Mt Somers loop in a day? Sure
Sure thing! It was a last-minute trip and as we all agree, these are often the best. Chris and I left Christchurch at 6.30 AM and we arrived at Sharpin Falls carpark just after 8…
Sure thing! It was a last-minute trip and as we all agree, these are often the best. Chris and I left Christchurch at 6.30 AM and we arrived at Sharpin Falls carpark just after 8…
The original plan was to take on Mt Olympus. However, this mountain is on private land and recent floods damaged the access road so permissions to access Mt Olympus are scarce now. In the morning at the petro station, we decided that Mt Winterslow makes for a suitable backup.
After my last trip to Lewis Pass on which we got rained on, I decided that the next time when we’ll be spending 5h of our Sunday in a car, it’ll be on a sunny day. And this was the day! 17 brave CTC souls including 2 adventurous prospective members took off from Palmer Lodge car park at about 9.30 AM.
Last year I co-organised the Godley to Gebbies walk in the Port Hills which was 36 km long. This year I thought I might push it a bit further, so I came up with the idea of meeting at Lyttelton, taking a ferry across to Diamond Harbour and walking back to Lyttelton over Mt Herbert, Packhorse Hut and Gebbies Pass.
The weather forecast was pretty poor for the weekend so I postponed my Mt Norma trip and offered a local Mt Herbert adventure instead. In the morning, we left a couple of cars at the end of Monument Track and one at the start of Packhorse Track where we all started.
Avalanche Peak is the most famous mountain in Arthur’s Pass National Park, New Zealand. It’s also the mountain that gets often underestimated, especially if you take Scotts Track on the way up because it’s much easier and the rocky exposed tops may come as a surprise.
The plan was simple: Go from Traverse Peak to Trovatore. The forecast wasn’t too bad, a wee bit cloudy with moderate winds. After arriving at Lewis Pass, the tops were in clouds. We followed a well marked track to the bushline where we had a wee lunch and off we went towards Traverse Peak.
Winter is coming so I thought I’d go high until I can. I also thought about giving my #52peakschallenge good boost as I’ve been always just a wee bit behind to make to 52 by the end of the year.
Another 2 peaks in a day! I did it as a CTC trip as I committed this year to lead a trip a month. Main points from the trip (I have a baby you know, I can’t write novels anymore).
Since I’ve got myself into #52peakschallenge this year, I naturally started looking for places where I can climb 2 peaks in one day. Packard Peak (2066m) had been dragging my attention that week as there was a possibility to climb Mid Hill on the same day. It also didn’t seem to be very popular among Christchurchians which is always a plus.