by mist and lost the route for a brief moment, and once again VE proved to be invaluable. The gpx file downloaded from the site quickly got us on course again. It is almost hard to imagine that not so long ago we hiked with only a map and a compass. We passed a very wet Twin's cave and continued to the escarpment. We stopped for lunch at the prominent bend in the Kwakwatsi river just North of the top of Xeni pass. We spent a good hour here, having a quick version of a bath(environmentally friendly of course), rinsing out socks etc.
We reached the top of cockade pass a bit later than I would have liked. While Andre kept watch over our hiking bags, Richard went looking for a level spot shaded from the wind. Theo and I went to fetch water a bit lower in the valley. We found the most interesting spring somewhere between the top of cockade pass and the Maloreng river .Water didn't simply filter through the earth but actually flowed. We ended up striking camp a few hundred meters from the escarpment edge, our logic being, that even though we might experience winds coming out of Lesotho, we will at least not have to deal with winds coming up from South-Africa's side as well. 
We heard some dogs barking further down the valley and saw a few horses in the direction of cleft-peak so we assumed a few herdsman would be in the area. Theo and I discussed where in the berg we have heard Jackals call on previous hikes, and sure enough we heard some calling throuhout the night. The ground was much softer than at bell cave, so I for one slept like a log. 
 
On our third and final morning, we woke up to a cold wind. While I took some photographs the rest of the clan found a spot at nearby boulders to shelter their stoves. We had a very light breakfast as we were keen to get going. We had a long day ahead of us as we had to get back to Pretoria, Secunda and Fochville. We started our descent of cockade pass at 08h00. This was a new pass for all of us, personally I was very excited. As had been mentioned in the thread on cockade pass, it is extremely dramatic. At the top you have great views of the elephant and what I now believe to be the Mlambonja butress(it looks a touch like table mountain from that angle). It is however very steep and I am grateful we didn't go up this pass. Flattend vegetation near the top made it evident that the berg had recently received copius amounts of rain. We had to climb down the side of a waterall on a few occasions which really tested my range of motion. We reached the junction of the Cockade and Xeni passes at 10h00. A bit of bushwacking was required to get onto the contour path but nothing too undesirable. We opted for the Zig-Zag route home. Even though it seemed shorter at the time, I wonder if one tree hill might not have been more enjoyable. The stretch next to the Mlambonya river had us marching through some tall grass on several occasions. We crossed the Tsekesteke river near its confluence with the Mlambonya river with ease and reached the parking lot at 15h00. The car was hot on arrival and I am now contemplating planting a tree there the next time I visit this area.  

Hi Joe,

Thanks for transporting me to the Berg this morning

You mentioned that the pass to the NW of Mlambonja Buttress looks quite steep. We did it a few years back (2019 I think). We came up Tseke, went down Cockade and then up Mlambonja Buttress south pass. It's not as steep as it looks, and in comparison I would say is quite similar to Cockade, although much more enjoyable (for me, as it has a few nice scrambling sections). The steeper and harder part lies below what you could see from Cockade. That approach has some of the steepest sections I've done in the berg. Done it twice when everything was covered with grass, which helped a lot, but on my last hike when we took the kids up Xeni south (they were then 14(boy) and 13(girl)) everything was burned down and the steep side slopes was a bit dodgy.

Anyway, try it out, it is spectacular and very rewarding to go up that pass.

Regarding one tree hill, having done the zigzags many many many many times, I did 1TreeHill last November for the second time, and everyone in the group reckoned it is a nicer walkout. Slightly further, but faster walking and you cut off a large section of that final hot walk out if you descend via the zigzags.

Not sure that a days worth of hiking could produce anything envoronmentally friendly out of your socks!   Nice pics, also felt transported to the berg.

Yes, definitely nice photos Joe! The depth in them does it for me

A friend is proposing we do the BT around the 9th Sept.
I have a sense water will be very slim then. Is this correct?

(I'm more prone to attempting a Cockade-Organ Pipes loop-de-loop)

September will be very dry. You might get lucky with a drip on the traverse section after the horns but not something you can bank on. Best is to budget on carrying 3 liters from last water (usually in vallley below Cathedral as you apporach from Orange peel gap) to having to hike up to Lesotho from Twins to get water and return to Twins for the night - else tent next to the stream.

Agreed with Bergatties advice. You might find water from snowmelt in some of the gullies but I wouldn't bank on it. There is also a bit of water to be found directly below Twins, in the valley towards the West.

I've been up the BT with no water, and although tough it is doable. It was in Dec and boiling hot. We filled up with 3L of water at the waterfall about 200m from Sherman's cave. Then, we got stuck in a storm right at the top and was pinned down for about an hour in a massive wind storm, so we went from being dehydrated to freezing, my fingers were so numb I could barely use them when we arrived at the stream on the escarpment. Interesting day, that one.

Anyhow, top up at every spot is my motto when water is scarce. I would advise you to do the same.