A cute in and outer at St James

Following the packrafting weekend I headed up to Hanmer Springs. I planned to tick off a little trip I'd meant to do a few years ago in the St James Conservation Area. That time I'd aborted the tramp after feeling uncomfortable about some people hanging around the carpark where I'd left my car, but the upside had been the very enjoyable Four Peaks Tramp instead.

After a night in Hanmer Springs it was over Jacks Pass then along the Tophouse Road alongside a very bony upper Clarence. I parked at Fowlers Hut and set off up the track to Fowlers Pass. It's a narrow track that makes its way steadily upwards, at times quite steep. There was some snow in the higher gullies but none along the track. It's mostly tussock clad with a mixture of low alpine plants. 

It took an hour to the top of the pass. Once over the pass the change in landscape is marked, with big rocky outcrops and scree slopes. The track zig zags down to a stream which you follow all the way down the valley, crossing it and a few tributaries along the way. There's some nice stands of beech forest, interspersed with tussock wetlands. 

Once in the valley the track continues down with easy travel along the valley floor. The stream needs to be crossed again, and it's not easy to do it without getting wet feet. Ahead the valley opens up, and amongst some poplars and rowan trees the historic Stanleyvale Hut can be seen. 

It's a lovely wee two roomer, with an open fireplace but not much wood around so no chance of having a fire. I arrived around 1:40, having left at 10:15. A late lunch was in order...

As I crossed the valley towards the hut I could see the way to Lake Guyon, and the snow covered peaks beyond. I was a little tired, and hadn't yet had lunch, and the sun was heading that way putting the peaks in shade. I decided to leave my visit to Lake Guyon until the morning, leave real early for the 1.5 hour walk there, have breakfast, then walk back. That would give me better views, and enough daylight for the return over the pass. 

I put the shoes and socks out in the sun to dry, but the sun was gone from the valley by 4pm. The hut has heaps of books and some information about the hut's history. A guy called Sean seems to have lived there for a while trapping and hunting, and now does some ongoing maintenance and pest control. 

I had dinner and by 6:15 it was pitch black outside, though the stars were pretty spectacular. The hut book mentioned rats and mice, so I hung all my food for the night. Aside from a trio of Frenchies walking back out at lunchtime, I'd met no-one all day. After dinner I savoured a nice cup of hot chocolate then off to bed!

I'd set the alarm for 6am, not particularly onerous when I had gone to bed so early. I dressed and packed away the sleeping gear, leaving the food bags hanging. I'd packed my daypack last night so I was out the door at first light for the walk to Lake Guyon. 

The track is a 4wd track which follows the contours along the side of the valley before dropping down into the lower valley and Lake Guyon with snow covered peaks beyond. The sun was shining perfectly on the peaks for some spectacular photography, so I felt totally justified in going this morning. Although there was a thick frost on the valley floor I was well rugged up and fine whilst moving. 

Once reaching the lake edge I walked around to Lake Guyon hut. It's not got the character of Stanleyvale Hut but does have a firebox and lots of wood around so would have been cosy overnight. I made a coffee, ate a muesli bar, and then headed back. 

The sun was starting to make an appearance on the valley floor and since my fingers were pretty cold it was nice to get some warmth at last. I only took my jacket off for the climb up to the top valley and the final walk back to the hut. 

Packed up fully, I headed off just after 10am. The walk up the valley was nice, but I knew the final climb up to the pass would be a bit of a slog. The feet again got wet on the numerous river crossings and I stopped for lunch at a spot in the beech forest where someone had erected a hide or wind shelter out of branches. 

The final grunt up the 8 zigzags to the pass seemed less precarious than the descent. I was glad I'd had lunch earlier down in the trees as the wind was quite cold, but thankfully quite light. 

The walk down to the car was an easy stroll, enjoying the wonderful vegetated hills. They would be amazing in summer when all the alpine plants would be flowering.

Back at the car I got out of my wet shoes and socks and headed through to Hanmer Springs. First stop the famous hot pools, then somewhere to stay the night.

Who woulda thunk??

 A few years ago I got into packrafting. I'd wanted some sort of lightweight, easily packable watercraft so I could potter around on a few waterways. Then I discovered the world of packrafting at a Mountain Film Festival one year. I have Deane Parker to thank for that...

