To Bracken and Back

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To Bracken and Back Don Goodhue The afternoon sun was relentless under a cloudless sky - the few large boulders scattered across the moraine provided little shade. Ahead lay the Evans Glacier, Full Moon Saddle and eventually Erewhon Col the objective of our trip. Behind us lay four days of grunting up the Wanganui River. Eric was reclined behind a rock while I tried to hide from the sun under a trashy paperback picked up at Smyth Hut. "his trip had started out as a "good idea" a few away some of the aches of the last four days. It seemed months earlier. Thel last two years our summer trips odd to be sitting in natural hot water only metres from had taken us into the heart ofl Kahurangi. We wanted what was essentially a liquid glacier. a change this year and settled on a crossing of the Main The next day was our last in the scrub and bush for Divide via the Wanganui River, Bracken Snowfield and the rest of the trip (excepting the matagouri of the Rakaia River. Thus wet began thet tripon the "O-dark-early" Rakaia). A reasonable cairned routel ledi from Smyth Hut ferryfollowed! byt breakfast at Reefton and on tot the roadend to the confluence of the Evans River and Vane Stream, just north of Harihari forl lunch. out ofwhich the Wanganui Riveri is born. Below the con- The mountains of thel Main Divide towered consider- fluence there were a couple of rock climbs requiring ably higher and more imposing than their North Island the removal of packs and jamming up between large cousins - this was in spite of our still being some days boulders. At one stage Eric resorted to using his pack as from the heart of them. We left the roadend with heavy a ladder, takingi it off and standing on top to gain enough packs and headed into thel heat of the afternoon via the height. passed it up after him and then managed to get right bank of the Wanganui. The track alternated be- to the top without having to resort to such measures; tween grassy flats, bouldered stretches of riverbed and besides, like my crackers whole, not crumbled. the odde excursion into the bush to climb over a protrud- Crossing Vane Stream was not without its challenges. ing bluff. The heat was oppressive. As it turned out, this While it didn'tl tlook particularly big, itwas carrying a lot of set the scene for the trip - hotter than hell and for the very cold, fast flowing water. We eventually chose to cross first few days, the singing off the cicadas competing with 100 metres above the confluence; about halfway across I the sound of the river. lost myt footing and we had to cover the last few metres in For three days we worked our way up the Wanganui ar madi lunge for the other side. a series ofboulder-bashesi interrupted by grovels to avoid Once across Vane Stream, the going was a lot easier - bluffs. The Wanganui, flowing high with glacial melt, mostly above the scrubline and not too steep. We was not an option to cross or spend too much time in. stopped for lunch in the shade of a large boulder before Some of the bluffs required considerable time and ef- continuing on to the Evans Glacier moraine flat. The flat fortf for what usually resultedin veryl little distance gained. was impressively located with the sides running up to Above the confluence with the Adams River, we towering cliffs, overhung on the southern side with the crossed to the left bank courtesy of a cableway, and iceofa a nearby glacier The moraine was dead flat for about checked outt the first oft twohuts on the Wanganui. Adams 2k km before starting its rise towards the glacier proper. A Hut, the ubiquitous Forest Service 6-bunker, is situated good campsite was found soon after reaching the moabove the river on a bush terrace. In spite of being rea- raine - andt therel llay for the afternoon reading the trashy sonably accessible from the main road, this hut did not book. The climbing rope strung over a large boulder and appear to see many visitors. adorned with various bits of clothing looked like some- Further upt the river, we spent a night in Smyth Hut thing from a trekking scene in the Himalayas. another Forest Service 6-bunker. This hut appeared to see From the flat of the moraine it took an hour of solid even fewer visitors, with the most recent logbook entry climbing to reach the ice of the glacier. From here the being 4 months earlier. Not surprising given the effort route was straightforward not much more than a game required to get there the stretches of track that did ofp picking our way through the maze of slots that became exist had not seen a slasher's blade for many years.. About larger as we climbed. Our