(Ross' subtitle
might be "Earnslaw without commitment")
Friday night of
Queens Birthday weekend saw our party not meeting at the clubrooms.
And not at 6 o'clock. We were self-contained in Brian's new 4WD. So
we were away quite early, with Jonette hitching a ride.
We got to Glenorchy,
and the weather looked fine enough -well, it wasn't raining. It had
already snowed a bit that day, with snow lowering to bushline (well
below the summit of Earnslaw), thus also lowering our ambition. We
would leave our crampons behind. More room for the beer.
Because of the nice
night, we went on to Muddy Creek and got under the tent fly. BC crawled
into the back of his 4WD. On a mattress. "Tramping like this is just
fine," he said, "bloody luxury." All-right for him. It rained, you
see, and Ross & Richard, in the fly, were directly under unsealed
seams. Seam sealer on flies perishes after a few decades in storage...
This trip, as it
happens, was Ross' second tramping trip since 1985. He was showing
signs of perishing as well from inappropriate storage.
Muddy Creek stopped
the 4WD. So, it was packs on, and away. After twenty steps, and crossing
Muddy, it turned out to look easily crossable in the 4WD. So, we went
back to get it. No worries. We helped to ferry packs up valley till
we were stopped by a slippery bank we didn't like the look of.
Brian had said,
"Let's make sure this is a gentile trip - conceding to our great age..."
And so, it was. Richard even kept his feet dry crossing the Rees.
And he was carrying TWO karrimats!
The walk up to Kea
Basin Bivy was great. Nice gradient, doesn't seem to have got steeper
at all. Great vegetation. Clouds were threatening, and we got the
occasional squall, but the weather stayed not too bad.
The bivy hadn't
been moved by DoC. Or declared dangerous. Nonetheless Ross proceeded
to attack its structural integrity with his cranium. Thinning grey
hairs are no protection against low ceilings, eh Ross? Other OTMCers
spread out next door, but one of that party chose to be a bit of a
recluse, deciding to stay in a tiny tent...!
We sat and ate and
watched snow fall, into the evening. Moonlight and fresh snow made
a fantastic setting. Discussions that night and the next dwelt on
sex, absent spouses, kids, politics and, of course, defaming common
acquaintances: "whatever happened to so-and-so??" "How many club marriages
are still intact?" After much thought, we decided intactness probability
was about thirty to one, a bloody high average for this planet.
The bivy has fairly
comfortable bedding, especially for those with two karrimats. But
the drips off the roof were a bit of a pest. Later on, icicles on
the roof began to grow... at least the drips then stopped.
For both Sunday
and Monday the weather was fine. A bit cool. But clear and still.
Views were superb. Mt. Aspiring standing proud over the ridge between
Mt. Clarke and Rees Saddle. Sunday's trip was up towards the big E,
in knee deep snow. The brave other OTMCers broke the trail, which
we thought was very nice of them. A chamois (?) was busy breaking
its own trail, and came quite close to us. Must have been lonely.
Maybe its spouse was overseas.
All summit attempts
that day failed. No flags were to be seen on top. Just the banners
of viciously blown snow. Strong wind continued all weekend; this veritable
jet stream came down to just above the point we got to. A prominent
shoulder made a blissful place for lunch in the still conditions.
It was extremely quiet. The big question was "Where have all the keas
gone?" We expected a whole basin-ful.
Descending to the
bivy (or should it be called icebox?) Ross and Richard looked into
the upper bivy. Snow had been driven in and it was damp, but the view
might just compensate for these exquisite little inconveniences.
Much beer was produced
from the depths of packs. Quite a nice touch. But we forgot to give
any to our neighbours. Not even by way of thanks after they had broken
the trail so well. Sorry, guys.
We went home, again
in a gentlemanly fashion. We took Jonette with us back to Dunedin,
stopping in Queenstown at a quiet cafe for a snack, coffees and fresh
juice. Very nice.
Richard Pettinger,
for Brian Craig and Ross Davies (yes, we're still alive!)
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