Following in Hunty's footsteps to Lake Nerine

Following in Hunty's footsteps to Lake Nerine

Lake Nerine, perched on the Main Divide 750 metres above Theatre Flat in the Rock Burn, has long been a magnet for transalpine adventurers, including the late Brian Hunt. Though just 10km north of the Routeburn Track, few have heard of it, let alone visited it. Even the Cuthbertsons and

I, who collectively have crossed a score of passes and saddles in the same general area over the years, had never been there - foiled by the weather as much as by distance from Wellington.

his time though, in mid March 2001, the weather forecast looked good for a few days as we eagerly set off up the Routeburn Track and then up the north branch of the Route Burn to North Col. Aided by excellent weather, travel was easy except for the last hour or so over mixed snow and loose rock, where care was required.

From the Col, which is a wind funnel that soon had us donning warm gear, mists parted occasionally to afford us glimpses of Hidden Falls Creek and the middle Hollyford. We dropped almost 200m to stay below the clag and picked up a shelf that arced away to the northeast. The shelf climbed slowly and after about 1km I reckoned we should be about opposite Lake Nerine. Confirming this by GPS we changed direction to due east and clambered up through an area of large boulders to reach the Main Divide dead on course. As we sat there the cloud slowly lifted revealing lake Nerine in all its isolated, ice-scoured and snow-mantled splendour some 100m directly below us. Scrambling down we discovered a magnificent campsite sheltered by huge boulders near the western extremig of the lake. On a clear morning it would afford views across the lake to sunrise behind the Earnslaw massif. I wondered if Hunty had used it, as he was justly famous for great campsites.

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But time was not on our side. We skirted Lake Nerine to an adjacent lakelet, scrambled up onto a rocky spur, and then dropped down to another small lake from where we looked down onto Theatre Flat - surely one of the nicest grassy flats anywhere in the Southern Alps - as it glowed in the afternoon sun. After messing around for a while in a confusing profusion of tussocks, rocky outcrops, says erea rhind ooks rning have g the

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Hugh Middleton bluffs and lakelets, we found ourselves gazing down onto Park Pass, across to Poseidon Peak and the Park Pass Glacier, and beyond to Cow Saddle, Alabaster Pass and the Skippers Range. As it was getting late we camped on the spot, making the most of a calm evening.

Next morning the drizzle started at first light (7am), some 24 hours ahead of the forecast, so we wasted no time quitting camp and dropping down to the Main Divide. This took 2' hours traversing uncomfortably steep snowgrass and scree slopes. By the time we got there it was raining so we continued on past Park Pass and down to the nearby rock bivouac for lunch. We made it to camp on Theatre Flat that afternoon despite rain-swollen sidestreams.

An hour before dawn next day, the wind got up with such ferocity that one of our tent poles snapped. We splinted it with an ice axe until dawn, then wasted no time heading off down-river, only to be thwarted by a large sidestream. That afternoon it bucketed down while we dozed in our damp tent. Later we were intrigued to read that ".. . rescue helicopters have airlifted 65 people to safer areas around Fiordland's Darren Mountains in the past two days because of stormy weather..." (Evening Post, 1 5 March).

By daybreak the rain had stopped and the stream had dropped some 40cm and was easily crossed. Keith and I hopped overSugarloafPass and were out on the Routeburn Track by noon. Lindsay and Sue opted for the longer route out via Lake Sylvan, which they hadn't previously visited, and reached the road later that afternoon.

In confuast to the Fiordland ranges we'd fiaversed a week or so earlier, both the Route Burn and the Rock Burn are stewn with caims and track markers. frequented by people and disturbed by aircraft noise. But the 5km stetch along the DMde from North Col to Park Pass is largely bereft of markers of any description which, coupled with the generally broken and sometimes precipitous nature of the terrain, would render it dangerous to taverse except under favoumble conditions.

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Keith Thompson, Lindsay & Sue Cuthbertson and Hugh Middleton (leader).

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