My son Elliot (3 years old) has been advancing in his tramping journey at lightning speed. I never imagined he’d become such a fit, outdoorsy kid at such a young age. That said, we do nurture his enthusiasm for the outdoors with regular activities – daily bike rides, walks, swimming pool visits, and more. This time, we decided to take on a challenge and try tackling the Lewis Tops.
We started from the Lewis Pass car park. There’s been some discussion online about the safety of this car park, but in my opinion, the risk of a break-in is very slim. If you take precautions like emptying your car and not leaving anything visible, the chances are even slimmer.
After parking, we fed a local sadfly population while adjusting our packs and putting the boots on. We crossed the road and began following a well-marked track. Elliot was walking like a champ that day. We even overtook a group of hikers who were heading up to celebrate a birthday at the top. While it meant the Lewis Tops tarns wouldn’t be as serene as we’d hoped, there’s plenty of space up there for everyone.
Once we reached the bushline, Elliot needed a proper break. We ate plenty of food, and as the wind picked up, we added extra layers. We continued plodding along toward Pt1568, and I built a few small snowmen for Elliot from patches of snow we found along the way. They seemed to keep motivating him to keep going.
By the time we reached Pt1561, Elliot had had enough of walking. However, as soon as he saw the lakes on the flat ridge ahead of us, he found his second wind and quickly descended to one of them. Unlike last time, we didn’t camp by the largest lake, as I figured the big group behind us would prefer that spot. Instead, we chose one of the smaller lakes, pitched our tent, and spent the rest of the day relaxing around our campsite. We spent the rest of the day exploring the area, playing in the snow, reading books, and making up stories to entertain Elliot.
The night was quite breezy, and we woke to a partly cloudy morning with fresh winds. After packing up, we retraced our steps. At one point, I carried Elliot for about 300 metres to quickly get over a peak and into a sheltered spot, just to quickly get out of the cold winds. We took plenty of breaks on the way down and even did some track maintenance, which Elliot enjoys immensely.
When we reached the car, Elliot asked when we’d go tramping again. That question made me realise I don’t want to do too many overnighters without him this season!
Stats: 4.3 km, (each way), 4 h (each way), 730 m ascent (1st day), 130 m ascent (2nd day). The route on NZ Topo Map (GPX download below)
Participants: Michal Klajban, Elliot, Anna
Tramped on 19-20th October 2024.
Photos
Map
Max elevation: 1558 m
Min elevation: 868 m
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