Camp Spots near Cathedral Peak and water supply

Hi All
There has been a lot of water leading up to May, and I have certainly seem more in the Northern Berg now than usually.  Between Orange Peel gap and buggers gully there are one or two camp spots and I was wondering of any water points in this immediate area down any of the gullies between this ridge and the contour path below?
Thanks

I’d look for water on the Mnweni side of the path leading from Orange Peel to Bugger’s gully. Look for some trees in the valley and try there. 
This catchment area is large compared with the gullies on the Cathedral Peak Hotel side of the ridge line. 

 

I found water below Cathedral Peak, coming up from Orange Peel Gap on the final steep section up to Buggers Gulch, about 250m or so from the top, on both sides of the "path". This was about 6 weeks ago. I've always found water here, even in winter, but then I had to descend a little bit below the path level. We found no water between Orange Peel Gap and Buggers Gulch other than this spot, and it was raining and cloudy the entire time we were in this area. On the other side though, after Bell cave, we found lots of little streams most of the way, except say the last 1.5km's or so before Twins Cave. I doubt these will still have water in them, they were smaoll and your typicl rain runoff streams.

Not sure of the exact route you want to take or where you want to camp, but taking the lower path (instead of going up Orange Peel Gap, stay low and basically meet up with the path on One Tree Hill), there is usually also small streams around the Outer Horn.

This is my response to the subject some year's back:
Water source
Here is a GPS Co-ordinate:
 
And a photo illustrating the position:
 
I haven't been there in a while, but it was still seeping the last time I was there. Most of my visits were in May/June.
Trust this helps.

Thanks all for your responses.  I am looking to camp on the flattish plateau and was thinking there might be water just below it, seems like there might be from the image.  Any idea of the security at this spot?  Haven't seen any reports about problems, and the path via puddings from Mweni doesn't look well use according to google maps.

I have camped on that plateau a number of times and never felt insecure or threatened at any time, nor did we see any signs of local activity in that area. It is also well before the junction from Puddings, where I would presume the rest of their route would follow the Bell Traverse, rather than down towards the plateau.
The only incidents I can recall on that route were an incident in Bell cave a long time ago and some fire incident higher up nearer Cathedral Peak, also some years ago. 

I also saw that old report and have even found cows in Bell Cave.  What always amazes me is why smugglers would choose to use the traverse and even worse try to take cows along it.  There are two quite difficult sections!

Yes, I have also wondered about it. We did find the carcass of a cow once down the Bell Cave side of the scree slope of Bugger Gully.

Ditto the experience of the path leading to the gully as being a safe zone security-wise in the Berg. This is out-of-the-way. You'd have to be very unlucky to get hit here.

I wonder if those dead cows could have been the result of them wandering off on their own in the mist. No one in their right mind would try to take cows down the gully from CP towards the Bell. It is hard enough without hooves.

Just returning to the water issue. For many years in winter I would haul a sack full from the 'last waterfall' 10 minutes above Sherman's cave to Bell Cave. In winter I have found Riaang's source in the gully dry - and occasionally also in mid-summer. I have remained unaware of Sterkhorn's source, unfortunately. It was a good steer.

A few years ago in January we hauled water from that last waterfall near Sherman's to Bell Cave. At the start of day 2, which we had planned to do the traverse, we returned back down Bugger's from Bell Cave to the water source in the valley downstream of where the path first intersects the gully (we had run out of water in Bell Cave).  It was in that valley, about 20 minutes downstream, near some trees, that we found pools and a good feed. The ground water emerges at this point..