Cathedral Peak hikes - 4 days or longer

I agree with Viking in that Tseke has had an unnecessarily bad hype in recent years, but on the other hand - don't underestimate it. It is a case of route finding. Similarly Cockade Pass has no trail, but route finding is much easier as the gully is narrower, limiting route options. Both passes have trails in places. As Viking mentioned, read Tony's writeups on the passes you will use - they are very detailed and accurate, and the photos are a great help.

Personally I would invert the route - go up Tseke and down Organ Pipes. Organ Pipes is really easy to find (basically go over the Cleft Peak ridge, find the lowest point in the saddle between Cleft and Ndumeni Dome and by the massive summit cairn you will find a clear trail.

Ps. the reason I say that a route like the one originally proposed is brave is not that the route is necessarily difficult or dangerous, simply that experience is key on routes like these - especially if it gets misty.

A GPS is great, but especially on a route like Cockade Pass your GPS will probably be off by more than 100m in places. Well mine was anyway. My personal favourite was near the top of Judge Pass when my GPS told me I was dropping about 100m in altitude every 3 minutes. I was actually walking uphill

The greatest value of a GPS is in finding the top of a pass. E.g. it is very easy to mistake the top of False Tseke Pass with the real Tseke Pass. Intrepid posted a story about this a few years ago www.vertical-endeavour.com/blog/38-drakensberg/passes/104-hikers-airlifted-near-tseketseke-pass.html

ghaznavid wrote: Personally I would invert the route - go up Tseke and down Organ Pipes.

Also great advice - the Cleft Peak ridge is much more manageable from the North, from the South it is a monster to climb!

Thanks everyone for the advice! It really is much appreciated! I'm off to Algeria for a couple of weeks for work, hopefully I'll get to do some exploring in the Tasilli, it really is beautiful out there and not too hot this time of year! Also an opportunity to get these legs nice and sturdy I guess ! I've managed to get hold of a decent looking stand alone GPS app for iPhone called MotionX which I'm gonna play around with while up there.

The 'up Tseketseke and down Organ Pipes' makes sense. I have heard and read numerous accounts of the false pass. A colleague of mine who happens to be a helicopter pilot rescued some guys that found themselves stuck at bottom of the false pass in shoulder deep snow sometime back! Something I'd rather not experience, although in November I think it's safe to say mist and rain will be the biggest challenges?

What a great forum! Thanks again. Chat soon!

Hi all,
me and a party of 4 were planning to do Injisuthi, 4/5 day hike, mid September 2016, but speaking to a few peeps and reading reviews I think we should do a less technical/ more intermediate hike rather.
We have done several multi day hikes but never in the Berg. Now we are looking at a 4 day hike in Cathedral peak area. Its hard to get routes online. Does anyone have a recommended 4 day route we should follow and where to sleep (caves/huts/place to pitch tents). We will get maps from the offices before the hike, but its hard to plan anything with what you get online, any help appreciated.

Welcome to VE

"technical" means different things to different people. Injisuthi does have a lot no-go passes for the less experienced, Injisuthi Pass and Hilton Pass being obvious examples. That being said - Judge Pass is a trail route, although some fitness is required to get up the pass. Corner has some scrambling in it, but is generally quite easy - if you don't take the Northern High Approach, it isn't bad at all (I can't comment on the NHA, having never done it).

For Didima (Cathedral Peak area) - I would say a nice 4 dayer would be up Organ Pipes down Mlambonja Pass. Both have good trails. You could break it up in a lot of ways, perhaps:
Day 1: Thuthumi Hut (tents in the hut)
Day 2: camp above Tseketseke Pass
Day 3: down Mlambonja Pass and camp on the contour path
Day 4: walk out via Neptune Pools or One Tree Hill

@Ghaz, the NHA is pretty straight forward, only one rock band to negotiate - the Around the Corner approach has a bit more exposure.

@4Geraldo, 4 days is a pretty long time for the Cathedral Peak area, but if you want to take it easy I would suggest taking 2 days to get to the escarpment, 1 day exploring it and then 1 day back down to the Hotel or Didima. There are quite a large selection of passes in this area and all are prety much conveniently "close" to the top of the escarpment.

You can go up in the South via organ Pipes pass or the Camel, (sleeping over on the lower Berg before ascending the pass), traverse Northwards pass Tseketseke pass and sleep over close to Mlambonja pass in Twins cave (nice cave, actually quite a lot of caves in this area) and then walk back down. Have a look in the downloads section on this website for lots of passes and tracks. If you want to walk a bit further you can even come down via the Bell Traverse (Buggers gully being a bit of a more difficult section on this route due to its steepness and loose rocks).

Typical passes (South to North) are Organ Pipes, Camel, Tseketseke, Cockade (not really for Berg novices), Xeni (definitely not for Berg novices, except if you have a serious need for adventure ) Mlambonja and then the Bell Traverse.

Hi 4geraldo

I have done a route before there. Here is the summary:
Day 1: Phone the Cathedral Peak hotel and ask them if they still have the Condor / Bakkie taking people up Mikes Pass to Arendsig. Then you hike via the Old Fire Lookout to the top of Organ Pipes pass. You can split this day in 2, it might be a long day.

Day 2: Go North towards Mlambonja Cave. This will be an easy day with a nice view the next morning when the sun rises.

Day 3: Sleep in Twins Cave, I enjoyed the cave a lot. Also nice view.

Day 4: Go down Mlambonja Pass back to the hotel.

Enjoy!

GerritHuman wrote: Phone the Cathedral Peak hotel and ask them if they still have the Condor / Bakkie taking people up Mikes Pass to Arendsig.

I have gotten a lift from Didima (not the Hotel at Cathedral) twice before and for sure it is worth it. Hiking up Mike's Pass is a waste of energy and who wants to hike on concrete? Best advice yet. And agreed on the route recommended!

I got a lift up Mike's Pass in 2012, but every time I have tried since, they wouldn't take me up. My point being, don't count on getting a lift up (even if they agree in advance).

There is a bypass trail that cuts a lot of distance off the route, this is worth taking.

We have had the same experience as ghaznavid, don't bank on the lift up Mike Pass - plot the "walkers route" up Mikes Pass which is far more direct.