Mountain Plush

Central Oregon

2011-02-05T07:00:00.000+13:00

I had a very brief foray into central Oregon at the weekend, down t the John Day fossil beds and then a Tiki tour into the hinterland to find a cool horseshoe bend on the John Day River, which was entertaining with dirt roads, tracks, armed farmers and unsigned BLM land - the light wasn't great when we arrived in the early evening, but somewhere to navigate back to at a later date.

MIni Road Trip

2010-11-16T06:58:00.002+13:00

Had a mini road trip down to the Rogue River in Oregon, then onto the Redwoods in California and then back up the Oregon coast - it was pretty wet for most of the trip, but we had fun. Few photos from the trip above.

Isle of Eigg

2010-09-17T21:58:00.001+12:00

One of my images from my recent trip to the Isle of Eigg in Scotland, a good week with a lot of rain later on unfortunately.

Columbia Arts Gallery

2010-08-04T15:39:00.006+12:00

Some of my images will be in an exhibition in Hood River, Oregon at the Columbia Art Gallery between the 6th and 29th August.

Picture of the Week

2010-06-11T04:54:00.004+12:00

I won Picture of the Week for Natures Best Photography Magazine online - check out the link.
http://www.naturesbestphotography.com"

Olympic National Park

2010-06-08T08:43:00.002+12:00

Photograph taken near Pony Bridge in Olympic National Park, Washington, a very wet day hike filled with mossy trees, lush rainforest and the sound of the rushing river.

Elowah Falls

2010-04-30T06:38:00.001+12:00

Elowah falls, I took this while waiting in the rain - stood around for quite a while waiting for the wind and rain to settle enough for me to fire off a few shots.... very cool waterfall in the Columbia River Gorge.

Mt Hood

2010-04-20T17:03:00.003+12:00

I climbed Mt Hood (3428m) on Sunday, 1641 metres of ascent via Castle Crags, great day out, started out at 1.30am and summited at 8.30am. Good leg stretcher and good to dust off the ice tools after a couple of months!

Cape Kiwanda, Oregon Coast

2010-02-10T12:53:00.001+13:00

A trip to Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon coast for some photo opps, pretty neat spot as long as the sand isn't trying to wear you down!!

Painted Hills, central Oregon

2010-01-22T08:31:00.003+13:00

Weather hasn't been conducive to climbing these last few weeks - rain and snow in the mountains so high avo danger. Took the opportunity for a little explore of central Oregon and some photos.

Ice Climbing in the Gorge!!

2009-12-15T06:41:00.003+13:00

With the artic temps and clear skies, ice in the Columbia Rivr Gorge had formed up nicely, so took the day off work and headed out with Marcus for a looksee.
I led 'Doghouse', WI3, 100ft before my forearms gave out after 85 feet, lol. So I climbed it a 2nd time on toprope, first time on pure ice for a while so it was fun to be back at it!

Half Day Out!

2009-12-04T13:46:00.002+13:00

Goregous day, had a half day getting back into it and top roping a couple of M5/ M6 lines, forearm pump was on and trying to get body movement going drytooling on the rock.

Mt Hood - winter camping and skiing weekend!

2009-12-01T13:38:00.003+13:00

Had a great weekend camping out near Mt Hood on Saturday night, cooking over the fire, followed by an amazing blue sky day skiing at Timberline on Mt Hood - awesome day!

Mt St Helens

2009-10-28T06:46:00.002+13:00

Some pics from a trip to Mt St Helens on Saturday to have a look aroynd - I remember watching the footage as a kid and the National Geo photos, this was the first time I had been for a look since moving to Portland though - was pretty cool!

Cyclocross

2009-10-27T08:04:00.001+13:00

Outdoors in a different sense this weekend - a Cyclocross race, my first, all good fun, lots of mud involved, getting off the bike to get over the hurdles and get back on a gain was the tricky bit!

Autumn snows....

2009-10-24T07:55:00.000+13:00

Looking towards Mt Hood from Mt Tabor in Portland

Lake district

2009-10-06T12:27:00.002+13:00

A brief trip to the lake district in England for a wedding. Had a great 3 1/2 hour fell run in the hills - great!!

Hood River

2009-09-17T06:13:00.001+12:00

Had a chilled out weekend camping at Hood River, followed by some local food at the Gorge Grown Fest on Sunday eve. Good times.... and a dusting of snow on Mt Hood...

Eagle Creek - Ruckel Creek Hike

2009-07-28T05:50:00.004+12:00

Couple weekends ago did a hike up Eagle Creek and back down Ruckel Creek via Wahtum lake - 27 miles, with a short section joining the Pacific Crest Trail, covered in a total of 8 1/2 hours ( with an overnight bivvy ( 4 1/2 hrs day one, and 4 hrs day 2). Was very warm - 97 degrees, made the hiking warm work even with a very light pack.
Mosquitos appeared after Wahtum lake and were a pain for the rest of the hike, but all good - except they bite through the merino base layers , lil buggers!! Cool hike and good intro to the Columbia Gorge hikes, downhill to Ruckel Creek was steep in parts, not sure I would want to come up that way!! More steep clay with little grip , and not steep rooty, muddy steps like NZ!

The Wilamette - Portland

2009-07-03T11:18:00.001+12:00

This is the view from the walkway next to our apartment in Portland on the Wilamette River - good for running along - except today it was 33 degrees C - which was pretty warm!

