Interim Trip Part II - Te Kahui Kaupeka and Mt Somers

Xmas Trip yyyy
Friday 21 January 2011 to Saturday 29 January 2011 (9 days)

Te Kahui Kaupeka Conservation

After drop-off and pick up, we drove to Mesopotamia Station, via Rakaia, Mayfield, Arundale, Peel Forest and then 45 km of metal road up the Rangitata. We stayed at a lovely roomy cottage on Mesopotamia Station. The conservation park behind the station and access easements were obtained by the Crown at tenure review in 2008 and this was the club’s first trip to explore the area. We had expected to find run-down musterers’ huts, so intended to camp in the vicinity of the huts. However, we found that in April 2010 DOC had replaced the decaying sacking bunks with standard DOC bunks and mattresses and a stainless steel work bench. Water was available from a stream nearby. Apart from this change, the huts were original right down to the beech roof-beams in Crooked Spur and the door at Royal Hut which recorded the names of the musterers on each spring and autumn muster since 1959. We all felt privileged to have tramped in this area in its infancy as a conservation park. We only met one person in the first five days and basically had this massive Bush Stream catchment and the surrounding mountains all to ourselves. Once it’s been discovered, this wonderful remote experience won’t last.

21 January

Leaving Big Blue on the Station (500m) we walked to the track end and started heading up Bush Stream at 9.30am. The track is part of Te Araroa and is poled. It was overcast and cool as we headed upstream making many river crossings. The valley and river bed are relatively narrow and the stream is narrow and fast in many places. The catchment is significant and heavy rain would quickly put the stream in flood. We chose our crossings with care and in most cases linked up into groups of three to four. After river flats at the start of the track it was mostly river bed travel and we made 14 significant crossings and many other easy crossings. At 11.30am Neville was not well and he decided the best thing was for him to return. Because of the river crossings, three of us went back with him. He decided to stay on the bus and make day walks, while we three returned to our packs taking 3 hrs for the return trip. Pressing on to the hut there was a sudden 100m ascent then descent back to the river over a ridge, cutting out a loop in the river. The final river crossing was the most difficult but presented no problems for us. A final 250m climb up through beech forest and tussock brought us to Crooked Spur Hut (1000m) where the others had organized a welcoming fire.
Later a lone tramper arrived, a Frenchman, who had managed the stream crossings alone. A bit risky but I watched him cross the stream the next day and he had a copy-book mountain safety technique with a long bamboo pole and two jubilee clips on one end to prevent splitting. He obviously knew his stuff.

22 January

Left at 8.00am on a misty morning with a steady climb through tussock and speargrass to a saddle at 1500m following a poled route. Dropped down on a scree slope and then up, down, sidling through tussock. The mist lifted but cloud cover remained and the mists hung around the tops of the Sinclair (2000m) and Two Thumb Range (1800-2000m). We stopped for lunch to take time to enjoy the vast tussock valley, the stream below, and the mountains with massive scree slopes all around. An hour later we crossed an old bridge that looked a bit dilapidated. Now limited to one person at a time, in its day it would have taken mobs of sheep, and musterers on horse-back. Stone Hut (1120m) was just a few hundred metres away. The hut was no longer stone (now corrugated iron) having been crushed by a rock fall from the hill above some years ago.

23 January

The weather was fine and improving and we left Stone Hut at 7.30am to tramp to Royal Hut (1300m) and then some of us intended climbing to Stag Saddle (1925m) with day packs. First up, a stream crossing, followed by a steady 200m climb upstream with several more crossings. We reached the Bullock Bow Saddle track junction at 9.15am and another 45 minutes in tussock saw us at Royal Hut. The two Keiths, Tony and I headed for Stag Saddle at 11.00am following a poled route that frequently crossed a side stream. The poled route took a steep climb up to a plateau which is not the way I had planned (I planned to use the ridge to the large tarn) and on inspection from above we didn’t know why the poled route took this steep climb. We had lunch on the plateau beneath the saddle and then pushed on up to the saddle arriving at 1.00pm. I thought we might be able to climb Mt Hope (2086m) but the ridge was decidedly fragmented and broken with small bluffs and looked a bit technical. We had wonderful views to the south-east across Lake Tekapo to Lake Alexandrina and glimpses of Lake Pukaki. The Southern Alps were covered with cloud. The other side of the saddle was mainly a mass of pink and grey scree. We decided to return via the large tarn (below Beuzenberg Peak) and above the tarn Keith thought it would be interesting to traverse a large scree slope towards a ridge that would take us right down to Royal Hut. The scree was rock size but relatively easy going and we quickly made the ridge (1600m) which was very easy travel and a botanist’s delight, being full of alpine plants. The drop down off the ridge toward the hut was steep but not difficult and we were back at the hut at 3.30pm.
While we climbed the saddle, Pauline, Bob and Jean trekked upstream to a quaint historic hut, with dilapidated sacking bunks and a doll’s-house-sized door with high sill to keep the snow out.

