Castle Hill Peak in a fog
Weirdly enough, this was my first climb to the Castle Hill Peak, probably the most popular high peak for Christchurchians. We started off at the Porters Pass car park, a neat carpark right on the top of the pass.
Canterbury Foothills
The Spurs in Birdwoon Range
The Spurs in Birdwood Range are a couple of nearly 2000m high peaks (1964m and 1985m) overlooking Wilberforce Flat by Lake Coleridge. To climb The Spurs, you do need permission from a local station.
Camp Saddle in Craigieburns
We started off at Craigieburn Campsite Shelter. Chris was leading us at an easy-going pace while Alan was covering the back. At Helicopter Hill Saddle, a few of us went to check out Helicopter Hill and the rest of the group continued along Craigieburn Edge Track. We had a quick lunch below Camp Saddle.
Bob’s Bivouac via Ridge Track
This was a last minute trip, as I realized a few days before the weekend that there wasn’t a day trip planned for the weekend. There were seven of us including 2 prospective members and Rodney who met us at the Wooden Gully carpark. Wooden Gully Track was closed so we chose the Ridge Track as a suitable replacement. It was the quickest way to get to the tops anyway.
Mt Somers Loop Track via Pinnacles Hut
As I don’t work Mondays, I decided to organize some Monday trips. The first one was to Mt Somers with only one brave participant, Heidi. We started off at Sharplin Falls Reserve and followed a well marked trail to the start of Mt Somers Summit Track. From there, a steep section of unstable rocks followed.
Mount Taylor (2333m) via Double Hut and back via Quaker Saddle
It’s becoming a tradition this summer that when we want to go tramping on the West Coast, it’s raining cats and dogs (see eg. our Black Range adventure just a few weeks before). With everywhere else under the covery of rain clouds, we were looking to do something different on the Canterbury Plains where the forecast was clear. Mt Taylor (2333m) in Mt Somers Range got our attention as a special enough trip for our weekend.
Black Hill across Donald Hill in Black Hill Range
The time to lead another CTC trip had come. At the beginning, I wanted to go to Mt Winterslow. Everything looked good – there was no rain forecast, a few of the people who had signed up for my trip were experienced, the wind was due to be around 1 m/s…
Tramping around the Black Range: from Comyns Hut to Cookies hut via North Branch Ashburton River
Going to Black Hill Range wasn’t our first choice for this weekend. We reaaally wanted to go to the West Coast but the weather was so bad that weekend that we couldn’t do anything else but stay on the Canterbury Plains. So, we decided to do the Comnys Hut – Cookies Hut traverse via the North Branch Ashburton River / Hakatere.
Tarn Hut loop along Youngman Stream Track
I’ve been wondering for a while if I can take my non 4WD vehicle into the Lees Valley. There is a long gravel road that I know is inaccessible in the winter for 2WD. After reassurance from a couple of the CTC members that driving on the road in the summer will be fine, I decided that it’s time to give it a go. My friend Jana and I drove there on Sunday morning and yes, the access to the valley is without any issues for a 2WD vehicles.
Mt Oxford loop via Ashley Saddle: my first tramp with the CTC as a leader
This was my first trip as a leader of the Christchurch Tramping Club. I scheduled the trip for Friday 15th November which was a public holiday. Until Thursday night it was only me and a couple of prospective members on the list which I thought would be fun. Then unexpected happened: all 3 multi-day trips that were planned for the long weekend were canceled due to a bad weather on Saturday.