Forest Park - Portland

2009-06-26T04:56:00.003+12:00

Went for a 7 mile run in Forest park in Portland on Sunday, first trail run in a while ( first run in a while!! ), but was a great place to go, its the largest urban forest park in the USA at 5100 ( and a bit) acres. Took it pretty slowly, gradual uphill mostly and it leveled out in places, a few folk about, but generally a very peaceful place to run and enjoy forest trails really close to the city.

Portland, Oregon

2009-06-12T04:22:00.002+12:00

Well, I have moved to Portland , Oregon in the USA for a little while, so hope to have some posts when I get settled about the outdoors hiking, climbing and alpine routes in the Pacific Northwest. Only been here 2 weeks, so have had a days mountain biking in Hood River which was great - looking forward to more!

Back soon...

2009-05-20T04:05:00.000+12:00

Currently in the UK..... no blogging for a couple of weeks!

South Coast of Wellington

2009-04-08T15:00:00.002+12:00

The south coast of Wellington at sunset..

Mt Taranaki

2009-04-01T14:03:00.003+13:00

Aerial shots of Mt Taranaki - in end of summer conditions - no new snow yet. Looks quite different to when I climbed it over the spring - see my post from Dec '08.

Kapapakanui Track

2009-03-30T15:27:00.001+13:00

Walked most of the Kapapakanui Track last weekend, mainly to look at doing some photos, overcast day, but still quite bright at times. Will have to go back and do more photos in softer light I think...

New Zealand bush forest...

2009-03-16T16:05:00.003+13:00

Here are a few photos of typical New Zealand bush forest that is encountered tramping/ hiking in most wilderness areas here.

Moa Point

2009-02-25T16:07:00.000+13:00

Moa Point , near Wellington airport.

Owhiro bay, Wellington

2009-02-18T10:40:00.001+13:00

Owhiro Bay in Wellington, with a southerly breeze blowing in the waves!

Breaker Bay

2009-02-11T14:34:00.001+13:00

An early morning photo from Breaker bay in Wellington.

New Year hols....

2009-01-16T11:39:00.003+13:00

We did a Tiki tour round the south island this New Year holiday, drove to Twizel and hung out with a friend there, did a day tramp up the Ahuriri valley which was great and yet another place to go back to! Swam in a small lake as well - chilly but great. Then down to Wanaka , we camped at Lake hawea and had BBQ on the beach on New Years Eve, then drove up the West Coast in the rain to Greymouth. Next day headed up to Karamea and did the first part of the Heaphy Track , just up to Scotts Beach. Then across to Golden bay, staying in Takaka at the campground in town. Went to the springs and had a few hours doing some cruisy climbing at Paynes Ford. Went up to Farewell Spit and visited the beaches there. Then we drove back to Picton and our midnight ferry back to Wellington.

Arrowsmith Range, Canterbury

2008-12-22T10:42:00.004+13:00

With the weather looking pretty average for our attempt on Mt Cook, we decided to head to the Arrowsmith Range which lies just off the Southern Alps, and therefore gets slightly better weather. The walk in was slow with 25kg + packs with food for a week and climbing gear - 5 and a half hours from the road end up the Cameron Valley to the hut, which is situated on a flat terrace near thee nd of some terminal moraine. We got up at 4am on Sunday and headed up the carriageway of the terminal morain to go and have a look at possible routes, we followed scree slopes and some snow up towards a col heading to East Horn - but then the weather closed in so we decided to retreat as we had nil visbility. Later on the weather cleared slightly. Next 2 days were hut days as the rain lashed the hut, some thunder and lightning on the evening of day 2 added spice. We got up at 5am the next day only to hear the rain still drumming on the roof, but this eventually cleared and we headed up a different route up to try and climb the East Horn - leaving the hut at 9.30am as cloud cloaked the valley, but the rain had stopped. Up the side of a waterfall up tussock and scree up to the remains of the Douglas Glacier. We climbed up the wet, rain saturated snow, knee deep most of the way whcih was hard work - which then went to mid thigh deep as we approached the col which would give us access to the final ridge of East Horn. As we made our way up the last 40m to the col, a small avalanche started down from it about 15m to our left, gathering snow and speed as it went down, crossing our ascent route twice before heading over the bluffs at the base of the route. We decided that the cornice on the col might follow suit shortly and we should probably bail, which we did - some high speed down climbing ensued until we were on the other side of the avalanche debris. Another day then!

Next day we decided it wasn't worth trying a couloir route on Tent Peak as the snow would be as soft as the day before, so we crossed 3 cols from the hut and headed into the Ashbuton Valley - 1hr 50min from Cameron Hut, explored here a bit and then found a good lunch spot by the river coming off the Ashburton glacier, and sat in the sunshine, sheltered from the south westerly wind that was bit chilly.
Next day - in true New Zealand climbing style - we walked out down the Cameron in the pouring rain to meet our lift out - except this time , for entertainment we went down the mini gorge and bush bashed our way down , the track is partially marked but needs a good clearing!

Mitre Peak - Tararuas

2008-12-08T09:09:00.003+13:00

Did a return trip to Mitre Flats Hut and up to Mitre Peak in a day as part of my training! Which was 23km of tramping with the 1200m ascent and descent of Mitre Peak in the middle , took me 3hrs 50 mins from the car to the summit of Mitre Peak. The 1200m of ascent from the hut to the peak took me 2 hrs. So a grand total of 7 hrs 30mins for the whole trip, which I was pretty pleased with, knees were feeling it towards the end though! Was pretty warm in the afternoon on the way back down, fairly standard Tararuas tramping mix of rocky path, lots of up and down to stream beds and lots of tree roots to catch out the unwary!

