Mount Somers Track.

Winter is here. It has been more than six months since the Cass-Lagoon Saddle trip and once again the impetus for this jaunt has come from Alistair. The core cast remains the same but there are two new additions in the form of Jeff and Andrew. There is also increased complexity in the plot as both Jason and my self cannot complete the entire performance. Jason cannot do an overnighter due to some constraint imposed by one of his children’s birthday party. Meanwhile I cannot make the first act due to coaching duties in the intense cauldron of Mainland Football’s 11th grade Junior competition.

Due to my absence from the first part of the trip all words up until the rendezvous of the main party with myself form a work of fiction.











The main party left Jason’s house at approximately 0830. I can confirm this because of the cell phone call from Richard asking if I am definitely going to come. At the time I was pumping up footballs and deep in contemplation of the merits of 4-4-2 versus 4-3-3.
After the car shuttle, the team are all pent up and ready to go at Sharplin Falls car park. From the car park the route follows the track over the bridge and through beech forest to Duke Knob (739 m). This section is quite demanding, involving a steep climb. Reports from Andrew indicate that there were some very high steps required in muddy terrain. These were not his exact words. By all accounts at this point Jeff was happily dreaming about the contents of his pack. On from Duke Knob the track follows Bowyers Stream eventually crossing the bridge to the true right bank and on up to Pinnacles Hut.
Pinnacles Hut is named after the rock formations on the northern face of Mt Somers, formed by the cooling of very hot sticky lava flows some 90 million years ago. Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye to Jason who was making the return trip to Sharplin Falls car park. Onwards and upwards for the rest.
The track from the hut follows the markers through tussock and sub-alpine scrub up to Mt Somers saddle (1170 m). It is a steady climb to the saddle, which is about midway along the track. The views from the saddle are a superb vista of the Taylor and Old Man ranges.








Meanwhile back at Woolshed Creek after a tense 2-1 win over Woolston Technical and a hasty drive from Christchurch to Mount Somers I was busy trying to make my pack as heavy as possible. This wasn’t really intentional but I was feeling a bit guilty for taking the ‘soft’ option so had brought a fair amount of camera gear. I then discovered that I had my iPod in the glove box so I had to carry that too. The current rate of break ins in remote car parks is sad but real. The sign said 3hrs to Woolshed Creek hut. The intentions book said that a party of 14 scouts were ahead of me.

It’s a beautiful walk up the steep incline to the disused mine workings.


















The gusty NW wind makes taking photos tricky. It’s worth the effort as the light is quite nice.















Despite a lot of fiddling about with camera and tripod the walk to the hut is only 1.5 hours. There seems to be a bit of an error here on the signed 3hours, DOC times are normally quite realistic.
The hut is a serious palace.

Brand new, but looking a bit full with scouts everywhere. I grabbed a bunk then set off to meet the guys coming the other way. After crossing Woolshed Creek and Morgan Stream I came across a sign indicating a short side-trip down to the creek to view some interesting water carved rock features referred to as 'caves'. Twenty minutes later I spotted some people descending the valley from the saddle.
Meeting another group who have had a much tougher day than your self is quite odd. The boys didn’t seem too talkative and had clearly had a hard day. They were definitely happy to learn that the hut was only 20 minutes away but not so happy to hear that it was full of young lads!!

We managed to grab the whole of a top bunk to ourselves and began the serious task of feeding and rehydration. The group of scouts looked suitably impressed as Jeff pulled out four cans of Bourbon and Coke.

What really impressed them though was the second pack of four cans that he subsequently removed from his pack. Richard seemed to be carrying about 40kgs and proceeded to disgorge half the contents of a supermarket from his pack. Al had insisted on fresh produce only for the meal and Richard had obliged. The only slight snag was that the fresh chicken was frozen solid!! Al quite rightly pointed out that seeing that it was already dark (at 5:30pm) there wasn’t much else to do but cook for the next few hours. Fair point really.

A wee pasta starter was served by myself before Al and Richard got into the serious culinary effort.

Meanwhile Jeff and Andrew were re-hydrating and I was fiddling around with camera and flash.

Several cans of Carlsberg later the main course of satay chicken was served.

Bedtime came early at 9pm after all the beverages were consumed. Richard, Andrew and I ended up sleeping in the kitchen as the bunk rooms were incredibly hot.

Morning brought fine but cooler weather, Richard took the opportunity to wear a hat that he is not allowed to wear at home.














After several brews we took the time to back track and explore the water caves off the side of the main track.

It’s an interesting feature but not terribly spectacular.

The choice of routes back to the car was discussed and Jeff and Andrew were keen on the normal route via the miners track.

Richard, Al and myself were keen to take the Bus Stop Overhang route. This route crosses a great swing bridge then climbs steeply onto the shoulder of Mount Somers before traversing to the top of the Rhyolite Ridge track which descends steeply to the car park. This route took us about 2.5 hours, boggy in places but with superb views. Jeff and Andrew had not been waiting long. We finished off the weekend with a beer in the blue pub at Methven.