lunch stop high on the glacier all they offered was a bit less heat than travelling on the overlooked the Wanganui River valley. The snow condiriverbed. tions were excellent and the last part of the climb to Full We arrived at Smyth Hut in the early afternoon, and Moon Saddle was nothing more than a slog upwards. spent the rest of the day rehydrating as we were both Ontol Full Moon Saddle and wel had our first view of the showing signs of dehydration and possibly heat exhaus- Bracken and to the south a short distance, Erewhon Col. tion. Eric spent the afternoon on thel bunk trying to kill a To our left Mt Evans was impressive in both bulk and the headache while I made a start on the trashy novel constant rattle ofi ice falling from its slopes. Within a few amazing what you resort to reading when there is noth- minutes of cresting the saddle, the cloud rolled in reing else within 4 days'walk! That evening we found our quiring the use of the compass to find the route across way down to a hot spring below the hut and soaked to Erewhon Col, a narrow gap in the rib of rock that Tramping and Mountaineering 1999

Evans Glacier moraine Don Goodhue marked the watershed of thel Main Divide. A good camp- and despite the odour of a resident rodent and a wood site was found in a wind-scoop below the col, and we range that belched more smoke than it sent up the chimspent the rest of the day and most of the next exploring ney, it was a welcome stop. the Bracken and thel head of thel Ramsay Glacier. The next morning was clear and shaping up to be a By the time we crawled out of our pits, the cloud had cooker so we spread our gear outi in front off fthe hut to air rolled away to reveal stunning views in all directions and dry for a couple of hours before making a late start theMain Divide tot the south, the Ramsay Glacier and Louper down the river. Peak to the east, the Amazons Breasts to the northeast, From Reischek we were within a day's walk of the and across the Bracken to Mt Evans in the northwest. roadend, but with two days up our sleeve, we spent the Above our campsite on the exposed rock were signs of next two days havinga a leisurely time ofi it down thel Rakaia. previous campsites. It was during this fossicking that I Iti is a bit of a trudge, one long river flat after the other, found a reasonably new ice axe lying on the rocks above lots of stones under foot and still as hot as hell. We spent thet tent. Belowt the campsite we checked lout some ofthe our last night camped in the matagouri 15 km up the river large crevasses that traversed the upper Ramsay. from the roadend and for the first time in the trip, found With three days until our arranged pick-up from insects to be a problem. We figured that conditions on the Glenfalloch Station on the Rakaia, we made our departure West Coast had been too hot for them, and concluded from the col and started down thel Ramsay Glacier. Apart that the heat was a better option than being eaten alive. from a short period of reduced visibility, the route was The last morning's walk was further drudgery, and by again straightforward, finding our way into a rocky gully the time we reached the farm road on Glenfalloch Station, that provided a good route down and around the worstof it was already looking like being the hottest day so far. the icefall on the glacier. The gully brought us back onto Not surprisingly, it was with some relief that we finally the glacier at the topoft the moraine from where we found arrived latt the homestead. The lady of thel homestead was the travel to be reasonably good down the true-left until out tending the garden; she was the first person we had immediately above the terminal lake. We crossed to the seen in nine days. After a brief chat, we continued on down true-right and made our way around the lake and even- to the stream at the entrance to the station and had a tually out to the Rakaia. Coming down the Ramsay we short wait for our transport. experienced the worst weather of the trip. Light drizzle Before long we were on our way tol Methven for a hot fell all afternoon I just enough to keep everything damp shower and something for dinner that didn't taste like and cold. or resemble pasta or rice. It had been another reward- We crossed the Rakaia via a conveniently located ing summer trip with some new challenges. While the swingbridge and our route for the rest of the trip took us country was demanding at times, it will be the weather east towards the Canterbury Plains. We arrived at Reischek fine to the extreme and the heat that I will remem- Hut, built a number of years agol by thel local deerstalkers, ber this one for. Tramping and Mountaineering 1999