Arthurs Pass. Lake Mavis via Goat Pass & Edwards Valley
22nd – 24th March 2014
The enjoyment of tramping is not only while out there doing it, but the build-up with the wonder of what new country we will see, catching up with fellow club members and will the weather be kind.
The journey began with a long distance drive to Arthurs Pass to our accommodation for Friday night at the Christchurch Tramping Club’s hut, then down to the Wobbley Kea Cafe for a giant sized pizza for dinner. This was for half of our party as the other three had to leave Oamaru later. Our team of six spent a very comfortable night at the hut with storytelling and the usual taking the mickey out of things, before lights out.
At 7am Robbie was first up to have breakfast and prepare for the day ahead. After parking the cars at Greyneys, packs shouldered, we were on our way across the Bealey River to Goat Pass Hut via the Mingha Valley which is the route used in the Coast to Coast Run.
Fog blocked the views to the tops, but that soon improved. River crossings appeared more numerous than previous visits from what I could remember. Finally the crossings ceased and the hill work began ending on Dudley’s Knob where photos were taken with the element of a “Liedecker View”.
An early lunch was enjoyed in the sunshine at the Mingha Biv. The clever graphics on the inside walls of the biv were photographed and we were off on the last lap to Goat Pass Hut, arriving five hours after our start – a gentle way to break into the tramp. With the hut to ourselves, brew in hand and sitting in the sun life was as good as it gets. Later after a short walk across snow grass from the hut and up to a high point we were rewarded with great views up and down the Deception River and across to the tops above Temple Basin. We could also see our intended route up to Lake Mavis for the next day. As the day wore on more people started to arrive and by the evening there were at least thirty looking for a bed in the twenty bunk hut. It was interesting to note that a good number of these people did not have any form of bed mat. Lessons to be learned here.
Little sleep was had by some of us so it was pleasing to see daylight on Sunday morning and get breakfast over early so we could get on our way in clear skies with no fog. One hour uphill and Lake Mavis began to show. Several people had camped up there for the night and were making their way down. After shedding our packs we had time to explore around the outlet while waiting for the sun to appear over the ridge to paint a new picture of the lake.
The next stage to the crossing point on the ridge one km north of Mt Oates consisted of a rocky sidle then a climb ending with another grand view across the Edwards Valley to Tarn Col, Falling Mountain and the large tarn, our lunch spot 150mtrs of steep scree below.
The route to the valley floor began with more rock hopping followed by tussock to the steep gut which with care released us to freedom. Edwards Hut appeared with some attractive board-walked tarns in the foreground after nearly two hours of valley walking. With only our party in the hut for the night it made for a more peaceful place than the previous one. Uwe was first up at 6am Monday and lit all the cookers . Not sure what that was all about but it made for a leisurely breakfast while awaiting daylight for travel in the bush. A short distance from the hut we were rewarded after Robbie’s announcement “Blue Ducks” whereby a pair came floating downstream right past us while another pair flew overhead. It was good spotting as some of the party had not seen Blue Duck in the wild before. The ducks can be hard to see as they blend in with the water well.
The track down to the river flats demands your attention as it is quite rough with steep steps in places. Once out on the flats with easier going we stopped to chat with a camping party, the two girls about to bathe in the stream nearby obviously not expecting company. “Nothing we haven’t already seen before!”
After negotiating a steep rock wall with the help of a series of chains, the highway traffic could soon be seen and the last river crossing took us back to the cars, journey over.
Thanks for making a good trip that much better.
Bron, Jane, Phyllis, Uwe, Robbie
Maurice.
Club night, March 2014
Monday 10th March 2014
The formalities of our usual structure were brief as some key members were not present, and our guest speaker was unable to come at the last minute. So a night with a difference, plus plenty of chatting time at the end.
There has been plenty of activity over the last month with a variety of tramps. Dave told of his trip to Invacroy Station, being fog bound initially before glorious views around 1500’ at the top end of the Kirkliston Range. The Mt Domet weekend trip also had its weather issues, with very strong NWers on the Fri night, then rain and hail during Sat night. Squeezed in between, 10 elated bods reached the summit as winds eased after a late start. This meant not returning to Chainmen’s hut until 7.30 after having to find the way through fog that rolled in. Well led Bill.Nimrod Reserve track organised by Evelyn also reflected on the weather we have been having- with light drizzle blocking great views but making the bush and birds flourish.
The Wednesday Wakers had better luck with their days. They managed to complete all the Herbert track walks just before the storm struck.The Round Yards from Balmoral Rd was not hot enough to tempt anyone to swim the N branch of the Kakanui river, but pleasant enough for one group to explore going up the river rather than join the others looping around the hill.Their final attempt for a swimming day did happen at Kaiwarua Station in the Waihoa river.Awakino Gorge and Kurow Hill was a pleasant easy day.
Upcoming tramps include: Mt Orr starting from Little Roderick; Anniversary w/e in Arthurs Pass doing a circuit from the Minga to L Mavis and back down the Edwards; Dromedary Hill in the Lindis; a working bee in Herbert Forest; and biking from Oamaru to Kurow on the A2O route.
Bron McCone filled the speakers roll exceptionally with a wide variety of quickly acquired photos., ranging from toadstools to mistletoe , Ellislie Flower show to Michael Hill’s Millbrook golf course’s sculptures, recent tramps to her father’s photos of the construction of Benmore Dam. Well done!