Japanese Climber Tragedy on Mt Cook comes to an end..

2008-12-05T16:18:00.004+13:00

Two Japanese climbers who have been trapped in ferocious storm conditions on Aoraki Mt Cook have been rescued, unfortunately one of the climbers died just hours before the early morning rescue bid. Our thoughts are with their families and friends.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video/National/tabid/309/articleID/82992/cat/87/Default.aspx#video

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4782690a11.html

Mt Taranaki - on the edge of space..

2008-12-01T08:47:00.004+13:00

Climbed the East Ridge of Mt Taranaki (one of the volcanoes in the North Island) on Saturday after a belated 5am start due to laziness! Up the summit track for a few hundred metres and then a rising traverse across tussock and volcanic scoria until I reached a tongue of snow, which pretty much led up and up. The angle steepened to 35 degrees and then 45 degrees a couple of hundred meters below the summit of Sharks Tooth, a subsidiary summit. I stopped for some food and a drink, the snow had been really soft and it was baking hot. I had the summit to myself in the morning sunshine with a cool breeze from the sea, and the I headed on down the north ridge summit track and met a couple of climbers and lots of under equipped tourists grinding their way up the soft scoria. So back to the car and lunch , followed my a leisurely drive home. A good day out, my legs were a little stiff yesterday!

Skiing.... and beaches!

2008-11-10T09:41:00.007+13:00

A weekend of contrasts, after fresh snow we decided to go skiing on Saturday as this would be our last chance before the skifield closes after a very long season! Sunday we went up to the skifield and enjoyed the sun for a while, and then decided the queues were too long and we'd cruise down the coast to Wellington stopping along the way and enjoy the great weather visiting beaches we hadn't been too.

Turakirae Head

2008-10-28T08:38:00.001+13:00

Spent a few hours yesterday, wandering around and getting blown around Turakirae Head near Wellington, doing a few boulder problems in the spring sunshine.

Eagle Creek, Oregon

2008-10-21T09:18:00.002+13:00

On a work trip to Portland, Oregon - managed to get out and visit Hood River on Saturday morning, followed by a walk up Eagle Creek about 40 miles from Portland - as we didn't have time to do the full hike. Very pretty and lots of salmon from the hatchery, and lots of wire to hang on to just in case you decided that you might walk off the edge!

Springtime...

2008-09-30T10:44:00.009+13:00

Well , four of us headed up to Mt Ruapehu for some winter climbing action, only to find that spring had arrived and lots of things had melted! Attempt on Chiming Bells was abandoned due to crap ice that wouldn't take a pick placement after 15 mins of trying. Headed over to Pink Floyd Buttress, climbed the first pitch of Delicate Sound of Thunder, got halfway up the 2nd pitch to discover that the rime ice was hollow and not bonded to the rock - so progress was halted and also abandoned!!
After some respite from the sun in the ski field cafe, we headed up to the summit plateau to bivvy out, with the intention of climbing something on Matihao the following morning. A cold'ish night, the wind whistling around us, but snug and warm in our bivvy spot dug in the snow. Morning dawned nicely apart from the cold wind, after a cup of tea and brekkie the westerly wind picked up further and cloud covered the plateau, so climbing was foregone in favour of navigating off the plateau down to the cafe for hot drinks.

Snow School

2008-09-18T09:31:00.002+12:00

Snow school last weekend for Joanne and Amanda, doing some fun stuff and climbing the first pitch of Whiskey on Moonshine Buttress on the Pinnacles at Mt Ruapehu. Amandas first winter climb proper - nice one :O).

Down South...

2008-09-09T10:58:00.005+12:00

Well , Joanne and I had 2 great weeks holiday based down in Wanaka, skiing, nordic skiing and tramping in the rain. Skiing was awesome, our skiing buddies from Aussie were over and what has become the 'Carnival of Love Tour' ensued!! Had some great bluebird days with sun, snow and some falling over and a great deal of cheese and crisp sandwiches. Not enitrely sure what are we are going to do with the remaining bottle of Frangelico though!

We tramped up the East Matukituki and after the entertainment ( or not!) of eletrocuting ourselves on the cattle fence, we walked in the rain through the beech forest to the very picturesque Glacier Burn - at least I'm sure it would have been if we had been able to see anything! Brewed up for a cuppa there and had lunch before making our soggy way back to the swingbridge and car.

Rain stopped play on the climbing front , and our plans to head up to Brewster Hut were thwarted due to wet snow avalanches in the area and an onslaught of rain - up to 700mm in a couple of days!!!

New House!

2008-08-19T08:25:00.002+12:00

We moved into our new house, with amazing views - see pic, this weekend. So the weekends fitness regime involved carrying fridges, mattresses etc etc The lovely Amanda was the first to stay in the new house - and the first to be put to work cleaning and lifting - awesome job! So, we are getting there with putting it straight, more boxes to unpack yet, but hopefully we'll get it sorted soon!

Great Weekend!

2008-08-12T11:02:00.002+12:00

Awesome weekend, drove up on Saturday morning, got to Turoa skifield at 11am and was skiing at 11.30am until mid afternoon, great conditions, sunshine and a bit of cloud with a few snow showers.
On Sunday climbed around the Pinnacles at Whakapapa, soloed Comfortably Numb and four other routes in the area, great day , but very cold with the southerly wind blowing, - 8 C without the wind chill!

Pukeko - Climbing Star!

