Te Araroa #5 Arthur’s Pass to St. Arnaud

After a few days exploring Christchurch we started back on trail near Arthur’s Pass. We got dropped off by an Intercity bus (very conveniently), walked across the road and tramped up to Goat Pass. This involved (as usual) following rivers up to the height of land. The footpath was a combination of river rocks, flat soil sections, and some gnarly woods trails that consisted of big step-ups and drop offs amongst a web of tree roots and rocks…oh and of course chunks of slimy mud sinks. All of which are the norm on the TA!

Once at the top, we decided to put in another few hours that day and descend to Deception river below. If we had known what we were getting into would we have done this?? The descent is called “Dr. SEUSS GULLY” and you move your way down a small, bouldery creek with running water and dropoff waterfalls. There is no soil edge on this part of the trail just boulder rocks in a sharp decline. Being short legged I often had to sit down on one boulder while I reached my leg as long as possible to find a lower boulder to shift my weight to without toppling over. Fortunately, the rocks were not slippery. This short stretch of distance took us 1.5 hrs. to manage. Despite the late afternoon sun, my sense of humour vanished with the tedious nature of careful foot placements. It was only after we arrived at our nesting place for the night that we could laugh at how ridiculous that adventure was. We got Seussed!!

After getting lost and found on cow paths, we moved along the Taramakau river system to a campsite near Kiwi Hut. This area is renowned for sandflies and certainly lived up to its reputation! Our happy chosen spot became invaded with these nasty pests and we soon found ourselves trapped inside our tent for hours. We didn’t wash our dishes, brush our teeth or go pee until it turned dark and the cold had shut down their desire to hunt us. The saving grace was hearing the call of Kiwi birds at dawn and dusk.

Many areas in NZ are young landscapes- always changing. Rockslides and erosion are common causing the trail to be altered after most rainfalls. It is unnerving hiking as your next footstep could slide out from under you, or you may be below loose material. An explanation of the steep sided nature and material composition of this terrain came from a Kiwi lodge owner. He explained that the glaciers built up the landforms from glacial till (small rocks and sand) which are easily eroded and he furthered that in some areas the ice melted away quickly causing the creation of steep sided mountains.

This Harper’s Pass is a historic cattle crossing. Although the photos don’t capture the steepness of this trail,  cowboys actually moved hundreds of fat wild cows over this route! Wow!!

We went to Hanmer Springs to enjoy their commercial hot pools and cold plunge for a rest day before returning to hike from Boyle River. Some amazing views awaited us!

This track began with kms of well tended, wooded trail up Anne Pass  then beautifully opened up into great grassy plains. We are always happier in the expansive open country and so we felt free here. Joy was in our hearts as we hiked in the sunny, big valley views!

Most passes or climbs have a character to themselves and this one is no different. This is what Jobie called a “Doozie”. The top of the climb included 100m of straight steep rocks then 100m of rock scramble where you ditch your poles and use both hands and feet to leverage your way up. Fortunately, the steep dropoffs weren’t immediately at the trail edge! I would not have wanted to do this in the snow from last week!

Both Constance Lake and Blue Lake are spiritually significant to the Maori and we are asked to stay away and not to drink or swim in the waters.

The next 2 passes are cloudy experiences. Travers was an uphill slog for several hours with no views until the top. Marvelously the skies broke open – we were so lucky!

This is one of our favourite huts yet. There is a porch, a view, bird songs, and few sandflies! We had a lunchtime break to ourselves for an hour (very unusual) here.

Our last pass in this section is the Sunset Saddle but it clouded in tight and, being a route not a trail…there were scattered cairns to follow.  With low visibility this became difficult. The steep loose scree added a level of difficulty. We came across a group of hikers who were off trail. Collectively we managed together to find the way.

We have light packs at this point- no food. However, we are missing the potential views from this spectacular ridge walk. Oh well, can’t have everything. The village of St Arnaud is waiting for us!