Mt. Ida

Sunday 27th July 2014

A party of nine, consisting of Bill Bews, John Chetwin, Ross Familton, Murray Gifford, Maurice & Phyllis Gray, Dunedin visitors Rodney & Helen Meiklejohn and Trip Organiser Noel Pullan, assembled in the Medway Street car park from 7:45am.  After the road access and route details were presented by Noel, we were soon organised into three vehicles and on our way to Wedderburn, via Palmerston and the Pigroot, a few minutes after 8:00am.

Apart from the back seat heckling Noel endured from Ross en-route, the rest of us had a relatively uneventful drive through to Wedderburn and around 9:45am we pulled over to the side of State Highway 85, 3.1 kilometres past Wedderburn, as Noel had turned into what appeared to be the driveway of a farm paddock.  As Maurice and I were expecting the nice, metalled road described by Noel earlier and indicated on the Idaburn map as the access road to Little Mount Ida, we assumed that he had taken the wrong turn-off and so we continued on past the Ida Valley-Omakau Road intersection expecting to find this elusive metalled road.  However, after further road-side discussions and assurances from Noel (not to mention a couple of bites of humble pie after incorrectly assuming Noel had taken the wrong turn-off), we turned around and headed back to the previous turn-off that he had indeed correctly identified.  Our car was left at the gate, just off the main road, so we all continued on towards Little Mount Ida in the two 4WD vehicles on the metalled road obscured by the muddy state of its mid-winter condition. About 7 kilometres later the road took a right-angled turn and began winding its way up Little Mount Ida to the television transmitter and building on top.  At this right-angled corner, at 740 metres, we parked the vehicles, put on our gear and got underway at 10:30am.  We followed a 4WD track, initially heading north before climbing briefly and turning to the north-east to the base of Mount Ida itself.

The top 200 metres or so of the Ida Range was covered in cloud, which looked particularly cold given the fresh snow that had recently fallen.  But, with no real wind to speak of, we carried on; hoping that the sun would eventually break through the overcast sky and the top of the range would also clear.  However, it was soon apparent that the cloud probably wasn’t going to lift to accommodate our intentions, so Bill and Phyllis opted to continue along an adjoining 4WD track that headed south-east and up to the saddle between the southern ridge line of Mount Ida and Little Mount Ida, with a view towards making the shorter ascent of Little Mount Ida and descending to the vehicles via the access road.  So, we parted company and the remaining seven of us headed straight up the quite step spur leading directly to the summit of Mount Ida over a series of rocky outcrops.

The fresh snow was boot-deep in places and knee-deep in others, dependent upon whether there was rock or vegetation underneath.  However, we gained height quickly and by 12:30pm had climbed the steepest part of the spur before stopping for lunch at about 1400 metres, with just one more rocky outcrop remaining to be surpassed in order to gain access to the upper ridge leading to the summit at 1690 metres.  But, stopping for lunch revealed just how cold it was without any direct sunlight, and with obvious white-out conditions waiting to envelope us as the cloud was actually lowering, common sense prevailed and so after lunch we turned around and headed back down our ascent route.

We hadn’t seen any sign of Bill and Phyllis since they’d headed off to climb Little Mount Ida, but as Maurice and Ross got down off the Mount Ida spur very quickly, they raced-off along the 4WD track in the direction of Little Mount Ida and made short work of the ascent to the saddle and on to the top.  The rest of us made our way back to the vehicles, which were reached by 2:50pm, where Bill and Phyllis had arrived half an hour earlier.  Maurice and Ross were soon spotted quickly descending the road on Little Mount Ida and once we were all back together again, the Wedderburn Tavern was elected as the ideal venue for a trip ‘debrief’, over an assortment of beer and coffee.

By the time we were back on the road, around 4:20pm, the top of the Ida Range had finally cleared, as had some of the familiar peaks of the St. Marys Range.  Once at Kyeburn, Helen and Rodney headed back to Dunedin via Middlemarch on State Highway 87, with the rest of the party returning to Oamaru via the Pigroot and Palmerston.

Regardless of personal experience gained from years of private excursions into the North Otago ranges and further afield, the company of the wonderful people of the North Otago Tramping and Mountaineering Club and the inestimable combined wealth of knowledge and experience that is freely shared by those long-standing members who provide their services as Trip Organisers, is incomparable.  It truly is a privilege to spend a day out in the hills with these people and I would recommend the experience to anyone contemplating such an adventure, whether you’re ultimately considering club membership or are visitors to the club (like us), you are graciously welcomed by one and all.

Thanks very much to John, Murray, Ross, Bill, Maurice & Phyllis and, of course, Noel, for a great day out, regardless of the outcome.  It was an absolute pleasure to be in your company.

Rodney & Helen Meiklejohn (Dunedin).

[Show slideshow]