Five Passes

Interim Trip
Sunday 17 January 2010 to Friday 22 January 2010 (6 days)

Five Passes in the Mt Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks

Our trip into remote Mt Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks began with a brief stroll on the busy Routeburn Track. Large signs heralded the Sugarloaf path and after climbing 500m in the beech forest we burst into the warm sunshine for lunch on our first pass. From here we explored the knob to our east which afforded views up the Dart and Rockburn Valleys exquisitely reflected in the numerous tarns.
Descending through the bush we were surprised to find a DOC signpost at the junction of the track to Theatre Flat, and orange markers leading all the way up river to our first campsite at Theatre Flat. Regularly spaced stoat traps were possibly the reason for the improved marking of the track.

With the threat of bad weather for days four and five of our trip, the plan was to get over the next three passes in two days so we set off early up the valley. We had a short deviation up point 908 for a view of the pass and the flat behind us. The traps and track markers continued helpfully all the way to the bush-line and from there we traversed the tussock basin up to Park Pass, guided by occasional cairns and patches of track. Alpine flowers were abundant along the stream and there was also a large bivvy rock to admire. As we lunched at the top beside a large tarn, clouds swirled about the peaks providing an atmospheric drama to the mountains surrounding us.
With the aid of Noel’s notes we quickly located the route descending steeply through the bush to Hidden Falls Creek. Somewhere amid the tangle of roots and branches a later party will find my pink crocs which detached themselves from my pack on the way down. Upon reaching the creek we followed a less-defined track heading north, discovering some lovely campsites and traversing a section of large boulders. Shortly afterwards we found ourselves climbing high away from the river where the scree slope began on the other side - this was where we wanted to be. One precipitous descent and a bold bouldery river crossing later, we were scaling the scree and rocks to the ‘track’ along which our progress was much swifter.

Camped by the Hidden Falls Creek we awoke to a perfectly clear sky with a finger of ground mist extending up the valley to us and then retreating. We travelled north over tussock and red ultramafic boulders to the bogs and tarns of Cow Saddle where we began our climb to Fiery Col. Amid the ultramafic rocks on the ramp leading up to the pass grew a variety of buttercups for the benefit of the sole botanist on the trip. At 1548m, Fiery Col was our highest pass and we had to ascend an elongated patch of soft snow to gain the top. The view was magnificent with mountains in all directions including the great fortress of the Olivine Ice Plateau to the north.
A waterfall cascading into a meadow of flowers was the selling point for our next camp-site just before the Olivine Ledge. The fourth day dawned grey with sporadic drops of rain but the clouds remained high so we enjoyed respectable views throughout the day. The weather forecast had deferred the threat of high winds from the previous night until later that day so again we were away early traversing the Olivine Ledge and ascending towards Fohn Lakes. With little wind we decided to cross the pass instead of staying at the lakes so up we climbed admiring the dramatic chasm that is the outlet of the largest lake. On Fohn Saddle we were treated to a dazzling view of the Beans Burn extending to Lake Wakatipu, before we walked along the ridge for the magnificent sight of the large Fohn Lake below snowy peaks.

A fresh wind assailed us just as we descended the patches of snow and rocks and picked up the route towards the head of the valley. After some debate at a prominent cairn we decided the slopes below looked safe for a direct descent to the valley floor so down we went. At the bottom was a chain of cairns leading up - we had chosen a well-used route.
The Beans Burn bivvy has several dry rooms but only tents allow you to zip out the sandflies so we camped in the forecourt. Persistent rain fell during the night raising the level of the Beans Burn and embellishing the waterfalls, but the showers petered out before we arose and the day became progressively sunnier. However, we noted the cloud clinging all day to the mountains at the head of the valley so we were glad we had not spent the previous night at Fohn Lakes.
 Ian Song, Ian Morris and Peter Scott on Fiery Col (Photo: Christine Major)
Having scrambled through scrub for some distance we arrived at the bush where a large orange triangle welcomed us to a newly cut track that extended down valley to the large river flat from which the ‘old’ track commenced. After crossing the Beans Burn bridge, just before reaching the Dart River, we heard the voices of a party of three who were setting off on the ‘five passes’ in an anti-clockwise direction. These were the first people we had encountered since a series of day-walkers on Sugarloaf Pass.

After crossing the Beans Burn we spent one last night feeding the sandflies on the grassy shores of the Dart. Our usual pattern of light showers during the evening clearing at dawn also continued. We followed the Dart down to the Rockburn River either on grassy flats or following tenuous trails in the bush. After inspecting the Rockburn Hut we walked the short path to the bridge over the surging blue water in the chasm, followed by a handful of people deposited by a jet boat - civilization was fast catching up on us. Lake Sylvan was pretty with its rocky islands, and a motorway track took us to the Routeburn road. Luckily for us a truck capable of carrying four malodorous trampers happened by and a very obliging young DOC man dropped us in Queenstown a day earlier than planned.

We give many thanks to Noel Ashton for his excellent notes which guided our progress.

We were: Christine Major (scribe), Ian Morris, Ian Song and Peter Scott.