2008-08-01T13:17:00.005+12:00

When you are stuck in a hut for 2 days in the rain at the bottom of Ruapehu, having a small Pukeko with magnetic feet is great! Pukeko performed many starring climbing roles from Mission Impossible, Cliffhanger to The Eiger Sanction - all while hanging onto a bunk bed - no mean feat, while us onlookers consumed vats of tea and gingernuts!

Ruapehu wanderings...

2008-07-15T09:54:00.006+12:00

This weekend mostly involved wandering about around Mt Ruapehu and climbing things at random, as they caught my eye. On Sun climbed, Moonshine Buttress via 'Whiskey', and then did various route combinations/ variants around the first and 2nd pinnacle at Whakapapa.
Mon grunted my way up to the summit plateau , then walked over to Matihao/ Cathedral Rocks and went for a look Left Couloir looked in great condition, but I wanted a look at the main face - and by the time I got there I couldn't be bothered to go back to Left Couloir and went up the main gulley instead, while not difficult it busted my calves! So my calves are now in rehab after the last 2 days, but I had a good time doing it!!

Dreaming of winter.....

2008-05-29T09:41:00.000+12:00

Mt Sefton in winter from Mt Cook Village

Quote of the Day

2008-05-29T09:02:00.002+12:00

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, awake in the day to find that it was vanity. But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it reality.

T.E. Lawrence

Quote of the Day

2008-05-11T22:30:00.002+12:00

'If everything's under control you're probably moving too slow' - Mario Andretti

Mt Murchison

2008-04-28T10:23:00.006+12:00

A long weekend just gone on an NZAC trip down from Wellington to climb the straightforward peak of Mt Murchison in Arthurs Pass National Park.
Left Wellington on Thurs night and flew to Christchurch, picked up hire car and drove to Arthurs pass to stay the night at the NZAC lodge there.
Up at 6am next morning for a 7am start to walk down the Waimakariri River to Carrington Hut ( 3.5 hrs), a half hour break of wringing out socks after a few river crossings and some snacks saw us head up the White River towards Barker Hut.
The track up to Barker Hut is cairned in places and there is a single route marker in the river bed that leads uphill into a rock filled gulley thats not very obvious from below. This in turn leads to a track along the grassy terrace above the river which bypasses some boulder strewn bluffs before heading back to the river bed.
You can now see the hut sitting on a high rock promontary overlooking the White River - it doesn't seem to get any closer for a while as you head towards it!! There is an uphill section across a rock gut which leads onto ridge above a side stream, from here there is a steeper descent into 'the chasm', crossing the stream and then a haul uphill , skirting the rock buttress to the left that steeply leads to the hut - hooray! ( 4 hrs)
A clear night, we breakfasted at 4.30am and headed off under the stars at 5.30 am heading up to the edge of a rock buttress that would give us access to the White Glacier and onwards to Mt Murchison. The was a lot of VERY loose rock everywhere being late in the season, dodged a few rocks knocked down by my climbing partners as we headed up! We topped out on a rocky terrace covered with loose scree and from there we accessed the glacier - we thought we could see a route through, despite comments in the hut book that the route was cut off by large crevasses.
We did find our way through with not too much trouble, a couple of airy traverses between slots gave us a way through, keeping a careful eye on rockfall from the main peak above as we went. Dawn was crisp and clear and the sun beamed down on our ascent and made for an extremely pleasant day!
We got to the top of the ice, 40m shy of the summit and 2 of our partydecided for a summit bid - ( after they had knocked down a large pile of rocks I decided I didn't really want to be underneath them) so contented I sat and lapped up the sun whilr having a well deserved break, before heading back down the glacier to soak up more sun at the hut.
Next day the rain started early, we were away at 7.30am back down the valley, I sped away hoping the rivers didn't rise too much with the rain ( which they didn't forunately!) - back down from Barker Hut - Carrington Hut in 2hrs 40mins, soaked to the skin at this point , we got the billy on and had some hot soup and snacks at the hut before embarking on the river fest that is the Waimakariri River - Carrington Hut - Road end 2hrs 50min!!!
Awesome trip!

NZAC Photograpy Course - Mt Ruapehu

2008-04-16T10:32:00.007+12:00

These are some pics taken on an NZAC photography course run by Marty Blumen up on Mt Ruapehu last weekend.

An attempt on Mt Sefton

2008-04-02T13:24:00.005+13:00

Our attempt on Mt Sefton, an NZAC trip with 6 of us in tow, set off mid afternoon from the west coast along the Copland Track heading for Welcome Flat Hut. Packs were tipping the scales at 25kg+ ( we had food for 9 days!!! - in retrospect a silly idea! ), and my shoulders were killing me all the way to the hut. The latter half of the trip was done in the dark with a few entertaining creek crossings on route my headtorch, we reached the hut after 6 hrs and settled in to get dinner ready etc.

Next morning we slept in a bit too long due to the previous days exertions, packed up and set off for the mission that is Scott Creek leading to the West Ridge of Mt Sefton ( a 3000m elevation gain! ), the rain started as we left the hut and continued on and off for the duration of the day.

After the first hour we reached a dry creek about 50m wide, we branched up this from the main path as it joins the main part of Scott Creek higher up, the next hour or 2 involved river boulder bashing, crawling through the undergrowth and bush bashing, hauling ourselves up wet, slippery boulders ( with big packs) until we reached the first waterfall ( pictured above) which is around 40- 50m high. The route up involves heading up the true left climbing up 2 move wonder on rock and then hauling packs up, followed by a crawl up semi vertical shrubs to reach a foot wide, wet greasy ledge that leads back across to the main creek bed, interesting when your pack is trying to tip you into the void, your feet are slipping and the only thing to hang on are shrubs that may or may not stay intact as you move along!! Then there is a short corner crack to negotiate, and when we reached the top of that , we decided it was time for lunch.

