The plan for this Easter’s trans-alpine adventure was to enter the Dobson via Bush Stream, slug it up to Barron Saddle Hut (bagging lots of Dobson Valley huts en route), and then pop out via Mueller (for an easy hut bag). If we pulled this off, it would definitely be worth a Vertigo mention. But how to write up a trip where the most alpine we got was bumping into Don French at Unwin Hut? Climbing with Don was Scott Taylor, my AIC ‘08 instructor. “Going to Mueller Hut, Lorraine?” No Scott, I’m going on a real mission. Naturally, three hours later I found myself on the way to Mueller Hut, along with the tourists in their bare chests and jandals. In light of the forecast and snow conditions, we had decided to have a crack at doing our trip in reverse, camping on the Annette Plateau that night, then making our way to Barron Saddle thereafter. However, our enthusiasm faded with the thigh deep powder we observed from the (welltrodden) track. We decided to stop at Mueller to see if the snowpack would freeze a little overnight. Fiona and I were pretty excited to be camping in the snow for the first time and, consequentially, spent a lot of the night wide awake and giggling, to the dismay of certain people attempting to bivvy nearby… Fiona demonstrating the snow conditions that deterred us from reaching Barron Saddle Hut. At about 3am the wind suddenly hit the tent. Some people might have considered this a cue to either a) take the tent down and retreat to the hut, or b) build an igloo. We took option c) which was to giggle some more and take a video of the tent imploding. Still, the tent managed to persevere until about 7am the next morning, when Fiona became airborne while I found myself flat on my back, with a tent on top of me. Lesson learned, we decided to retreat to the Visitor Centre, with the weather closing in behind us. Little did we know that we were about to commence the biggest piking expedition of our alpine careers. We had already lost Benj to his wife (who was doing her own trip in the area). Soon after we lost our reputations, as word of our alpine piking began to spread. Heading back down, Fiona and I spoke to someone about doing the Rees-Dart. However, Richard looked a bit sick at the idea of doing a near Great Walk and we ended up heading into the Temple Valley (persisting with our delusions of alpine grandeur). The plan was to head up the unnamed pass between the South and North Temple Cols and then down to bag Huxley Biv. A devout backcountry comfort seeker, I was very concerned that everyone else was thinking it would be fun to do a multi-day mission, with forecast bad weather, in my 1.5 person tent! Fiona taking in the sunrise on the Lindis Pass near our bivvy spot. That night we attempted to bivvy outside (another first for me), piking at 4am when the rain arrived. In fact, with the bad weather came a major episode of multi-dimensional piking, as we decide to head out via North Temple Col to do some hut bagging in the Hopkins. When Fiona and I got to the top of the pass, however, Richard came back toward us looking very worried, “This is serious country guys!” To prove it, he started navigating down the bluffs ahead of us, bypassing the corner scree gut that grandparents and babies normally take when they are heading down the pass. I was pretty cold in my thin icebreaker and soaked through jacket, and had spent about four hours debating whether the five clean, dry thermal tops in my pack would be better relocated onto my body. I was saved from making a tough call by the decision to head back down the way we came. This is actually good news as it meant we got to sleep at South Temple Hut (on some scales you get extra hut bagging points if you sleep in the hut…). We spent most of the next day walking out, distracted by scree slope, bouldering, and photo shoot diversions. With my newfound skills acquired from Summer Rock 09, I soloed “Lorraine’s Longjohns” on the way. Once out, we drove to the Hopkins…but with the prospect of only bagging one hut before nightfall, we don’t have the mental fortitude to get out of the car. Our decent into decadence is complete when, as an alternative ‘tramping’ mission, we drive to the Lindis Pass and bivvy out on a little hill. The sunrise the next morning gave us the most epic photos of our trip. However, Richard is a broken man and, last I heard, he has put away his ice tools and taken up Great Walks instead. The next day we met up with Benj and Eleanor, who we found had put us to shame with a visit to Sefton Biv and a real peak under their belts. We all find ourselves heading back to Christchurch, a fun, although somewhat unepic, trip in the bag. To make ourselves feel better, we add in a sneaky bag of Baikie hut on the way. Trip participants: Richard Davies, Lorraine Johns (Wellington section), Fiona Morrison (TTC), Ben Ainsworth (freelance). Lorraine Johns
