East Hawdon - 11-12th March 2006

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No 58

East Hawdon - 11-12th March 2006

The original plan for this CTC trip was to head up the Hawdon and East Hawdon and then over the saddle just East of point 1708, then drop down into the Casey Stream for a camp and then to head back out over Casey Saddle on Sunday.

 A party of five set off from Hawdon Shelter around 10:30am on a warm and fine morning with a light breeze.

Lunch was had about half way up the East Hawdon after one of our party turned back as his boots fell to pieces, he hitched back to the city. After cresting the saddle later in the day, we started to head down towards the Casey, following the stream down, but we encountered a waterfall with no obvious way round it. As it was getting quite late in the day by this time and one of our party wasn't coping too well with the difficulty of the trip(which may explain why it took us so long to get to where we were), the decision was made to camp, with difficulty, on the side of the hill, as things got considerably colder and a light rain started to fall.

 On Sunday, our leader decided that due to the condition of out struggling companion and the fact that we still hadn't found our way around the water fall, we would head back out the way we came in. We arrived at the cars about 5:00pm.

The three photos above also give me an indication as to why our travel was slower than I thought it should be for the distance travelled.

Further up the East Hawdon.

A great shot looking back towards the Hawdon river.

Nice shot of the tops.

Heading down towards the Casey, again the terrain explains our travel times.

The high camp, it was colder than it looked and also steeper than it appears. I remember almost sliding out of the tent when someone went out in the night.

This must be looking back up from the camp.

Bald Range - Rangi-Taipo - Kelly Tops 18th-19th February 2006

Uncle Roddus Tramping diary:Tramp No 57

Bald Range - Rangi-Taipo - Kelly Tops 18th-19th February 2006

So this was the original trip I did with the CTC along the Bald and Kelly Ranges back in 2006 and which I revisited again in 2011 for another epic adventure(see here) and also see Here for the actual CTC trip report.

The weather for this trip was near perfect as five trampers left the Kelly creek car park about 9:50am on Saturday morning. A nice steep climb up through Beech forest and then flax and low scrub before we hit the tussock and the Caroline Hut after about an hour and a half. The decision was made to take advantage of the fantastic day and do the Bald range first, taking another six hours to Rangi-Taipo where we enjoyed the fabulas views of the Taipo River valley and lake Brunner. Dropped down to the south looking for the start of the track down the Taipo, finally locating the cairn, before we slipped and slided out way down the upper part of the rack and then floundered down the lower and more overgrown section before finally arriving at The Old Dillons Hut, where we stayed the night. The next day involved the much easier travel of up onto the Kelly tops and back to the car via Caroline hut. Day took about 11hours and day 2 about 6.

Mt Gargarus - 12th February 2006

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No 56

Gargarus 12th February 2006

This was the second time I had been up Gargarus with the CTC and I have flogged the report off the CTC web site. For photos, see my earlier trip report Here.

After the traditional meeting at the Carlton Corner, Steven, Robert and I made our way towards Lake Coleridge, we picked up Uncle Roddus on the way and kept travelling together.
We drove up to Glenthorne Station and after getting confirmation from the owner that we were welcome on his land, we started walking towards the hill. The wind was fairly strong at the bottom but was soon screened by the bush as we walked up a gentle slope. We crossed Fisher Stream and followed an old 4WD track to the west of Gargarus Hill, heading towards the saddle. After a break we started the much steeper ascent towards the summit (1655m). We got a few scratches going through matagouri and then kept climbing in less nasty scrub and scree. The 650m climb from the saddle was steep but short and we made it to the top quickly. The wind was much stronger up there and the barren top offers little shelter. We had lunch sitting in a curve of the hill, protected from the wind. After that we went for a quick walk around the top to check out the views and we could admire the Canterbury Plains, the Rakaia, Lake Coleridge, and the Wilberforce Valley, Mt Hutt and the Craigieburn Range. We went down the scree fairly quickly, then followed the same track back to the cars. We got back to Christchurch around 5.30pm after stopping in Hororata café for a drink.

Mt Peel - 14 January 2006

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary:Tramp No 55

Mt Peel - 14 january 2006

2005 wasn't a good year for getting out tramping and it was nearly a year from January 2005 to this trip in February 2006 between trips 54 and 55. This was another CTC trip on which 7 of us headed off from the cars about 9:20am on a fine and warm day and headed up through the bush and along the spur to Little Mt Peel, taking about 2 hours on this first leg. Continuing up along the spur, we achieved Middle Mt Peel around 1:30pm and had second lunch. Ascended Big Mt Peel by 2:45pm and had 3rd lunch before heading back out the way we came, arriving back at the cars about 6:45pm. A fairly big day with a height gain of over 1300M and traveled nearly 24KM.

Heading up the first section.

The shelter on little Mt Peel.

Cool how we had this wall of fog on one side and nice sunshine on the other.