24 January

A glorious day with not a cloud in the sky. Keith Robbins and I set off to explore the tops on Sinclair Range. Tony headed back to Stag Saddle to recover his GPS which he’d left the day before. Pauline and Bob set off to explore the tarns east of Royal Hut. Keith Ayton wasn’t feeling well and had a day on his bunk with Jean looking after him.
Keith Robbins and I picked out a route SSE up a ridge and reached the range ridge line between peak 1981m and 1891m. We climbed 1891m and started to catch clear views of the Southern Alps with snow- covered Cook and Tasman appearing above the mountains of the Two Thumb Range. Inspired, we headed further along the range for peak 2003m. Here the views were stunning - the Bush Stream catchment and tarns, the Two Thumb Range and behind that the snowy Southern Alps stretching across the horizon. After soaking in the views we headed further along the range toward peak 2001m looking for a good place to drop off the range and pick up the Bullock Bow Saddle Track. After a sidling descent we picked on a section of scree with fine soft stone and ran down 300m in 10 minutes. Great fun! We explored to find a track to cut the corner from Bullock Bow to Royal Hut and while we picked up old horse trails, they disappeared for no apparent reason. Finally we were committed to a tall tussock bash to the hut. Pauline and Bob had the same experience, having also explored for a short cut and, while opinion was divided on whether we could save time the next day, we eventually opted to follow the tracks and not to cut the corner. Bob and Pauline enjoyed their day exploring the tarns and climbing the 1550m knob for views of the basin and tarns. Keith recovered and was good to go for the next day and Tony found his GPS and then made the trip up to the historic hut.

25 January

Keith Robbins’ 60th birthday was celebrated with a solid rendition of Happy Birthday and an ‘easy’ tramp over Bullock Bow Saddle… easy, that is, until we left the bulldozed track. Another fine sunny day with no wind. We left the hut at 7.40am and in 40 minutes were at Bullock Bow Track. This is a bulldozed track and a steady climb from 1250m to 1692m. We reached the saddle at 10.30am and after a short break we started on a quick drop down to 1100m still on a bulldozed track. There, just above Felt Hut (private) we met two 4WDs with people heading up the track for photography. They told us private land started just after the hut, and while the owners of Mesopotamia had given us permission to cross the land it meant getting over locked deer gates. We all agreed this would be time consuming lifting packs over, etc, so we elected to go down the poled route into Forest Creek. Forest Creek is a DOC access easement but I had obtained permission to camp on the flats from the manager of Ben McLeod Station (Don Aubrey 03 696 3747). It wasn’t easy as it was overgrown and rough going so we stopped for lunch above Forest Creek in need of a rest. The drop from our lunch spot into Forest Creek was 200m over half a km and in parts the small zig-zag track was in soft clay/stone making for a difficult descent. Happy to be in the river valley we carried on past Stone Hut (it’s on a hill and camping here didn’t look great) to river flats near the site of Samuel Butler’s historic 1860 V hut. We arrived at 3.00pm - there was good camping here and some interesting short side walks to the Samuel Butler site (marked with Historic Places Trust plaque) and Pinnacles caused by erosion.

26 January

Mindful of expected rain and the need for a 9-km road bash to get Big Blue, Bob and I (being the early risers) decided we would set off early, retrieve Big Blue and return to the track end to pick up the rest of the group. It was fine and cloudy when we set off at 6.00am and we had the road in our sights at 7.45am. Would you believe it, the 8.00am rush to work was on and in the next 10mins four vehicles went down the road toward Mesopotamia. By the time we reached the road, no more vehicles! So we dumped our packs and did the full 9 km, picked up the bus (and Neville!) and returned with perfect timing to pick up the group and head to Mt Somers.

