Bell traverse to Organ Pipes loop

Good day all! 

Myself and some friends are planning a hike in late November - current plan is as follows: 

Day 1: Early start from Cathedral Peak Hotel to Twins Cave via Bell Traverse
Day 2: Twins Cave, up Mlambonja Pass and along escarpment to top of Organ Pipes Pass
Day 3: Organ Pipes back to Cathedral Peak Hotel 

How does the route seem? It will be a long day 1 but we will get going early and should be do-able. 

Are there any other points we need to be concerned about, does the route look suitable otherwise? What are the pros and cons of doing it this way around instead of starting with Organ Pipes and ending with Bell Traverse?

I think doing it by starting with Bell Traverse first leaves us with a couple options of coming down earlier if we don't make it all the way to Organ Pipes - like Cockade, Tseketseke or even back down Mlambonja after a day of exploring the escarpment. Was even thinking of spending the first night at Bell Cave - does anyone have any info on how many the cave can sleep? 

Members in our party have done all three mentioned passes but none of us have done the Bell Traverse so we are very excited about the prospect. 

Look forward to hearing your feedback on the route and any other pointers. 

Thanks for the great, informative forum!
 

Hi Smurf - thanks for the quick response.

Yes, should be fit enough but I think will still be a tough day! We will aim to get going as early as possible on Day 1 so we can take our time to enjoy the traverse - hopefully weather plays along and no storms.

The water is an issue but will have to see the conditions and then fill up enough at last point.

Plan to do the Camel route back to the hotel! Those beers will be calling our name by then. Any idea on a rough time to get from OPP back to Hotel via Camel route? Need to get some people back to the airport for evening flights.

Thanks!

Welcome on VE Gregmartin91!

To add to the above, note that if you decide to do the route anti-clockwise then you will be getting the afternoon sun, so take this into consideration in your hydration plan.

Bell cave has 2 parts. You should easily be able to fit 4 hikers in the larger area, the smaller one easily 2, bt this section isn't (much) sheltered so if it rains you will have to make a plan (bivvy etc).

We've often found this area bone dry from late October onwards, so if it hasn't rained don't bargain on finding water near Cathedral Peak, fill up at the waterfall above and near Shermans cave.

There's a number of trip reports on VE regarding the Bell Traverse. If you've hiked in the Berg before it shouldn't be too difficult, but that dodgy step section under the chessmen can be a bit tricky depending on the conditions. On our last trip we went down the Bell Traverse, and 2 people in our group decided to rather bypass this section by going below it. First time we had to do this. All the grass was burnt off and the soil was dry and crumbly, with lots of small clumps of dirt lying on the rocks, which made going over that section a bit harder as there was literally nothing to hold onto. Also nothing to grab onto should you slip and start rolling down here in that instance.

We've done the descent with 4 hikers in the rain down from Rolands cave to the hotel in under 5 hours without much trouble, slow going 6 hours so if you start early you should easily make it back to the airport in time.

Enjoy the Berg!