As we headed upstream we came to a waterfall with a large leaning rock in the centre of the creek with water runnig either side, staying on the true left is impossible here, but there is a shallow crossing to the true right in front of the waterfall, then more river basing for a couple of hundred metres before recossing back to the true left. Up and up we went, very slow going in the rain with the wet rocks and few awkward moves over them creating the afternoons entertainment.
By the time we reached the final waterfall, my feet were sore with blisters and I decided toi call it a day and head back down - much abseiling ensued, by the time I got back to the hut it had been 11 hrs. Stuart also cam back down to the hut with me.
The other 4 pressed on and bivvied out higher up before managing to make it to Welcome Pass after a very slow day trying to find a way through the crevasses on the Tekano Glacier - I think everyone was pretty knackered by this stage. 2 of the group set off at 2am to make a summit bid for Mt Sefton but could make it through the cut up crevasses of the Douglas Neve and returend to the camp at 7am. The group decided to head back down Scott Creek again, obviously disappointed - as was I for not having made it to the summit.
Good trip, next time fly in and down Scott Creek!!!!

Tararuas...

2008-02-27T14:57:00.002+13:00

Well, as a warm up for my trip to Mt Sefton at Easter I felt a trip out with a pack would be a good idea - I had planned for a long tramp, it ended up being not so long as I knew the weather would turn on the Sunday.

So Fri night after having fought commuter traffic out of Wellington I arrived at the Holdsworth Road end car park at 7.30pm, to spitting rain and a warm , humid evening. I loaded up my 15kg pack and headed off to Atiwhakatu Hut in the semi dark - the hut was about 3 hrs away, prob 2 1/2 by most people, anyway I shifted up a gear not wanting to get caught in potentially pouring rain and raced to the hut in a respectable 1hr15min - nice! Woke up 2 Americans who had come off the Jumbo - Holdswoth circuit, and then at 11.30pm another group of 3 guys came in and woke us all up !

A not so early start due to early morning rain had me leaving the hut at 8am, along the river, over numerous wire bridges and eventually climbing up to the hill called Baldy, I arrived on top to westerly wind blowing cloud in and out and around the tops, so I rested and sheltered from the wind with a large rock not far from the top, to consult the map.

I decided as I couldn't see my original route - which was to head over the Kings to Girdlestone and then Dorset Ridge to Dorset Hut, I would choose an alternative, albeit shorter route. So I decided in the end to cross the Broken Axe pinnacles, over Macgregor and Jumbo, down to Jumbo Hut and all the way back down to Atiwhakatu Hut again for the night.
The Broken Axe pinnacles are entertaining - the first one involves climbing, mostly on tussock and occasionally rock up a semi vertical face with good exposure all around, the rest are just exposed aretes but fairly straightforward. I stopped for an hour or so at a tarn near Macgregor to top up my now non existent water supply as it was getting very warm now as the sun had decided to come out and play.
Then it was a sharp turn of speed to Jumbo Hut which was full of American students, doing strange American student things - which they all seem to do! So headed down the knee crunching ridge back to Atiwhakatu Hut just before 5pm, so a good 9hr day. After first and second dinners I felt a bit more human and had resonable nights sleep in the now full hut.
Back to the car park and road end in 1hr25 min on the return journey... all in all a good trip - until I realised when I got home that I had left my trekking poles leaning against the side of the car - doh! I did drive back on thr offchance they would be there - which they weren't of course, so I have posted lost notices pretty much everywhere in the hope that some honest soul returns them.....

Quote of the Month

2008-02-05T16:54:00.000+13:00

“We'll leave nothing to your imagination this time. We tried that last time and, in our opinion it didn't work.” Henrietta Collins

Hopkins Valley - storm approaches....

2008-01-08T08:45:00.001+13:00

This was taken while away on a trip last week with the New Zealand Alpine Club, I climbed Mt Mckenzie a pretty straightforward snow peak with a rock arete, this Nor'west storm came in when I got back to camp.

Looking South

2007-12-03T16:47:00.000+13:00

This is Houghton Bay in Wellington, with the Kaikoura Mountains on the south island seen on the horizon.

Orcas!

2007-11-25T21:22:00.000+13:00

Joanne and I saw 5 orcas off our beach opposite the flat last night, and followed them round the bays for a bit, watching them chase things. The photo was taken from the beach - the young orca was about 10 metres away from us! There were 2 fully grown and 3 younger orcas. Awesome!!!!!

Lower Tasman Valley

2007-11-23T08:42:00.000+13:00

This is looking down the lower Tasman valley with my back to the terminal lake at the end of the Tasman glacier.

Mt Ngauruhoe

2007-10-31T19:00:00.000+13:00

Mt Ngauruhoe - Mt Doom to those Lord of the Rings fans, took this a month or so ago.

Greenstone/ Caples Track

2007-10-29T09:19:00.000+13:00

After sitting in Mt Cook Village chatting to a friend, with the weather forecast holding no hopes of climbing any time soon, the Greenstone / Caples Track was suggested ... so off we went.
After a days delay due to the car breaking down, and an unscheduled night in Queenstown, we finally got under way!

