Mount Ida is a 1695m high mountain nestled between the Harper River, Lake Ida, and Lake Catherine. Fourteen CTC trampers gathered at Z Russley and set off through Hororata to a small carpark by Lake Evelyn. We followed a DOC track that runs along the eastern side of Little Mount Ida and passes Lake Ida. From Lake Ida, we climbed up a steep slope covered in frozen tussocks and matagouri. I’d say this was the most difficult part. Once on the SW ridge, we followed the ridge to the snowline at about 1300m and we put our crampons on shortly after that. After encountering a couple of false summits, we eventually reached pt1642. Mount Ida looked quite impressive from that vantage point. We descended to the saddle between pt1642 and Mount Ida, and then ascended to the summit. The terrain isn’t steep here anymore; the most challenging part was the initial ascent from Lake Ida.

Following a brief break at the summit of Mount Ida, we descended back to the saddle, removed our crampons, and run down a steep scree slope down to the fence line that leads to the northwest side of Lake Catherine. The scree had been graded by CTC members and was rated between 8 and 10 out of 10. From Lake Catherine, we rejoined a DOC track and made our way back to the carpark by Lake Selfe.

Please be aware that Mount Ida is situated on private land, and obtaining permission from a local station is necessary to cross its property.

Stats: 15,4 km, 6h 45min, 1330m ascent

Participants: Alan Ross (leader), Michal Klajban (GPX, scribe, photos), Zack Williams, Allen Lim, Xiaoqui Jiang, Garth Dever, Tomyu Hu, Jim Schofield, James Schofield, Jonathan Carr, Phillip Wallis, Kate Taylor, Mark Nicholls, Alex Gibson.

Tramped on 26th August 2023.

Jiang’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m_roas6hYI

The route taken on NZ Topo Maps.

Photos

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Map

Download file: GPX-hikingisgood-com-nz-2023-Mt-Ida.gpx