On Big Mt Peel.

Mt Lyford/Mt Terako/Hamner - Febuary 2005

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary: Tramp No 54

Mt Lyford/Mt Terako/Hamner - February 2005

My memories of this trip are a bit vague and also I can't find any photos to jog my memory as to what exactly we did and my diary doesn't say too much either. This was a CTC trip based at Hamner. We stayed in tents at the Hamner camping ground and on a pleasant and warm Saturday we went for a wander in the hills out the back of Hamner. I strongly suspect it was up Mt Charon and possibly onto Mt Captain. Sunday we headed back to Mt Lyford and climbed up the Ski Field access road and then headed round onto Mt Terako from which there are fantastic views of the Kaikoura's and along the coast.

Sudden Valley - January or Febuary 2005

Uncle Roddus Tramping diary: Tramp No 53

Sudden Valley - January or Febuary 2005

Another well attended CTC trip up the beautiful Sudden valley. 16 of us left Hawdon Shelter on a perfect summers day and slowly wombled up Sudden Valley to the Biv, at which we arrived about 2:30PM. Had an extended rest taking in the views scenery and the sun, before heading back out the same way. An easy trip to a beautiful spot.

The Sudden Valley Biv

Uncle Roddus at Sudden valley Falls

One of the Better Photos I took. most weren't too good.

Heading up Valley

The Falls

Checking out the falls

Bealey Spur - 16th January 2005

Uncle Roddus tramping Diary: Tramp No. 52

Bealey Spur 16th January 2005

A CTC trip that was originally going to go to Mt Stewart in Arthurs Pass, but due to weather forecasts and conditions, this trip was completed instead. A party of 16 trampers headed up Bealey Spur around 9:00AM, stopping at the hut for morning tea before heading round the ridge to point 1875. Enjoyed the excellent views before dropping down Jordon Stream and rock hopping back down to the Waimak River and then back out to Bealey Bridge. A nice trip with a height gain of about 1100 M and walked about 22KM.

A good shot of the ridge we travelled.

The view across the Waimak looking up the Crow valley.

A shot from point 1875, looking up the Avoca.

Relaxin' at the top, the day turned out fine in this area.

Rock hopping down the Jordon.

Mount Taranaki - 28th December 2004

Uncle Roddus Tramping Diary: Tramp No.51

 Mount Taranaki - 28th December 2004

Mrs Roddus and Myself went on a holiday up this way over Christmas and new year and I had never had the opportunity to do any tramping in the North Island and seeing as we were staying in New Plymouth I was very keen to have a crack at The Mount although I had been warned by my mate Bruce that the weather is very fickle on The Mount and I would be very lucky to get a clear day. 

We arrived in New Plymouth late afternoon on the previous day and went straight to the DOC office to check on the weather conditions for the following day. The forecast was for heavy rain through most of the day. The day we arrived the weather had been very pleasant and warm and there was no sign of any approaching rain. I decided to be prepared and got myself ready after dinner for a possible days climbing on the morrow. I got up at 5:00AM to check what the weather was doing and found a clear day greeted me, so off I went.

 Drove to the North Egmont visitor center and parked up, already at an altitude of 952M, so only had another 1500 odd meters left to climb. Was on the track by 7:00AM following the four wheel drive track up to the Tahurangi lodge, where I stopped for a rest and second breakfast. Then continued up a gully and then some wooden steeps before continuing up the main ridge following the marker poles. I saw another tramper ahead of me heading up on the snow just to the left of the ridge and when I got to the point where he left the ridge, I decided to do the same as the ridge was quite hard going as the ground was soft and crumbling. While putting on my crampons, my camera, in its bag, rolled out of my pack and tumbled 200 odd meters down the snow, where I saw it come to rest. I couldn't be bothered going back down to get it and as I knew exactly where it was decided to retrieve it on the way back.

I continued up the snow and then the poled route swung to the left  following the ridge, but it was very hard ice and I really had to dig my crampons in to get a grip. I saw where the other tramper had gone before me on the softer snow and decided to follow his route. It was very steep up this close to the top and I soon found that this probably wasn't quite the correct route to take as I found myself having to climb a sharp ledge with my iceaxe, which was fun but not quite the way to do it with only one iceaxe. I then saw the other tramper coming out in the gut below me, where I should have been and looking up at me probably thing why did I follow his route. Any how, I dropped back down into the main crater and had lunch and enjoyed the hazy views.

 My diary is a bit vague about what I did next as it says I dropped off the West Ridge, which probably means I dropped off the East Ridge as the West Ridge would take me away to the other side of the mountain. Anyway, what ever I did, I eventually crossed the pole route and then proceeded to Bumslide down the snow back to my camera. I got back to the Car about 1:30PM, in 6 and 1/2 hours just in time to watch the clouds quickly form around the summit.