On Monday (14 Sep) I should have been ski touring but the previous renter of the kit I was to use failed to return it to the shop! As it turned out the weather was not good that day so things worked out OK. Arriving late morning on Tuesday the snow was still rather firm and cover not great but Andy and I managed a short tour to a nearby peak (see photo), though we both need to put into use our self-arrest technique when traversing a steep icy slope (no harscheisen!)
Later in the week I flew north to Nelson where I met up with Richard and John, a friend of his, for a four day tramp in the Nelson lakes area. Friday was grey and increasingly damp for our quite lengthy walk in as far as the Angelus Hut. Richard had gone ahead and was going to come back and help John with his pack but in the end John turned back and went to a different hut. By now it was too late for Richard and myself to do this! We got to the hut, which was not easy to find in the mist with dusk approaching, rather wet and cold but got the stove going well and got all our kit dried out overnight.
The next day provided stunning weather and the two of us made an early ascent of Angelus peak (seen in the background of other photo, hut in foreground). The snow was well frozen and perfect for cramponing. After this Richard went in search of John and/or a mobile signal but the news eventually arrived via another tramper that all was well. This night, being Saturday, the hut was relatively busy with a dozen or so peole there. (The full story of John's journey is far to long to tell here.)
Sunday was another sunny day and we returned to near our starting point via a superb ridge walk; mostl on snow but some rocky patches to blunt the crampons. We finally met up with John again for the last night and had a gentle day on Monday before returning to Auckland.
The Auckland weather has not been so good for the last few days so it's been museum and wine tasting before heading north tomorrow.
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