Kirkliston Range
Kirkliston Range
Sunday 16th February, 2014
The Kirkliston range is on the West side of the Hakataramea valley. The actual location of this trip was changed as the runholders’ of part of the route could not be contacted. The trip was changed to tramp up onto the north end of the Kirkliston Range. Permission was kindly granted from the Milnes of Invercroy station. David Milne was waiting for us at the gate as two carloads each of four eager trampers arrived. He had a prepared a map for us, with a marked route, which should ensure good views. The morning fog hindered our early route finding and it wasn’t long before we were climbing up through tussocks and spaniards. Finally the fence on the ridge line came into view and the fog was below us. Morning tea was enjoyed as was the surrounding views. John with his trusty saw took to two wilding pines. We followed the fence which led to a track that slowly climbed the range. After lunch, in the middle of a tussocky plateau, we did the final climb to the top of the ridge at approximately 1500 metres. The views were magnificent 360 degrees – Twizel, Tekapo river, Mt Cook, Mt Dobson the Hunter and Kakanui ranges.
The trip back was steadily downhill and after a day of over 6 hours walking we were glad to reach the cars. Eight trampers enjoyed their big icecream at Kurow after their pleasant day of exercise.
Thanks to Bill, John, Tim, Wendy, Linda, Colin, and Bronwyn for their enjoyable company.
Dave Mellish
Mt. Nimrod Reserve
9th March 2014
This walk had all the hallmarks of a ‘girls only’ trip – with Jane G and Margie starting to plot suitable post tramp debriefing places – then up rolled the Kakanui based Mercedes with two kiwi blokes, so things reverted back to the usual icecreams and coffee!
With the forecast predicting the weather to clear, ten of us set off for Makihikihi, Evelyn remembering at the last minute to pick up Jo at Waitaki Bridge.
After turning inland, with light rain all the way, we soon hit Backline Road, and it seemed an eternity (actually one and a half hours) until we reached the Nimrod Reserve turnoff, by which time we had clocked up 100km. Shame the visibility was so poor.
Off we set on the loop track – up, up, up through the bush. Karyl was convinced there would be coffee shop at the top to reward her for her efforts.
After a morning tea stop in a clearing with a Leideker view, we began the descent to the stream. The wet conditions made the track rather slippery so plenty of careful foot placement was required. Dave was the only one to venture to the nearby waterfall when we reached the bottom.
Up we went again and had lunch under the trees at the saddle. With ground and vegetation pretty damp, we did not linger.
The rocky knob beckoned and we scrambled up, with just a murky glimpse of the waterfall before the mist closed in again. We were soon at the top, (some saw a wallaby), and carefully made our way down through more bush, reaching the cars about 1-15pm.
Our homeward journey saw us pass through the settlement of Hunter, which made such an impression on Dave he was reluctant to carry on to Waimate. An icecream there helped soothe his disappointment.
Thanks everyone for looking after each other so well and supporting your novice leader.
Tricia, Margie, Jane G, Karyl, Linda, Phyllis, Bronwyn, Jo, John, Dave M, and Evelyn.
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Mt. Domett
So a year has passed since the last attempt at Domett. On that occasion, a tantalisingly small weather front drove us back, but by the time we had retreated to the cars, the mountain was again bathed in sunshine. When you are inside a cloud it’s hard to know what’s happening outside.
On this occasion however, the weather played a different game in the form of gale force winds.
The walk in to Chinaman’s hut on Friday evening was nothing but a pleasure for all, in spite of the river having had a major sluicing since last we were last there, making the going a little slower.
As the night progressed, so did the strength of the wind, even in and around the somewhat protected hut site. For those who chose to sleep outside (in tents and on the ground), it was a noisy night, even in the hut as well. At 6am, the planned time of wake up, I did a quick circuit of bodies, tents and hut sleepers to postpone the start ‘til at least 8am in the hope the wind might recede.
Departure at 8.45 was all very casual with little hope of going far, as the gusts were still viscous.
But as we approached the mountain, our hopes began to rise as the wind eased.
During the climb there was a bonus for the few at the front, seeing a very large stag 100m away which for a few seconds hadn’t seen us. Surprisingly it didn’t scamper off in the opposite direction, but proceeded up the hill and across our route so we got a great look at this magnificent beast.
How do you measure the combined elation of ten people all grinning like Cheshire cats at the simple achievement of climbing a hill – yes a bigger hill than some – in fact a mountain! Although I had been on this spot many times before, I got huge pleasure not only from my reaching the top again, but from watching the other nine people enjoying the moment as well.
But all too soon our attention was drawn to the huge bank of easterly cloud rolling toward us. This would make our descent (down a different and longer route) very difficult indeed, so off we went down the back of the mountain before sidling across horrible rock and scree to reach Raggedy Ridge.
About two thirds of the way down this long ridge, the fog engulfed us, reducing visibility to 100m. Almost immediately we found ourselves in unfamiliar territory but least were able to keep descending and eventually reached the creek with the help of the fog dissipating.
It had been a 10hr day so the focus was simple, a good meal, lively conversation, then into the sack.
Earlier thoughts of more climbing on Sunday seemed to evaporate, so it was a casual “watch your step walk” back down the river.
The homeward journey was broken with a brief inspection of the recent clearing of the historic bridal track from Beatties Hill across the Marawhenua river to Livingstone. There may well be more mention of this area in future.
The thrill seekers were – John Chetwin, Jane Green, Els Jordans, Colin Wollstien, Mathew and Anna Harris, Murray Gifford, Tim Pawson, Bron McCone, and Bill Bews.