Day 1 Carpark- Greenstone Hut ( 3.5hrs) .. went well, we did the track in reverse - up the Greenstone and down the Caples - most people do it the other way. The walk in to the newer Greenstone hut was pleasant enough, through beech forest with the river running below us on the left, crossed a swingbridge and 3.5 hrs later arrived at the hut where there were a few people already enjoying the last of the days sunshine.

Day 2 Greenstone Hut - McKellar Saddle- Upper Caples Hut ( 14hrs! - 30.6 km) ...started with me lying in my sleeping bag in the hut, listening to the rain pouring on the roof and hoping it would stop very soon - no such luck. We made breakfast and cups of tea, packed our new waterproof packs, cocooned ourselves in GoreTex and headed out into the sponge like world that oozed water from everywhere possible.
Tramping over the river flats became very tiring. easy travel, but with everything in flood and waterlogged , the track was not at its best. We were so glad every time we had to head back into the beech forest away from the incessant rain, and stopping briefly for snacks to eat. This continued until we made it to McKellar Hut where, now sodded, we stopped for some lunch with cups of soup and tea to warm ourselves, this had taken ua around 5 hrs. We stopped for an hour, before deciding to head off again in order to make it to Upper Caples Hut, some trampers who had just come down Steele Creek were surprised at our choice of such a long day ( it became longer than we thought.....).
A tedious walk to the head of the lovely Howden Lake took us to the start of the bottom of the upward climb to McKellar saddle - well, all the side streams had flooded , so getting to the foot of the hill was the challenge. Luckily another group were trying to come the other way, so after some minutes of deliberating the best place to cross ( the water was 2m deep in places! ) we hung onto trees and grabbed each others arms until everyone was safely across, and then we continued on our way. The water was now above ankle deep even on the normal track, and then we came to spot that looked a bit deep, but sice we were already wet, we though what the hell - yes it was really deep - chest height in fact and very cold, we rushed as fast as we could , but the mud was also making us sink deeper, we managed to grab a tree on the back and scramble up onto the hill and track - very , very wet and cold now! Onwards and upwards we went, with water flowing down the track and us scrambling up tree roots and small rocky outcrops - it started to snow as well now, we slooged on and eventually made it to the top and McKellar saddle, where the sun popped out and some cloud cleared, making it all almost worth it. Some benched track now headed across the saddle and don into the Upper Caples valley where we could hear and see a massive amount of water coming down the river - the upcoming river crossings were a bit of concern, and we wanted them out tof the way before dark! After an initially steep descent , the track became more of a slope and made its wet way further into the Caples Valley, we found the river crossing - not anywhere near as bad as we thought - knee deep, still pretty fast flowing , but ok to cross. With that out the way , we wearily continued down the valley towards the Upper Caples hut, the root and mud basing went on unabated, as daylight began to fade and an almost full moon shone through the trees to light our way. As darkness took hold we retreived the head torches and slowly made our way throught he beech forest - which all looks the same in the dark when the track isn't that obvious in places and we ended up looking for the markers in the dark which slowed us down. Finally we reached the bridge over the river and knew the hut was only 5 mins away - and then we frustratingly lost the track again!! At last we picked it up again and fell into the hut at 10.30pm, took off all our wet stuff and started up cups of tea and dinner before curling up in our sleeping bags and letting our exhausted bodies rest.

Day 3 Upper Caples Hut - Carpark ( 5 Hrs)
The sun came out at last and the sandflies came with it, I hung everything outside to try and dry things off while the sun shone and there was a breeze. We drank cups of tea and ate some museli for breakfast, bodies were aching and we weren't in a hurry to move and put our soaking wet boots and socks back on. After packing everything away again , we ambled our way down valley towards Mid Caples Hut, groaning as we went, across the river flats we saw some deer grazing and plenty of paradise ducks making lots of noise as usual. Travel was quick and 2 hrs later we were at the next hut where we restocked on water, had some dried fruit and set off again on the last leg, slowing as we went as the previous days efforts started to take their toll. After a good walk along the river, through more beech forest and along river flats we made it back to the car, and more sandflies. A short drive to Kinloch mean't we could grab a coffee and some well earned lasgane and feel little more human again - great trip, wet trip and very memorable.

Le plu

2007-10-09T09:22:00.000+13:00

The view from my front door on a not so sunny day.... still cool though.

Weather Doldrums

2007-10-09T09:03:00.000+13:00

Well, conditions here in New Zealand haven't been too good, lots of big fronts bashing the country from south and north accompanied by high winds and thunder storms. In short not ideal climbing weather - there has been 5 metres of snow at Mt Cook over the last 9 days, and wind loaded slopes in Arthurs Pass of between 1m and 3m , avalanches are plentiful and the rivers are running high or flash flooding with the warmer fronts following.

Fortunately I have a good supply of coffee and lots of hills to run up, which should keep me out of trouble in the meantime.

Mt Ruapehu - Eruption, climber injured.

2007-10-03T10:49:00.000+13:00

Mt Ruapehu had a small eruption on 26th Sept , with a small earthquake of 2.8, and a small lahar. Not big enough to set off the lahar alams apparently.

Unfortunately some climbers were staying in the Dome shelter near the summit and caught the force as you can see from the before and after hut pics. One climber was seriously injured and trapped as his collegues couldn't remove a boulder off his legs that had come through the roof of the shelter, they were rescued and hospitalised later on - all the best to the injured climber.

Photos from NZ Herald.

Mt Ruapehu

2007-09-06T16:08:00.001+12:00

An amazing sunny day on Mt Ruapehu, we abandoned ice climbing on the pinnacles for a trip to the summit as the weather was so good. You can see 4 climbers crossing the summit plateau - was pretty windy, around 80km/h.

