Mount Binser.

The 14th of December had been in the diaries of everyone concerned for about two months. It is actually very impressive that a boys day out could be pulled off so close to Christmas, with all the usual activities that are on the go. What was even more impressive was that the weather forecast was very good.














This particular tramp was my idea as I'd looked at Mount Binser several years ago while biking up the Poulter river valley and thought the views from the summit must be superb. This could bring blame or praise depending on how the day panned out.
We left town at 0700, with myself Jason, Alistair and Richard, Alistair was so keen we found him halfway down Bowenvale Avenue before we got to his house. Just warming up. The pleasant 90 minute drive took us to just beyond Mt. White bridge and the DOC sign indicating the track to Binser Saddle (see map above). A quick sort out and application of DEET saw us under way. The weather was warm, still and overcast. Perfect tramping conditions.




















The walk to the saddle took 90 minutes at a steady pace, it was actually a bit steeper than I expected from looking at the map.




















From the saddle about 500m of bush bashing was required to emerge onto the open hillside. No route was obvious and the bush was very dense in places. There was actually a very nice clearing on the sadlle which would make a nice campsite with water available nearby.












The hillside above was really quite steep and after a lunch stop it was a fairly gruelling couple of hours up to the first peak at 1753m. Al was suffering a wee bit on this section (something about an overdose of Tiger beer two nights before) but kept going well. Richard as usual was bounding ahead untroubled by the gradient. Jason did a great job of providing moral support for Al.












A brief stop for food and water and we were off along the ridge towards the next peak at 1831m. The ridge looked very 'interesting' but proved to be fine. Steep drops to the West and fractured rock would make it unpleasant in a strong wind.




















This section was negotiated in about 45 minutes and was very reminiscent of Scotland.












From the top of the peak at 1831m we could see the summit of Mount Binser and also the car a long way below. maybe we should start talking in feet as Mount Binser is over 6000 feet.




















There were also a couple of remaining snow patches on the next section.




















Al may have been slightly hypoxic at this point as he started waving his arms around and making strange finger signals.




















One thing that is really great on a day trip is the small pack that you have to shoulder. The final grunt up to the summit of Mount Binser (1860m) really made my legs hurt. Richard refused to stop so I just managed to stay with him in a completely non competitive way.








The 360 degree views from this summit are amazing. I took some panaoramas which I will post on my Zenfolio site (http://petedawson.zenfolio.com/ ) as the blog format does not work with them.








Three handsome chaps!!!

The descent down the SW ridge looked straightforward but it is a continuous 1200m steep down. My quads were still sore on the following Thursday. As we started the descent I asked Jason and Richard to hurry so I could get a shot of Al without their upper bodies only in the shot.












Jason commented in his own way on my request that he get out of the photo. (_!_) to you too mate :-)












Arrival at the Mt. White road still left us with a 4km walk and jog along the road. That made it an 8.5 hour day. A beer and steak and chips in the Springfield pub rounded it off nicely.