Sweltering in Siberia

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Sweltering in Siberia Ray Walker Over Christmas 97-98 Hazel Roberts and I spent a month travelling and tramping in the South Island. One ofthe tramps we did was the Wilkin-Young track. Essentially this track follows a U-shaped route along the valleys ofthe Young, Siberia and Wilkin rivers. "he night before starting the tramp we stayed at the there the views were magnificent. We layi in the sun and Makarora motorcamp. We decided to begin at the recovered from the climb before having lunch. From confluence of the Young and Makarora rivers, a. the map we were able to identify some surrounding couple of kilometres north of the motorcamp. Hazel peaks including Mt Awful and Mt Dreadful. We ponmanaged to convince me that it would be a good idea to deredi how they got their names. Remnants of snow from drive to the start of the track, off-load our packs, and for the previous winter remained on the ground near the me to take the car back to the motorcamp before run- Pass and we heard the occasional sound of avalanches ning back to the start of the track. Of course she would on the surrounding peaks. The sky was clear; it was a undertake the difficult job of guarding the packs whilel beautiful day. had a pleasant little jog back! After lunch we continued down the other side of the Soon after starting out we came to the first obstacle: Pass to the Gillespie Valley. The descent was less prethe Makarora River. The DOCranger had given us some cipitous than the climb to the top. After reaching the advice about where to cross the river, after which we valley floor we found an idyllic campsite next to a stream followed the true left bank of the Young River. Our desand most importantly there was a definite absence of tination for the day was Young Hut, located towards the sandflies. As we had plenty of "fat" built into our schedsource of the south branch of the river. The terrain was ule, we decided to camp there for the night. relatively easy and continued to be a pleasant amble Day three saw us continuing down the Gillespie Valthrough predominantly beech forest until the junction ley and into the wide, flat, grassy Siberia Valley. The of the north and south branches of the river. previous night we had decided to make a side trip to After an hour we found a pleasant spot by the river to Lake Crucible, which is located at the top of a hanging have lunch. Unfortunately, the sandflies thought it was valley on the west side of the Siberia Valley. We dropped lunchtime for them too. Isoon came under attack by an our packs at the bottom of the track that leads up to the army of them. I found it almost unbearable; the only lake. way to deter them was to keep moving. This necessi- I decided to change into my running shoes as I had tated me walking around in circles while eating my lunch. been having trouble with a blister on my toe. This blis- Hazel wasn't as badly affected by the sandflies and sug- ter had developed a few days before on a tramp in the gested I was overreacting! Dart Valley and it had obviously not healed properly. Later in the afternoon we reached the Forks and The track up to the start of the valley was steep and as crossed the bridge. Having regained the true left of the the day was very warm, the perspiration started to flow. south branch we continued towards Young Hut. The ter- The thought of a swim in the lake lingered in my mind. rain became more difficult there were slips and a The track levelled out and it became easier. The last number of steep climbs. We had started later than part of this route involved scrambling up a rocky moplanned that day and this had been exacerbated by the raine. Although the temperature had dropped a little, I time spent finding the crossing point on the Makarora was still keen for a swim but these thoughts soon van- River, so it was late by the time we reached Young Hut. ished when we reached the top of the moraine. The We arrived around 10.00 pm to find a group of 81 people lake was almost completely covered in ice! The water tucked up in their sleeping bags. As we didn't want to that was visible was a strikingly dark blue. Neverthedisturb them we decided not to cook our evening meal less, this diversion was well worthwhile, as the scenery and had a bit of fruit instead before going to bed. was exquisite. The next morning the other party made an early start. After taking a few photographs we retraced our steps We spent some time relaxing and having breakfast. We back down the valley. kept a close eye on the track in found a 1954 edition of National Geographic in the hut. front of me in an effort to find the lens cap from my It was older than me and appeared to be in pristine con- camera that had dropped on the way up. Fortunatelyit dition! The plan for the day was to follow the route on had fallen in the middle of the track, so it was easily the true right for about a kilometre, go over Gillespie found. After reaching the valley floor we continued on Pass and then proceed to either Siberia Hut or a suit- to Siberia Hut where we stayed the night. able campsite before the hut. After leaving the hut we The next morning we headed off towards Kerin Forks quickly reached the point where we had to leave the where we planned to make a two-day deviation to Top valley and ascend Gillespie Pass. It was a steep climb to Forks. We soon left the grass fields and re-entered the the Pass via a poled route but when we eventually got bush. We were entering "tourist" country. We noticed Tramping and Mountaineering 1998

Campsite beside Gillespie Stream Ray Walker the airstrip on the riverbank, which a local tour com- without me noticing the sudden change in the weight of pany uses to drop off day walkers who then walk down my pack. This was the last thing I needed. There was no to Kerin Forks where they are picked up by jet boat and easy solution. We left our packs where they were and whisked back to Makarora. walked back along the track to retrieve it. We guessed it The blister on my toe continued to cause me a lot of could be up to 1% hours away. Fortunately, we found it discomfort sol Ichose to keep wearing my running shoes. after only 40 minutes. This wasn't the ideal situation and was just the begin- It was obvious that we wouldn't make it to Top Forks ning of what was to be a bad day for me. We reached Hut that day SO we decided to camp at Wonderland Flats Kerin Forks, waded across the Wilkin River and stopped instead. The campsite was flat, but that was its only reat the Kerin Forks Hut for lunch before setting offto Top deeming feature. Itwas damp and a haven for sandflies. Forks. The day was hot but the map indicated that it It hadn't been a good day and wasn't looking forward should be a reasonably straightforward walk to Top Forks. to another two or three days putting up with a blister This was not to be the case. Although the track was which refused to heal. We had been tramping virtually initially easy, farther on we encountered a number of every day since the start of our holiday and even on our slips and fallen trees. Ifound tramping in running shoes planned day off we had gone for a 6-hour walk. This very hard going over this terrain. Worse still the day totalled about 13 days. We needed a break from trampwas very hot and I had unwisely neglected to drink ing so we abandoned our plans to carry on to Top Forks enough water. found was having difficulty keeping up and decided instead to head out as soon as possible. with Hazel, and was not feeling at all well. Hazel no- The next day we returned to Kerin Forks and eventuticed my obvious signs of heat exhaustion and made the ally caught a ride on a jet boat back to Makarora. decision to have a rest. After lying in the shade for some Overall the Wilkin-Young is a comfortable 4 to 5-day time and drinking copious amounts of water, I was able tramp, with good huts and campsites. It covers a variety to continue. of terrain andi includes opportunities for side trips. One A couple of hours further up the track we decided to thing I would like to point out is that I always carry a take a short break. After taking our packs off, Imade an pair of running shoes in my pack just in case something awful discovery. "Shit! Where's the bloody tent?" I happens to my tramping boots. I now also ensure that gasped in horror as my eyes caught sight of the loose pass one of my pack straps through the drawstring of straps at the bottom of my pack. Somehow the tent had my tent when carrying it on the outside of my pack. I worked itself loose and fallen from its retaining straps would recommend these practices to all trampers. Tramping and Mountaineering 1998