Pinnacles - Mt Ruapehu

2007-08-27T08:35:00.000+12:00

Well, this weekend was glorious. Mt Ruapehu sat above an inversion ,with the clouds forming a blanket below, while the upper mountain basked in sunshine. Climbed Grand gully with variable snow conditions but generally great neve and the occasional ice crust. Will post pics in the next couple of weeks - had my old skool film camera with me. I'll be up there for the next 2 weekends as well.
Was a bit of a mission - we left Wellington at 3am and got to the ski field at 7.30am, then headed up up to the Knoll Ridge cafe for a coffee before heading off to start our climb - very civilised!
More updates with photos soon.

Mt Cook Village

2007-08-05T18:14:00.001+12:00

Well, finally had a small trip down south, mainly to revist various places with a bit of climbing along the way. Managed a beautiful day of ice climbing near Mt Cook village, pretty relaxed WI2, great views and an awesome day out. Was definately good to be back out!!!!

Tararua mudbath...

2007-07-04T15:16:00.000+12:00

Sunday entailed a tramp up to Waiopehu HUt near Levin - which would have some fantastic views over the Kapiti Coast and over to Kapiti Island - if you could see more than 100 metres through horizontal rain - really it would!
The tramp starts in the beginning of the Ohau gorge and you head up through rainforest like trees, some pococarp and lots of ferns, the place was a giant sponge from the previous few days of rain, water oozed from just about everything. The path started off ok, a little rough, but the gradient was gentle compared to other paths in the Tararuas I've been on, it winds its way upwards until you come out on the crest of a ridge - not that you'd know as you are surrounded by native bush forest. After an hour or so the waterlogged mudfest began, intermittantly at first, muddy boots and gaiters were de rigeur. As we wound our way up we reached a couple of view points were, just under the cloud we could see across the Wairapapa plains to the south east coast and then over to the north east coast as well.
The ridge seemed to go on forever and the hut kept moving I swear, I quick look at the map indicated it wasn't far - on the home strait - for now. After the uphill haul to the crest of the ridge where the hut was situated the mud crawling began in earnest - up to knee deep most of the way for about 1km, the hut was a welcome sight!! So a quick lunch and then it was slow tailing it back down the ridge ( still neverending - especially in twilight!!) back to the car and relief from the mud and rain - an 8hr round trip in all :O)

Think....

2007-06-21T11:22:00.001+12:00

I believe the little things matter.
I believe we can make a difference.
I believe we can change things.
How many of us are there now?
Around 6.6 billion or so.
That’s quite a lot, huh.
And if each one of us does a little thing.
Well, that little thing becomes a big thing.
So leaving the TV on standby is just one of those
dumb stupid small things that doesn’t really matter.
Except when millions of us all do it.
Well, then it begins to add up.
And before you know it, whole power stations
are used to just keep little red lights on stand by.
So switch off the television tonight.
Those small things can add up.
After all, an iceberg melts one drop at a time.

Care of Howies.co.uk

Tararuas...again...

2007-06-19T05:01:00.000+12:00

Decided to go for another trail run on Saturday in the Tararuas, southerly was blowing through - which means its cold, snow was falling down to 700m and covering the beech and rimu trees. The trail I went up follows the Otaki gorge for a bit up one of the old logging trails, there are bits of rails strewn here and there and an old log hauler rusting away part way along the track.

The first part was a great run - apart from one of the orange DOC marker signs efectively pointing you over the edge of a large slip above the river!!!!!! After that you run through the forest on a good track, until about 6km in you end up going up a boulder strewn stream, so I had to walk, otherwise broken ankles from slipping off rocks would have ensued! So with very wet feet , this section took painfully long, before you head uphill onto a forested plateau and running can begin again.

You continue going through the forest with a few more stream crossings until you end up with the river on your right down a large forested slip, and then downhill for a bit until you reach Waitewaewae Hut ( shortened to YTYY !!), the hut was pretty cold and I could see the snow on the hills behind from there, which is where I was originally going to head up to Andersons Memorial Hut, but after eating lots of museli bars and a rest, I decided a 1000+m climb was probably not going to happen during daylight as I was trying to get back to the car that afternoon.
So , ran back and ended up walking more sections on the way back as I was pretty tired - not the ideal trail run I decided as you couldn't get much flow going on - next time I might head up the hill to Kime and on to Elder Hut - much steeper 1500m climb, but the trail is pretty consistent up the hill and over the tops!!!
A good, but tiring day out - looking forward to more!!

Tararuas...

2007-05-26T08:37:00.000+12:00

So NZAC cancelled the Southern Crossing, so I thought I would try the Tararua peaks - 46km up and down , but the weather Sunday was not looking too hot so I just went for a wander - well , I ran most of it carrying my sleeping bag and cooking gear as an attempt to get fit for winter!! Went up from Otaki Forks to Field hut initially - a 3hr tramp/ hike or a 1 hour ( or so!) 800m of up in 5 km, then onto Kime hut which is another 600m up so around 1400m of uphill in 10km, I decided to see if the Tararua Peaks were possible, got a round 2km along and decided the weather really was gong to change and headed back up a big hike through mud and gravel up to Kime hut. Temperature was dropping, but I had a cool sunset looking over to Kapiti Island, and the sun reflecting in the sea , with the shore curving away into the distance.

