Trip  Report, Rabbiters Peak, 29,30 March 2025

 

Four members and 2 extras set out from town at 7 am. We rendezvoused at the Wrinkly Rams for a quick coffee and headed up to the Temple carpark which was quite busy with campers. It was a blue sky day and we had a pleasant walk up the valley, reaching the head of the valley in time for lunch. One of the group decided to stay and camp there for the night while the rest carried on up the steep hill in the general direction of Rabbiters Peak. Good route finding skills by the 2 extras resulted in minimal scrub bashing. Our aim was to find a camping spot at the tarn just below the 1600 contour and explored the ridge beyond that for possibilities to get to the peak by following along the ridge. After about 2 1/2 hours we reached the tarn and set up our tents and after the usual snacks and drinks were had we went to the ridge just there 150m further up to check the likelihood of going that way in the morning. It turned out that this way was not the easiest with some steep rock climbs required with a lot of exposure to bad outcomes should anyone take a tumble.

01-Temple-DOC-park
02-Ascending-to-North-Temple
03-Steep-ascent-above-the-head-of-the-valley
04-View-towards-Gunsight-Pass
05-Camping-by-upper-tarn
06-Campsite-by-the-tarn

[Show slideshow]
Back to camp for dinner and the usual early long night. No moon meant brilliant views of the stars until there was a change in the weather with a significant increase in wind speed. It became overcast as well and the wind carried on buffeting our tents for the remainder of the night and was still very strong by the time morning rolled along. This led us to decide that going back up the ridge looking for a route to the peak was more than anyone desired and would likely be quite unpleasant if not dangerous. 

So we packed up and went down retrieving some of the bits of gear that had blown away during the night as we went. We met up with the lonely camper at the head of the North Temple, even getting him out of bed and after his pack up walked back down the valley to reach the cars just before lunchtime. The day was much more overcast than the previous day and a broody NW promised rain at some point.

This was a short but otherwise very nice trip into out backyard hills. We didn’t reach our objective, but there is always another day. Thanks to Julian, Lorena, Neil, Jonah and Scout for coming .

Robbie