By Nathan Cobbald, 02 July 2022
I don't think anything else could have gone wrong on this trip and yet it turned out to be one of my favorites to date.
It all started on an average Saturday morning with a fresh cup of someone missing the ferry and having to catch a last-minute flight to meet us at the airport in Picton and the rest of us milling around for a few hours. We then had a walk in the dark up to Speargrass hut and got there around 10 pm and of course because it was a Saturday the hut was packed, which meant all of us were sleeping on the floor.
The second day started early with a 5:30 am wakeup including everyone else in the process and began our walk up the Speargrass river track after a half-arsed breakfast. a few river crossings later, I got a bit cocky and convinced myself a small root sticking out of the hill was going to be strong enough to hold all my weight. It did not, and I was fully submerged in the not very warm river. All was not lost as the contents of my pack were still dry, so I threw on all my dry thermals and socks so I didn't freeze. Steep hills and warm weather ensued for the remainder of the day until we hit the peak and the weather started to pack in. This meant we couldn't safely make it down Cedric's, so we stayed the night at Angelus and planned to push everything forward a day.
Cedric's route was the next item on the list and for those of you who haven't done it. Don't. unless you have to. Anyway, we get to Sabine and all is well with a plan to huck it all the way up the Sabine river to Blue lake the next day. we got some much-needed rest and got clued in on what the track and hut conditions were from another person in the hut. We did not end up hucking it all the way up to Blue lake. In fact, we made it to West Sabine hut and one of the members of our group had to go home due to them getting sick. The weather also decided to change as we would find out from the mountain radio that we had bought with us, and what we decided on was to do the exact same thing that was done the year prior, but in reverse and with a day trip up to Blue Lake in the plans.
The next morning, it was up bright and early to pack for our day trip up the remainder of the Sabine River and to say goodbye to the two who were leaving. This went off without a hitch and 3 hours later we were looking at what is the clearest lake in the world and another lake that is just over yonder. Two of the reaming group members made their way up there to take a look and myself along with the other stayed at the hut as we were pretty shattered from the previous days. The rest of the day was spent slowly making out way back down to West Sabine for a hearty serving of whatever we were cooking that night and preparing for the next day.
This was probably the biggest day that we had in terms of distance walked and the amount of time it took us. We headed up to Travers saddle from West Sabine at about 7:30 am and what ensued next was 2 hours of walking straight up a mountain until we the bushline and then another hour in the snow to get the top of the saddle. The views? Amazing. The weather? Beautiful. Made it all worth it, albeit a little cold, we set up and had lunch on the top before making our way down the almost vertical "track" down in thigh-deep snow and the occasional ice patch that the crampons would slip on. Then an uneventful wander down to Upper Travers hut for a quick look inside, sign the hut book, and continue onto John Taite hut where we would stay the night. All in all, it was about 9 hours of walking and a great night's sleep after getting the fire so hot we got the chimney red hot.
The Last two days were just spent making our way from John Taite to Coldwater and then Coldwater out to the carpark so there isn't a whole lot to comment on throughout those rainy days other than we took our time as we had no real need to make good time.