About an hour later the cloud descended - the start of typical Tararuas weather - weather in the Tararuas is well known for being ferocious from changing from innocuous to life threatening very quickly - due to the proximity of the sea.
Had some dinner, 1 other guy had turned up to stay, then around 6pm a couple turned up to have dinner in the hut, they were tramping to another hut around 3 hrs away - great weather to navigate in at night with torchlight bouncing off the cloud!!!!

Attempted to sleep, but the resident mouse was doing its best to keep me awake!! Up at 7am, with the mist, cloud, rain and high wind swirling around the hut. The other guy packed up and left as I was finishing my morning cup of tea. I packed my bag - slightly lighter from having eaten my dinner the night before : O ). I headed off into the cloud and rain, jogging along, over Hut Mound and along the poled path I thought was heading in the right direction - except I had missed something in the cloud and headed off the wrong way - fortunately I knew where I was and that taking a left up another path would make me rejoin my intended route down! Not long after I caught up with the other guy, and continued my run down the hills, through the forest and back to the car in around 2 1/2 hours. Then drove to Otaki for a coffee and lunch before driving back to a sunny Wellington.

Back again....

2007-05-14T17:09:00.000+12:00

Well, haven't posted for a bit!! After the Shanghai trip I was back in the UK to see my lovely wife : O )

So next post is likely to after next weekend as I'll be doing the Tararuas Southern Crossing - a classic tramping route on the North Island - in an attempt to build up fitness for the coming ( hopefully!!) winter alpine climbing season in the Southern Hemisphere!! Just hope the weather is good - its getting dark around 5.30pm now : O ( , ah well...winter approaches....

2007-04-15T14:48:00.001+12:00

Working in Shanghai this week so no fun stuff to report!!! : o (

Orcas!!

2007-04-13T11:46:00.000+12:00

Saw a mother and baby Orca off Seatoun beach on my way to work this morning - how amazing is that, must have been sheltering from the rough weather in the Cook Strait - wonder if they'll be there tomorrow and I can have a proper look!! Made my day : o )

Tongariro Crossing

2007-04-10T08:02:00.000+12:00

Well, in a bid for spontaneity and rushed packing , some friends decided they were going to do the Tongariro Crossing as the weather looked good in volcano country and they invited me along.
So, apart from the fact that there are loads of tourists on this route, its probably one of the few places you get this scenery, and people were spaced enough that you didn't feel that it was too crowded. It kept up the entertainment though, despite all the warnings the amount of people in jeans was still astounding - admittedly it was a good day in weather terms - but not always so apparently!!
The route winds its way up a good track for the whole route, one steep volcanic climb of a few hundred metres onto a ridge - great views all round, pretty spectacular. Took us 7 hours at a very leisurely pace, including the obligatory photo opps, 2nd breakfasts and lunch stop. Passed the green lakes with its steamy atmosphere after a bit of a volcanic ash run ( as opposed to a scree run!), then a cross a bit of a plain with an impressive solidified lava flow. Up another rise and then down into some native bush that descends a fair way with a stream running past down to the car park and pick up on the other side - great day, good company and good to have done it in fantastic weather!!

2007-04-03T10:13:00.000+12:00

So this is a trip up the Waimakariri I did couple weeks a go, Arthurs Pass area on the South Island of NZ for those of you who are unfamiliar with it. Unfortuately the weather was not co-operating and a big Norwest front was sat on the main divide giving rain and high winds to 70-90kph on the tops - my plan to climb Mt Murchison or Mt Carrington was off, but I headed up the Waimakariri River anyway.
So wandered up the true right of the Waimak in an attempt to keep my feet dry for as long as possible, ended up fording the river about 8 times in the end - and the rain had made it a little higher than I would have liked as I was on my own - care was needed and taken. Eventually after the river bashing and the odd tangle with scrub, I arrived at Carrington Hut - place to myself, wasn't really cold enough to get the fire going, so started the boot/ sock drying process ( still hoping to make it up Mt Carrington at this point!!)
Had a cup of tea or 3 and then proceeeded to wolf down a pasta dinner and then, once the sandflies had been eliminated, settled down to sleep. I awoke around 5am, checked the weather and decided that today would not be a day for climbing in the mountains as the wind whistled around the hut and the rain was coming down pretty heavily - back to sleep for me !
Up again at 8am as the rain had settled to a drizzle, headed back out down the Waimak towards Klondyke Corner - decided to keep completely dry this time as I had a flight from Christchurch and decided sitting on the plane in wet boots was not an appealing prospect. So back down the true right - down the path from the 1950's or 1960's - bit 'interesting ' in places, lots of bush bashing and clinging to the occasional semi vertical rock precipice above the river, hanging on and not letting my pack get caught in the vines!! Then more gravel bashing - past the site of the old Greenlaw hut and back onto the path I had left the previous day to the road end - managed to hitch a lift to Arthurs Pass, where coffee and cake was devoured, and then awaited for my bus - which it turns out had decided to leave without me!! Slight panic entailed - the rain was now really heavy and I had a flight to catch in 4 hours time -and there was no more public transport from Arthurs Pass to Christchurch until the next day!! Luckliy, some kind guy decided to pick me up and I hitched a lift to the all the way to the airport as he was headed that way as luck would have it - so much to my relief I managed to catch my flight and head back to windy Wellington in a Norwester - nice!!

Molesworth Station

2007-03-31T09:52:00.000+12:00

View from the hill above Molesworth Station - loads of Merino here and one of the biggest stations in New Zealand!!

Ouch!!

2007-03-30T08:05:00.000+12:00

Oh Boy Mountain marathons hurt lots!!! Good day a few weeks ago, pretty hot - better than snow in the mountains!!