Organ Pipes Pass

Let me clarrify what I mean - there is water above the pass, but its a little stream. If you go south past Ndumeni Dome there s a nice big river.

Yes, the spring is the only point on the route that has reliable water. Coming up Mikes Pass from Didima office to Arendsig gate there is no water, although if a detour is made via Cambalala House, near Arendsig, there should be water in the tap in the garden. On the route from Arendsig gate to the top of Organ Pipes Pass, the spring is the only water on the route, although I'm sure you could find water in one of the streams nearby if you deviate off the route, especially the Ndumeni stream below the old workers accomodation.

The spring is at S 29 00.488 E 29 12.581, 2551m, my gps co ordinates, and would be quite easy to miss by walking right past if you didn't know about it, as it's not visible from the path, being set slightly down on the opposite side of the ridge as the path. The photo is taken from the ridge above the path looking down at the hikers (ghaznavid is the guy wearing black) filling up their water with the path just behind me.

The Thuthumi Hut is at S 29 00.261 E 29 13.588 2349 m, also my gps coordinates.

At the top of Organ Pipes Pass, hikers usually take one of three routes. If you continue up to summit Cleft Peak (to the right, northwest) you angle up the ridge towards Cleft and cross a small stream where there is usually water. Hikers camping at the top of the pass usually head down from the top of the pass (west), where water is found in the Maloreng stream flowing into Lesotho. There are numerous tenting spots around here, and how far down you have to go to find flowing water depends on the season. Be aware of the possible security isues here, as there is a major trail from the top of Organ Pipes Pass heading into Lesotho. If heading to Roland's or one of the Upper Ndumeni Caves, you contour around the ridge to the left (south) and then head up the valley between Ndumeni Dome and Organ Pipes Pass, where the small stream also provides water except in very dry conditions, again the height at which you can find water depends on the season.

@Tony: Hope you don't mind me throwing my 2c worth in, but its a great route and I think you have done a great job of writing up about it.

Some additional pics that may be helpful:

When Tony says there is no sign of the fact that there is nearby water - he isn't joking! This is what the spot above the water looks like. We met 2 other large hiking groups (on a misty Friday in February, not even on a long weekend) and all had lunch together right by the water spot on the pass.


From the top of the pass this is what Ndumeni Dome (looking south) looks like. When we were there in Feb last year there was a bit of water in a tiny stream in the gap there - but not fast flowing or anything:


The top of the pass looking into Lesotho looks like this:


Looking back at the top of the pass from the slopes of Cleft Peak:


And for good measure, seeing as Tony has promised a writeup on Smugglers Pass - here is him at the top of Smugglers Pass:

Smurfatefrog wrote: Would be nice to have this type of thread for all passes

Any specific passes you have in mind? I'd be glad to do writeups like this on ones I've done (although I usually incorporate this into my hike reports).

If anyone is keen to do a full report on Rockeries and Mnweni Pass (maybe also Mbundini and Fangs) - I would appreciate it Hoping to hit at least 2 of those later this year.

I'll do Grays.

I have done Thuthumi in stages - I have done the Organ Pipes approach (but we missed the turnoff to Thuthumi, so we did Organ Pipes instead), I have also done the smugglers shortcut where you traverse off the escarpment to smugglers pass and climb the Thuthumi Pass gully - but I haven't properly done the entire pass as a unit.