Paradise Creek 16/17 November 2024
The upper Paradise Creek is in a hanging valley above the Huxley River and it flows into the Hopkins. A weather window opened up for 4 of us and provided a fine weekend. Rain on the previous Friday had made the 4wd part of the access to Monument Hut just tricky enough.
Access to the last stretch of riverbed before Monument was compromised and so our vehicle was left about 2km before the hut and clothes were changed and packs donned for our tramp. As we got to Monument Hut, we could see a 4wd stuck in the river and a young man rescuing his gear from it. He’d been unfortunate enough to have driven into the river to cross it without checking how good the bottom was and lost traction in the loose gravel.
We couldn’t help him so carried on to the Huxley Bridge where we had lunch on the other side. Just after spotting 6 deer on the far side of the grassy flat, we started our steep assent of the bushy hill which leads to a ridge at the 1100m contour. Very slow travel on this with lots of tree fells providing interesting route finding opportunities.
Eventually we got to a ridge at the correct contour and surprise surprise there was a DoC 200 trap and a trap line right along this ridge leading to further traps. This provided a decent route for us to follow right along until we dropped slightly and found ourselves at the edge of the bushline which happened to coincide with the start of the grassy flats along that section of Paradise Creek.
Our hard slog up the hill was well rewarded, it had taken over 3 hours to get here but the views of the cirque leading to Mt Boanerges and Taiaha Peak were spectacular. We didn’t waste any time in finding a suitable camp spot and tents were quickly erected and a welcome brew put on. The usual world issues were solved that evening and just after bed time a group of Kea was heard overhead which did leave anxiety for the safety of our tents. The night was moonlit, cold and filled with the occasional noise of avalanches coming off Taiaha Peak.
Morning saw us getting up at 6 with a decent frost on the tents and people sharing how they stayed warm at various parts of the night. Kea once again were heard overhead, but not seen. A Karearea was seen however. By 7 we were on the move to check out the head of the valley and had only gone a short while when we saw that we did have some neighbours in the form of 3 hunters who had been there for 2 nights. They had bagged 3 Thar and a deer the previous day and were looking forward to a big day of lugging out their catch.
The head of the valley was about 2km and although we didn’t get right to the end, we did go far enough to see all that we wanted before returning to our camp to have a brew and pack up.
The return trip was so much easier as we followed the ridge and the trap route all the way down into the Hopkins valley and a fast walk back to the car. The trapped 4wd at Monument was no longer there in the river, so that guy must have some mates.
A great trip, very strenuous at times, visiting an area which is not often seen by many.
Photography by Lorena can be seen on her Facebook (look up Lorena Marshal) or eventually on the NOTMC Facebook page.
Thanks to Julian for the 4wd driving, and Jenny and Lorena for their company.
Robbie
