Mt Robert, Mt Angelus and Speargrass

Mt Robert, Mt Angelus and Speargrass Trip Plan: Thursday night – Mt Robert car park to Bushline Hut via Paddy’s track. Friday – to Angelus Hut Saturday – day trip up Mt Angelus Sunday – down to Speargrass Hut Monday – out via the Valley to Kerr Bay As typical for Easter the weather wasn’t looking too hot and indeed the Lynx was cancelled. So a sailing contingent of 900 was on the Interislander, which of course caused a little lateness – and I got to look anxiously Well arriving at Mt Robert car park at midnight it actually wasn’t raining! It was quite windy though, and thinking ahead along Paddy’s Track I thought it should be fine to head on up to Bushline Hut. I mean we weren’t going onto the windy Robert Ridge after all …….

So off we headed, a row of dancing dots wandering along the track in quiet contentment. Till half way…...

Walking forward I was suddenly stopped by a brute force. Standing up wasn’t possible so we sat down and clung to the bank. Yep – we had discovered a windy point ……. mmm ..…. delegation. Who was crazy enough to go on a bit further and check it out? – Jack was. Off he went and came back advising that the extreme winds were for about 200 metres and then lessened off.

Decision time. Forward or back? Forward of course. So with the aid of each other we linked two by two Hinapouri Tarns Sylvia Jorgensen Tramping & Mountaineering 2003 Sylvia Jorgensen at the weather. What was it going to do?

and crawled up that section of the track, and survived – well almost! Unfortunately Katy’s fleece didn’t and neither did Deborah’s mitt. But the reward was the brilliant moonlight making the wander up the rest of the hill spectacular. 2am in the morning and we arrived at, a thankfully empty, Bushline Hut, where we drank hot drinks and fell into bed.

The weather the next day was again the dominant feature. Not only was the wind still showing off its strength, but snow had decided to join in the fun too. So after all getting ready to go, we decided to stay put instead. The day was filled with a wander up the track later that afternoon and an unfruitful search back down at the windy point for Katy’s jacket. We also got to witness with growing dismay, numerous people arriving at the hut in the afternoon. Out came the tents and those who slept in them made the right decision. Unlike me, who spent the night in the hut with a screaming 2 year old and baby (not recommended)!

Enjoying a sunny day on the tops Sylvia Jorgensen After this adventurous start the rest of the trip was brilliant. Saturday dawned bright and clear with minor wind so we wandered along the Robert ridge (me clicking away furiously on my camera) and lunched at Angelus hut before wandering up Mt Angelus in the afternoon (deciding to go via a not so steep way on the way down). The scenery was superb. I had grown up in this area but the memories did not do justice to the magnificence of the views.

Again a superbly full hut but most of us tented. The mad man and Jack decided to try freezing themselves in the lake with a quick skinny dip – yes we tried to take photos but the camera was too cold!

Easter Sunday arrived, as did the Easter eggs. Oh, no – I had forgotten to allocate them out in the food allocation – so no Easter eggs after all. But a beautiful morning it was. The sensible ones among us relaxed for the morning, basking in the sunshine, unwilling to leave the spectacular setting, whereas the madcap group of Nicole, Katy, Jonathan, Catherine, Deborah and Dave decided to go the long way around via Mt Cedric and Sabine Hut.

Our relaxed group of 8 finally left for Speargrass Hut at noon (but we did manage to stop for lunch half an hour later). After the 3 ½ hour trek down the poled Tramping & Mountaineering 2003 route from Angelus we arrived at Speargrass (in spite of my misguided attempts to help Tracey through a bog – but hey mud is good for the complexion!), pitched our tents and waited for the others.

Where are the others? Ah ha, 2 arrived – just in time for tea. Just when we had given up expecting them the final 4 arrived at 8pm. Their 10-hour day had extended out a little.

By the way – just as a side note – if someone leaves Speargrass hut and closes the door behind them, you can quite successfully become locked inside. But after a bit of banging someone usually comes along to let you out… Our final day was a wander through the beautiful forests of Speargrass valley and around the lake to Kerr Bay – a very nice walk. With a beer and steak at the Toot ‘n’ Whistle, the trip was complete and yes we all survived (even if the one Easter egg that we had to share amongst us didn’t).

Punters: Tracey Wilkinson; Andrew Ledbrooke; Dave Barker; Deborah Wilson; Stu Powell; Man Tsang; Tina Chong; Katy Jones; Jack Stanton; Jonathan Dilley; Siobhan Isles; Catherine Gillum; Nicole Lewis; Sylvia Jorgensen.