This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
The day’s tramp commenced with a practice o a safe river crossing. One hour further up, the fourwheel-drive track through the forest brought us to the beginning of the track up the Top Valley. After 2% hours of climbing steadily through the bush in the persistent rain, with regular stops for snacks to keep our energy levels boosted, we arrived at Armchair Hut. Everyone was thankful of a rest out of the rain and we enjoyed a hot brew with our lunch.
During lunch it was decided by the group that we would keep going onwards till we broke out above the bushline and were exposed to the full force of the weather before we would make a decision on whether or not to continue onto the Mt Richmond Hut, or return and spend the night here at Armchair Hut.
The steep part was about to commence. Upon reaching the bushline we were suddenly exposed to high winds, swirling cloud and mist all around, as well as the constant rain. Visibility was dismal except for being able to watch the clouds creep up one side of the ridge and skim across the top around us. Apart from being very wet, everyone was
Diane Dodunski must have been good because with new-found energy he just launched — I mean launched — himself like a rocket up the slope ahead of us. This paid off for the I rest of us as spotting white markers up the slope through the rain and mist was tricky, to say the least, and an occasional yell from Mike kept us on the beaten track. On a few occasions, Joanne and I took unexpected detours as strong wind gusts knocked us sideways, making climbing up the wet slippery rocks even more fun.
According to the dictionary, panoramic means an unbroken view over a wide area. Upon arrival at the top of Mt Richmond, a couple of four-by-twos crossed into a pile of rocks and being able to see little else owing to the mist and rain hardly whetted the panoramic view appetite! But we had made it!
It was now time to follow the ridge along down to the Mt Richmond Hut. Brief glimpses over the side of the ridge through the mist confirmed we were quite high. The next few hours were spent rock-hopping down the ridge with Mike and Geoff out in front spotting the markers for us.
The morning brought out the “lucky I packed just in case” raincoats, hats, gloves and balaclavas, and a slightly drenched looking Ferrida who had bravely taken the worst end position under the fly and had enjoyed a bit of an overnight dip inside her bivvy bag.
comfortable with the plan to continue to the top of Mt Richmond, then onto Mt Richmond Hut. It was difficult to guess just how much further to the top it was, but we didn’t think it was far!
1 don’t know what Mike had on his sandwiches for lunch but it
Lipan atrival at the Mt.Richmoand Hut, everyone changed into something dry and the fire was lit to keep everyone warm and to dry out our gear. Everyone had brought along heaps of food so once some pre-dinner snacks of crackers, cheese, and biscuits had been consumed, it was time to prepare the evening’s main smorgasbord of food. Alex and Karen had brought along the secret ingredients to flavour the chicken curry, which tasted delicious. The main course was followed by cheesecake.
It was decided that we would take the direct route out through Tim’s Valley the next-day to minimise. river crossings and Ferrida phoned our pick-up ride to organise this. Rain and drizzle continued throughout the night. We decided to get away early the next morning as we had no idea how all this rain would have affected the river height. Small rivulets of water ran down across the track as we progressed down through the beech forest. There had been so much rain that even the native snails had decided to swim for it and had left their empty homes floating in the puddles. As we progressed further down into the bush, the decline became steeper and the fun began, with everyone slipping at are sailing... the sloops Syrena, Rapport and Benedictene with crews of six, seven and eight trampers; all at sea. From Waikawa Bay, up Queen Charlotte least twice on wet, slippery roots, enjoying a ride down the track on our bums.
By late morning, the drizzle had eased as we approached our first river crossing. Where we were supposed to be crossing was now truly submerged, and a decision on.where we were going to cross. I had to be made. Geoff had spotted a place back a bit and it was agreed that this would be it. The crossing went smoothly. Next we had to navigate a scree slope, the result of a slip, to resume following the track. Mike led the way with Alex thoughtfully bringing up the rear just to make sure no one accidentally slipped and ambushed some rocks below.
The rain had now stopped and after a brief stop for lunch we continued to follow the river down and at last we could see something of the scenery, which was lovely. Another couple of hours at a steady pace brought us out into the forest and eventually
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Trip Reports