Some thoughts for future trips in this area: Firstly it’s wonderful and I’d go back into the area without hesitation with the objective of exploring the tops. It’s solid tramping so needs fit groups. No need to be fast, but good fitness essential. Both Bush Stream and Forest Creek could be a problem after rain. The route from Forest Creek provides a faster access but the climb from Forest Creek to Bullock Bow Saddle wouldn’t be easy with a full pack. As an alternative, research camping the night at Samuel Butler’s site and then going up Neutral Creek (DOC easement here I think but this needs to be checked) and camping somewhere under peak 1989m. The maps show lots of tarns near the tops but water supply will vary according to weather pattern each year. In Janury 2011 there was plenty of water and the stream below Stag Saddle was running at 1850m. In good weather there would be the potential to spend some days on the tops if water is found but having to drop off the tops to find water should be planned as contingency (hence good fitness). Alternatively, doing the trip as we did it, and staying at Royal Hut or camping in one place for 2-3 days, provides a great opportunity to explore with day packs.

Mt Somers, 27-29 January

Joined by Margaret Robbins (rejoining) and Sue Webb (at Mt Somers).

27 January

We entered from Jig Rd, going to Woolshed Hut for two nights and doing day trips. We left the Mt Somers camping ground at 8.00am and at 8.30am were ready to hit the Miners Track. There is a lot of coal mining history in the area and plenty of old relics to see. Four of the group (Keith Robbins, Tony Walton, Sue Webb and I) had decided to climb Mt Winterslow so we pushed on ahead, arrived at Woolshed Hut (800m) by 10.30am, dropped our packs, and headed for Winterslow at 11.00am. The rest of the group were going to tramp to the Pinnacles Hut and return. The route to Winterslow from Woolshed is not easy to find and, long story short, we missed it and took a ridge that looked promising. But it wasn’t, and we sat on the ridge looking down with the realisation that we would have to descend 200m to regain the correct ridge. It was possible but the cloud was getting lower and lower and good sense prevailed. We abandoned the idea and retreated to the Pinnacles Track near the saddle at 1150m to await the others. We spent half an hour having lunch, while we watched the mist lowering until finally we were in the mist. Just as well we weren’t in the murk at 1700m on Winterslow! The remainder of the group joined us, had lunch and then some continued on into the mist while Pauline, Margaret and I returned. I was keen to find the correct route to Winterslow and while visiting the Water Caves on Morgan Creek I spotted an old red marker painted on a rock. Margaret and I followed a narrow track which led us over a small hump above Morgan Stream and with the mist having lifted, we had a clear view of a ridge that runs up to peak 1293m and then 1440m. We still could not see the tops but, from the map, the ridge to Winterslow from 1440m appears gradual and easy. I was interested in Winterslow: a) ‘Because it is there’ and b) because Brabyn’s book says the views are great and arguably better than Mt Somers. So, maybe another day…although read Day 2 before considering Winterslow.
The rest of the group enjoyed tramping to the Pinnacles and seeing the geological formations. Woolshed is new and a 26-bunk hut, but we had the hut to ourselves that night.

28 January

It was fine and sunny and the whole team left at 9.00am for Mt Somers (1688m) taking the Bus Stop Track. A new swing bridge now crosses the gorge, replacing ladders. We left the track at an obvious high point (1150m) on a ridge that leads towards the summit through the tussock. We reached the summit in time for lunch and great views of the Ranges Arrowsmith, Taylors, Winterslow, Old Man, Two Thumbs, with the Divide on the horizon and a glimpse of Mt Cook. I’m not sure how the views on Winterslow could be better than Mt Somers. The view of Winterslow Range confirmed that the ridge from 1440 to 1799m is gradual and without difficulties.
We descended to Woolshed arriving at 3.30pm. An excellent day and a fitting end to three weeks of tramping. On Friday night we were joined by quite a number of other trampers. This hut would be busy most weekends.

29 January

We left the hut at 8.00am with most of us taking a DOC access track (known as ‘cheaters track’) with a nice gradual gradient. Clearly for those of us who had been going for three weeks, we were looking forward to some home comforts. At Mt Somers Sue left us to join the Safari, and in Christchurch Keith, Jean and Neville left us. The rest of us enjoyed a quiet night in Christchurch before making the Big Blue handover to the Safari on Sunday 30 January at midday.

We were: Bob & Pauline Lawes, Keith & Margaret Robbins, Keith Ayton, Jean Barton, Tony Walton, Neville Kay, Sue Webb, Graeme McGowan (leader and scribe).