This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
Easy trip to Sunrise Hut 5 - 7 August 2005
A 5hr bus trip and fish and chips take us late into the night, somewhere in the north-east Ruahine ranges. Various farm gates, bus reversing and suppositions of lostness pass before, yay, the road -end! No moon, wind or clouds. The stars look stunning. We wander 10 minutes to TripleX hut then sleep as the frost quietly settles and someone unquietly snores.
A gorgeous morning is well underway as we ‘easys' leisurely depart. Gleaming snow sits high on the mountains above. It's a steady climb. We develop a steady rhythm. Zig zag rest. Zig zag rest. The sun streams through the trees. The track is great, the company is great, the chocolate and lollies are great. But if's not a perfect world. Cloud descends as we ascend. Some of us find the gradient hard work.
Just on lunchtime we reach Sunrise hut, enveloped in the cloud. What a great hut! Gas heater even! A cosy place to spend the afternoon chatting, laughing and eating. A few brave souls go for a walk through the thick, drizzly cloud to Armstrong saddle. Nice views of, well, the ground. The hut gets cosier as another party arrive. Then another. Then three more for good measure. We feast on vegetarian chilli con carne and fruit salad and all sleep sound and toasty warm.
Sunday. More chatting and reading of books. A spurt of packing and hut tidying then out into the drizzly misty morning. No “Sunrise Hut" today. A pleasant wander downhill. Large drips collect then fall from the calm trees overhead. We lunch in TripleX with the ‘fits' then its back to the bus for the long journey home. A great weekend was had by all.
Our trip consisted of... Gail (Possum Control), Barbara (Ultimate M&M Scroggin), Rachel - (Hydrologist for the Mediums), Kirsten (Botanist), Nisha (Pace Counter), Natalie (Connect4 Champion), Laurie (Author), Paul (Altitude Check), Andrew (Navigation), Lynda (Quizmistress).
mountain adventures ~ |beyond the Silk Road