I did some courses, ran some rivers, initially solo and then, due to COVID stranding me in NZ, I found like minded paddling friends in the small, but expanding, packrafting community. I initially struggled with fear when running any rapid whatsoever, but with time and experience I began to enjoy running whitewater, though I was happy to keep with low consequence Grade 2 rivers.

Eventually I began to have a go at a few Grade 3 rapids. Mostly in low flow situations when they didn't seem quite so scary, and I managed to run them all without incident. I still wasn't keen to call myself a Grade 3 paddler though, especially as my boat isn't really suitable for high grade rapids.

Cut to the Anzac Day weekend, and Deane and Hugh Canard organising a weekend of packrafting based out of the Boyle River Outdoor Centre. I arrived on Friday afternoon to freezing cold weather and snow on the nearby hills. None of us volunteered to head out for a session on the local rapid, preferring to stay inside, chat, and stay warm! By evening we had a good crew present and plans were made for the following day.

Saturday we paddled the Boyle River down to Windy Point. The water levels were dropping, but it was still running high enough for us not to have to drag our boats across any shingles. It was bloody cold though, and those only in wetsuits didn't have such a fun time.

A few of Deane's friends arrived Saturday evening, experienced paddlers from Nelson. They were joining us for the run down the Upper Waiau, through Grade 3 rapids which were not portageable. In order for me to join them I asked to borrow a self bailing boat for the day.

My boat is a bucket boat, meaning that once water gets inside it fills up like a bathtub and you need to pull in and empty it out at some stage. Long wave trains can totally fill up the boat. It won't sink, but it's not comfortable...

A self bailer, on the other hand, has holes in the floor and a full length inflatable seat, so most of the water that enters the boat drains back out.

I also don't have thigh straps, which make the boat more manoeuvrable and easier to edge into and out of eddies. Although I can run Grade 3s in it, it isn't really set up for it. And since Grade 3 wasn't really my jam.......

So we dropped the cars at the takeout and met up with the farmer to shuttle the crew in to Tin Jug Hut, just below The Narrows. The shuttling took a couple of hours. Once our gear was stowed and boats inflated we headed off down river.

I had an absolute blast. Seven out of 12 of us came out in one of the rapids, but I was completely unintimidated and enjoyed every bit of the paddle. Except for losing my sunglasses in the aforementioned capsize!!

It's now time for me to upgrade my boat. I'm keen to keep what I have for low grade expeditions, as it's much lighter than a self bailer with thigh straps. But if I'm going to join my friends on some wicked rapids, I need to upgrade to something made for the conditions.

I'm not doing much packrafting since returning to Australia then Japan for the summer months. But I'm mentally ready to tackle bigger rapids, so at some stage I'll be buying a new boat fit for purpose. I think it will be a Wolverine....

But meanwhile, back to more tramping...

Arthur’s Pass Trip, at last...

In all my few years of tramping around the South Island, an area I have mostly avoided has been around Arthur's Pass. It has spectacular peaks and glacial valleys due to being right in amongst the Southern Alps, but the main highway through from east to west is also renowned for being a hot spot for vehicle break-ins at trail heads. Its location also means the weather can be unsettled, so I've mostly stayed away from doing multi day tramps in the area.

The Upper Clutha Tramping Club, however, organised a five day trip based in the village, staying in accommodation and heading out on day trips. I signed up for that, arriving Friday evening to join Jane, Graham, Bill and Tina, with Annette arriving later that night.

Saturday we opted to tackle Avalanche Peak. We set off just after 9 am, rugged up as there was a heavy frost. We walked from our accommodation into the village to the start of track but we soon shed layers for the climb. Through moss covered trees, past an impressive waterfall, the track was steep with regular rock scrambles making the use of poles problematic at times. Jane kept hers on her pack all day, Annette mostly carried hers in her hands, whereas Graham and I made good use of ours for the long steep ascent. 

We were regularly passed by younger, mostly foreign, crew as we slowly progressed above the tree line for some spectacular views back down the Bealey valley. 

Once out of the trees we followed a ridge line up to a small scree saddle, stopping for snacks along the way. By now we could see our destination as well as the opposite ridge line we would descend on our return. 

Once across the saddle it was a fairly intense rock scramble up to meet the other ridge. Jane got her foot caught behind a rock and took some time extricating herself, and Graham hopefully asked if there would be a bar for refreshments at the summit. 

