Friday, 6pm at
the clubrooms, time for another weekend away. The Routeburn is our
weekend destination, and hopefully the peak of Mt. Xenicus it's aim.
A six hour drive
brings us to the start of the Routeburn Track, stopping only for food
in Alexandra. Bed tonight is at Routeburn Falls hut, another three
hours away, as we tramp along through dense forest. It is a mild night
and it isn't long before warm clothes have been stripped off, and
torch batteries start to die. The path steepens for the last hour,
a hot cuppa is reward for reaching the hut, and bed at 3.40am.
Alarms rudely awake
us at 5.30am and by 7.00am in first light we head up above the waterfalls.
We cross the narrow river almost immediately and stand at the base
of Mount Xenicus. The summit at 1,910m stands 800m above us and is
hidden in low cloud, as it would all day. Snow and strong winds further
hampered our small and inexperienced group.
The slopes weren't
too tough at the base but steepened after a couple of hundred metres,
the soft snow slowing us down. A couple of steeper sections required
a bit of scrambling and caution, before we arrived on a slightly more
level plateau about halfway up. The whole of the upper face stood
before us. Tall cliffs directly below and to the left of the summit,
so we headed right, towards a ridge that led up to the summit. In
poor light and through snow it was difficult to clearly define slopes,
and weren't as easy as they first appeared.
Beyond a plateau,
we climbed up a steep section to reach the ridge. The snow was very
soft, and often wouldn't take my weight as I led up this slope. This
section was very exhausting and frustrating as progress slowed. The
ridge line was six feet wide and not to steep but then came to a knife-edge
ridge, the top of which could be cupped by the hand. Either side fell
nearly vertically for 300 metres or more. Rob led the way across,
the snow soft and ready to avalanche at any time. Certainly the scariest
section of mountain I have ever climbed. A few voices, mine included,
raised questions about continuing, especially as above the slopes
increased and dangers to inexperienced eyes appeared worse. As a group
we decided not to continue any further.
Lunch was taken
here with Mt. Xenicus still in cloud, but lower cloud melted revealing
good views over Lake Harris, Harris Saddle and Conical Hill. After
a cautious descent on steeper slopes, we were able to glissade down
some sections and enjoy a couple of snowball fights, with relief that
the worst was behind us. We didn't conquer but we survived, so the
decision to abort was the right one.
The descent brought
us down to Lake Harris at the head of the Routeburn Valley, The lake
was frozen, and covered in six inches of slushy snow. We walked around
to the outlet, where we followed the tiny stream, taking us back to
the hut, arriving at 2.30pm. On this section back, the cloud lifted
just long enough to see the summit, our highest point and lunch stop,
and our route up.
The next day brought
another early start, again at 5.30am as we aimed to cross over Sugarloaf
Pass to the Rockburn Hut, and then via Lake Sylvan to the Routeburn
road. We headed back down the Routeburn valley to the flats for a
last look at Mt. Xenicus, now bathed in sunshine with clear blue skies
above.
We dumped our excess
gear in the trailer, then headed off towards Sugarloaf Pass, except
for Chris and Vanessa who walked down to Lake Sylvan and around to
the Rockburn Hut to meet us for lunch. The narrow and often unmarked
track begins a couple of minutes back up the Routeburn Track. It's
steep and through dense vegetation (one bend we named Green Valley
after some nose clearing). It was no surprise we lost the track. The
track crosses the stream at some point, but we didn't, so we bush-bashed
up, scrambling over fallen trees and thick vegetation. Climbing up,
we hoped to re-discover the track, 4½ hours later we found it again!
Snow lay to just
below the tree-line, and just before midday we reached Sugarloaf Pass.
The scenery is incredible, looking back across the Routeburn and up
the whole length of the Dart Valley, dominated by Earnslaw, a huge
long wall of mountain, forested below and white above.
Still no sign of
the track back down, so we bush-bashed down, with the slopes much
steeper on the Rockburn side. Though not lost, we were heading around
the contours of the slope, so every step took us further away from
the track.
At least slopes
soon eased, as did vegetation and we could descend easier. To our
good fortune, we bumped into a hunter who points us in the right direction.
We had to round a small lake and boggy ground. One harmless looking
trickle entering the lake fooled Rob, who promptly disappeared up
to his chest. Round the lake, over a tiny rise and eventually we stood
on the track, much to everyone's relief. Rockburn Hut is reached 20
minutes later on the banks of the Dart River. Chris and Vanessa have
long gone, leaving a note to say they are off to meet up with Jay
and his group at 4.00pm, the meet up time.
After a quick lunch
it's a march pace along a muddy meandering path, past Lake Sylvan
and across the bridge over the Routeburn, ignoring bridge closed signs,
arriving at the van just before 5.00pm. A weekend long to be remembered,
and one that will remain with me, even when I'm back home in London
next year.
Party - Stuart,
Nigel, Rob, Tony, Brad, Chris and Vanessa.
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