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MITRE TRIP “48-20 September = Sally Lindsay
: "Do you. have roads like this in Scotland?" Catherine - - asked. "Yes, but we don't usually take buses up them," -I replied, ~ eyeing the steep bank apprehensively, as. the bus bounced its way along the Upper Waingawa‘Road. It. was pouring with rain - not a good omen. The bus was half-empty too; indicating the general lack of énthusiasm. The medium trip consisted of. Catherine Croucher {leader} Tony Stone, Joe King, David Body, Russel Jones, Mark: fe ; ' Jenkins, Crawfor a Lindsay and me - six of us non-members. r. After the bus had azopped us, its rear lights ‘receded . into the murk like the last sparks of a dying fire, leaving us abondoned in the cold,. wet night.. Undaunted, we followed the track across fields and I reflected that we could have béen almost. anywhere - so many trips at home had started in exactly the same way. Half an hour later, we pitched’ camp. Crawford and I aren't ashamed to admit that we're soft, sc we ‘had our own tent with us, which is infinitely more cosy than a fly, but does attract some bemused ccmments from tougher souls. , Saturday dawned clear and sunny, and we made an early start (by our stencards), setting off at about 8,30, after “some discussion about our exact position. We followed the Barra Track nerthwards, and arrived at Mitre Flats Hut at around 10.30am. Here we were able to leave some “-gear, to our relief - we are not used to carrying every- ‘thing all day, since through-trips have not been our speciality. Several members of the party went to great lengths to conceal their surplus gear among vegetation, . lest it be stolen, which surprised us ~ we had thought ‘New Zealand was populated by friendly, honest folk, and have been astonished at the horror stories of vandalized cars at round ends. Up the track we climeed, through the everchanging forest. New Zealand hills are generally higher and steeper than those in Scotland, so we tend to be slow compared with native Kiwis, who're used tc it, but the pace on this occasion was fine. We had time to look around us and marvel once again at the amazing diversity of plants.
It's interesting to see the changes in vegetation as you ascend - this is the major difference hetween walking here and at home. Our hills are mostly open (some might say 'bleak'), and with no insulating blanket of bush to protect the hillwalkers, the weather (more severe anyway) has a much greater effect. The vegetation changes are more subtle, and there are few marked tracks - you simply make your own way and foidiow.whatever route you choose. This means»that. navigation is often easier in SCotland, since you can see where you're going (most of the time), but on the other hand it is always necessary, because there aren't any'’signposts. ~ © ees There were no navigation problems onthe way up Mitre, and eventually we emerged from the bush to more familiar looking terrain on the open tops. There were good*views of ‘Baldy and the Three Kings as we headed up the ricce towards Peggy’s' Peak: The top of the hill had a good covering of snow,’ packed hard’hy the wind, and I for one would have been happier with an ice axe’ in my hand: We staggered on, however, and reached the top of Mitre, to be rewarded by splendid views in all directions:°“Further trips suggested themselves, as we looked at the endless series of ridges and valleys, ind we all agreed that Girdlestone looks highex than Mitre {must be an optical illusion). Then it was back down’ thé vay’ we'd come, in the nick of time as. it tuxndd out, because there were a couple of snow showers before we reached the cover of: the Sush.- San 7 os a i” greg) gyre” thattegariiagtewe dined in.the hut; this special. macaroni-free trip featured sweet and sour sausages with rice (which).tastes mugh better than it: sounds). Around the fire, we were entertained .by.storices about. the dangers of duty-free alcohol in Iran, .from.one; trip member, and stories! about the dangers of any aicohol, from another. Most people camped, as there were some others in the hut who had: enough alcohol with them te last a month. Be ag PRN ogi ie ie ail - (i On Sunday, it rained most of the morning, so the main activities were wood-gathering and chatting in the hut. This was enlivened by the arrivalof Jack McConchie and Kevin Thompson, who has spent. a Eull week ‘here and there' in the fTararuas. When pressed, they revealed their route, which seemed to have covered most of the area. Having whiled away the morning very successfully, we then did. some rapid. packing before departure and a fairly leisurely walk out... The weather improved dramatically and there was time for a quick bask in the. sun before the
All in all, © most enjoyable trip, in very good company - so why didn't more people go? “ AS ~ tgeeeky .
. a i . ' = — Pane : yer as tte