The final push to the summit wasn't steep, but was very exposed across a narrow ridge. There were quite a few others around, most having walked up Scott's Track, but we only shared the summit with one couple, who helpfully took our group photos and we returned the favour. 

We saw a couple heading off to traverse into Crow Valley but everyone else was returning to Arthur's Pass. Lunch was enjoyed in the sun, somewhat protected from the mild wind, back down off the exposed ridge walk but just above the track junction, with spectacular views across to Crow Glacier. As we ate our well earned meals we watched the progress of those two tiny trampers making their way along the ridge towards their descent line into the Crow. 

With perfect weather and not a cloud in the sky we could have stayed there longer, but it was a long way yet to go, so reluctantly we set off, descending the ridge line we were already on, down Scott's Track. I packed away my poles for the descent, which was just as rock scrambly as the way up had been. Down climbing was required at times, having free hands was an advantage. More people passed us on the way down, some even still heading up despite the increasingly late hour. We met 3 lads who had walked up Mt Bealey then crossed the ridge to Avalanche Peak before descending down Scott's, now that was a mission!

As we descended the mighty Devils Punchbowl Falls came into view, and then Bridal Veil Falls, as well as vistas up to Arthur's Pass and the track up into Temple Basin. We took a break at the tree line, then pushed on for the final descent through the beech forest to the road. Then all that remained was to walk back through the village to our palatial accommodation, arriving back around 5pm, where the bar was indeed open!! Aside from a few sore feet, we all managed the moderately tough climb and descent with legs feeling good.

After refreshments, hot showers and a pot luck dinner, and the addition of Sue to our party, we retired fairly early.

Sunday we headed up Bealey Spur. We drove to the carpark and set off a bit after 9 up past the holiday houses and then along the track. A kea was hanging around one of the houses that was under renovation, no doubt up to mischief. It was an easy walk through forest, with a gentle climb all the way. About half way along was a great viewpoint above the Waimakariri Bridge looking up both valleys. 

The remainder of the walk was across a swampy area traversed on boardwalk with a few tarns, then a bit more of a climb through forest to arrive at a clearing and Bealey Spur Hut. None of us felt the need to walk higher up the ridge, so instead we boiled the billy for a cup of tea, and had lunch in the sun, finished off with birthday cake.

We were back at the cars before 3. We had booked a table at the Bealey Pub for dinner, so after showers we enjoyed some very tasty burgers for dinner. Not a bad way to spend my 60th.

Monday we walked up to Temple Basin. The tops were shrouded in clouds, which we hoped would clear. The track up from the carpark was quite rough, with lots of loose boulders but it was a good zig zag track the whole way. The alpine vegetation was spectacular, and would be more so in summer when the flowers are in bloom.

Up at the ski field we had a bit of a wander around all the buildings and beyond to look up the basin more, but we didn't go all the way to Page Memorial Shelter. It certainly whet my appetite for going skiing there some time. The last few years it hasn't had great snow cover though...

After a snack, or lunch in my case, we made our way back down. Annette and Sue drove the cars back whilst Jane, Graham and I returned via the walking track. This walking track is an absolute gem, with a good surface all the way and accessible to those who don't want to tackle harder walks. We detoured in to Bealey Chasm, which is quite spectacular, then continued downhill, crossing the highway at Jacks Hut.

We dropped down to pass by Bridal Veil Falls before climbing again to a lookout, where we stopped for Jane and Graham to eat lunch.There were gnarly mountain beech forest, and lots of Bellbirds. 

Back down in the village we veered off to visit Devils Punchbowl Falls. After three days of walking, the multitude of steps up to the falls lookout took it out of all three of us. But it was well worth the effort. Our reward was a stop at the Alpine Parrot cafe for coffee and cake!

With so much food brought for our potluck dinner Sunday night, we had enough left over to have tacos for dinner.

Tuesday I took a rest day, after not sleeping very well. Jane, Annette, Bill, Tina and Graham walked up Otira Valley. They were back by 12, so Jane and Graham went off to visit Castle Hill. The rocks, not the village! That evening we went to the Alpine Parrot for dinner, for a very disappointing fish and chips.

Wednesday we all headed home. Well they all did, I just headed on for more adventures. I stopped in at the Otira Viaduct and saw some more Keas, and then headed up to Murchison. I had to pick up my drysuit from the Kayak School after having the neck gasket replaced, because I was going packrafting again.

That's Next!!