Having booked a month off work, principally to play SOTA, we’re two weeks in and the weather has not exactly been co-operating. A couple of brief trips have been achieved: a quick 3-day loop near Glenorchy and a day trip along the ridgeline from Lodestone. But the usual dreams of heading into the backcountry for 10 days to tramp and play radio have not come to fruition.
So, spotting another brief 4-day window between the rain storms, I escape from the comfort of my folks house in Nelson where I am visiting, and head into Kahurangi to follow the Arthur Range north from the Wangapeka. This destination has two advantages - a ridiculous excess of 6-point SOTA summits scattered along the divide; and a recent aerial deployment of toxic bait (1080 / sodium monofluoroacetate) to control mustelids / rodents - which means the huts will not be full of deer hunters, despite it being the height of the roar.
My father is kind enough to drop me off at the Wangapeka roadend. His parting comment is that ‘there’s an interesting fault-line along there - I want photos’.
The following photo-essay is the result.
Day 1
We head into Kiwi Saddle Hut - easy walking along historic gold-miners’ tracks. The route is well maintained and recently cut and we make good time, arriving at 4pm from a 12:30 start.
Kiwi Saddle Hut [ZLH/TM-044] - newly painted and a lovely location just below the bushline, giving access to the Luna Tops to the west and Mt Patriarch and Arthur’s Range to the east. A comfortable night in a nice hut, and all to ourselves. You can;t beat it!
Day 2
An early start from the hut through morning clag and a bitter icy wind puts us on Mt Luna by 9am. A single-band 40m activation, owing to the early hour and the likelyhood that the VKs are all still in bed! 12 in the log in a chilling 10 minutes.
Looking back from Mt Luna to our second summit - ZL3/TM-063. A kiwi-pileup on 40m averaging 3 calls per minute for the first few. Unheard of! A handful of VKs on 20m is the cream on the cake
Both summits hold small tarns in scoop-basins below. Lake Luna (ZLL/0877) below the 2nd summit makes for the 3rd activation of the day. The pileup of chasers seems just as happy with a lake!
Returning back to the bush-clad Kiwi Saddle hut to pick up overnight gear and cook some lunch. The afternoon’s destinations of Mt Patriarch ZL3/TM-045 (right) and Arthur Range ZL3/WC-365 left lie a short climb beyond
Dropping the pack at the saddle makes for a nice light scrambled climb up the limestone massif of Patriarch - ZL3/TM-045
The hard work done, the afternoon’s gentle stroll follows the Arthur Range over ZL3/WC-365 to John Reid Hut
Dropping to John Reid Hut ZLH/TM-404, tucked sheltered against the bushedge, in the afternoon light
Day 3
An early dawn start from John Reid. 5 SOTA summits and 2 HEMA peaks on the cards for the day, and a total climb of 2400m
Now there’s that fault-line I was told about! The near-identical sheer limestone summits of Baldy and Sodom to its left. Gentler schist / scree ridgelines cross Gomorrah and Arthur Range to the right
A scramble thorough the bands of bluffs guarding Baldy in the morning mist seems unwise, so we drop to the saddle and side the north face to pick up goat trails climbing gentler slopes west of the summit. A misty, windy start to the day on Baldy - ZL3/WC-383
Returning to the main range, we drop into bush at Skeet Saddle as the morning mist clears to sunshine
Activating Gomorrah - ZL3/WC-345 in more strong winds. Another activation with antenna strong low between rocks - but the signals remain good. And another ZL pileup with 24 contacts in 10 minutes. Is this the new normal?
Sodom ZL3/WC-368, left; and the unnamed hump ZL3/HTM-043, right. The Skeet fault-line continues …
Activating Mt Sodom, the rest of the day’s route laid out before us. ZL3/WC-742 (left) and ZL3/WC-325 (centre) beyond - the final 2 SOTA summits of the day
Interesting sidling required between ZL3/WC-742 and ZL3/WC-325 to reach the SOTA summit (left). There’s that fault-line again!
We skip the day’s final activation of ZL3/HTM-037 with daylight running short …
… drop instead down bush-clad spurs to the Baton River to pick up the old miner’s track to Flanagans Hut - our shelter for the night
Day 4
An early morning start in the first usable light takes us up the scrubby flats of the upper Baton River and then briefly south to the first summit of the day - ZL3/WC-354
Back across the Baton Saddle, mist continues to cling to the range for the 10am activation of the day’s second peak - ZL3/WC-367. Out next destination, ZL3/WC-339 lies obscured along the range
Only the final peak of the day, Loveridge ZL3/TM-061 seems to escape the cloud
An intrusive band of red rocks at the head of Ironstone Creek. You’d assume ferrous from the name … but our rep from the Nelson Rock & Minerals believes it to be of volcanic origin
Loveridge ZL3/TM-061 - the 13th and final summit of the trip
We follow the steep spur down into the Baton valley and pick up old miners’ tracks. Cut into the valleyside, these sometimes provide good travel; at others, crumble away into the creek leaving us wading and boulder hopping. 6pm at the roadend, ahead of a 6:30pm sunset: the timing is just right.
