The van and trailer
made a fairly prompt departure from the clubrooms on the Friday (30th
May). The night was chilly when we made our meal stop at Alexandra,
but there was no sign of some severe weather forecast for that night.
Our luck held out
until some way after Queenstown, when the rain started gradually and
became heavier, with some spectacular lightning as we entered Glenorchy.
Enquiries at the backpackers' revealed that our other party had gone
on to Muddy Creek, so we followed along hoping to spot an abandoned
barn, etc. in which to pass a dry night.
We finally settled
on a bush area about 2 km short of Muddy Creek, and tents were pitched
in the rain. I elected to sleep in the club trailer, which is very
waterproof, if a little resonant.
By morning the rain
had stopped, and tea and breakfast were soon being prepared. My group
consisted of Robyn, Grant and myself, but Grant wasn't located until
we got to Muddy Creek car-park, where he was just waking up. After
he'd had breakfast and packed up his tent, we set off up the Rees
valley in bright, sunny conditions.
As one of the other
groups' 4-wheel drive (which was to be driven to 25 Mile hut) approached,
we wondered if they'd take our packs. They consented all too readily,
and we soon realised that we'd not only given away our weight, but
our water, food, sun-hats, maps etc. leaving us a not-very-well equipped
walking party (moral - don't try to be too smart). As things turned
out, the 4-wheel drive only went about 2km, well short of 25-Mile
hut, so we recovered our packs. The rest of the day was sociable,
pleasant and uneventful, with a lunch stop just north of 25-Mile Creek
at a potentially useful rock bivy shelter - big enough to cover a
medium sized tent , or just to shelter under, if an emergency (such
as waiting out high levels in 25-Mile Creek) ever arose.
We pressed on to
Shelter Rock hut and that evening it started to snow quite early.
By Sunday morning there was decent covering of snow all around, and
it was icy underfoot. Our group set off up the fairly steep and scrubby
vegetation just a little beyond the hut with the aim of getting to
25 Mile Saddle, then either dropping into 25 Mile Creek or working
our way down 25 Mile Spur to spend the night at 25 Mile hut (consistent
naming of landmarks !). The snow slowed us down somewhat, and as we
got higher it got dryer and more powdery - mostly too soft to hold
our weight.
After a lunch stop
we made the saddle and decided that the steep drop into 25 Mile Creek
just wasn't on. We all had ice-axes, but the light powder snow, while
acting as a good lubricant for sliding down over the very steep rocks
and tussocks, would have offered no grip for self-arresting. The ridge
(to be followed by negotiating the spur), however, looked promising
and Robyn had been given good directions by a local resident.
We climbed from
the saddle at 1545m to the high point on the ridge at 1728m, but here
it narrowed to about 1m wide or less - loose schist with its treacherous
coating of powder snow. We judged it too dangerous to carry on, so
dropped back and attempted a descent to bypass this feature - at first
the descent was about 35°, but even at this gradient Grant had an
involuntary slide. As it steepened to about 45°, and there was no
safe run-out, I decided to call off that alternative and, discretion
being the better part of valour, we climbed back up and retraced our
day's steps back to Shelter Rock hut.
The day was by no
means wasted as we'd had full sun all day, with barely a breath of
wind, and magnificent views to the Earnslaw massif at the west and
the Richardson Mountains to the east of the ridge. I took several
good photos, including giant spear-grasses in the fresh snow, and
I'd been able to observe some interesting weather phenomena to help
me in a forthcoming exam (which I'd have been at home studying for
if I was a truly diligent student).
The walk out on
Monday was pleasantly uneventful, with the sun continuing to shine
most of the day.
Trevor Blogg
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