2009 Expedition: The Cascade Saddle Route

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December 16, 2009

This morning, after doing the things we had planned to do yesterday, but had blown off in favor of hot-tubbing instead, we set to work about figuring out how to get up the road into the Matukituki Valley to start the next track. Hitchhiking was our preference, but seemed unlikely since this was another 50km dead-end dirt road leading deep into the mountains. We settled on paying a German girl from the hostel two thirds of what it would have cost us to pay a tramper shuttle company. She agreed, so we packed up and left.
The road was pretty rough, and when we weren’t waiting for cows and sheep to get out of the way, we were crashing through streams that crossed the road at a depth of at least a foot. The splashing through streams and sounds of rocks banging against the car’s undercarriage didn’t seem to bother our driver. It was a rental car, so why would she care? And that’s why you should never buy a used car that has formerly been a rental car, especially in New Zealand.
Once on the trail, it was a gentle walk up the valley to the Aspiring Hut. The valley is still used for cattle grazing and two cows in particular seemed to be very interested in us when we stopped for a trail mix break. No amount of yelling could deter them from trying to get some of what we were eating. So we closed up the bag and left, leaving the cows to be disappointedly eating plain grass instead.
Tonight we’re two of only five people in a hut that can sleep up to 40. Our plans are to go over the Cascade Saddle into the Dart Valley tomorrow, but we’ve been told that no one has done it yet this year without ice axes and crampons. We hope to be the first then.

December 17, 2009

Despite being told numerous times by several Department of Conservation employees over the past week that the route over Cascade Saddle between the Matukituki and Dart Valleys was impassible due to snow and ice, that route is exactly what we intended to do. So we set off from the hut around 9am with bright sunshine as our only good omen.
The climb was steep, 4500 feet up the snowgrass covered mountainside. This type of vegetation becomes extremely slippery even when slightly wet. Today was dry, so that was also on our side. About 900 feet from the top we began to encounter snow and avalanche chutes. These proved to be very difficult to traverse. The sun had made the top few inches of snow soft enough for us to kick foot-holes into, so we used this process to move slowly across the snow. The angle of many of these snow chutes was about 60 degrees, and they mostly dropped into nothingness below the cliffs that they clung to. I must say, being in this place, clinging to the snow and occasional tuft of snowgrass, was one of the most dangerous places I’ve ever found myself in. A wrong step would certainly lead to sliding down the snow. And sliding down the snow would certainly lead to a long drop to what would most likely be a quick death. This realization was very clear to both of us, but by a certain point we were far enough through that going back would have been just as dangerous. So we just kept climbing. Adrenaline was now the fuel I was running on, and with it I felt none of the aches and pains that have been plaguing me lately. The only thought in my mind was “hold on. Do not lose your footing.”
After an hour of this, we came over the last bit of snow and found ourselves at the metal pylon that signifies the top of the pass. As the physical tension that had been constant for the past hour released, I let out a yell of joy, but could have just as easily cried from happiness. We had made it up. The most dangerous part was over.
From there, we descended into the next valley, much less steep and contained less snow due to the direction it faces. We arrived at the actual Cascade Saddle, 1000 feet lower than the pylon, and took in the incredible views that we had worked so hard for. It was truly spectacular.
Then we walked down the Dart Valley, paralleling the Dart Glacier for the first few miles. The glacier was as impressive as it was massive, and as we walked we could hear and see chunks of ice tumbling off ice shelves from far above. This was one of the coolest places I’ve seen.
Past the glacier, we opted to follow the river out. This was mostly a good call except when we came to the river flats where silt sediment had accumulated. Undetectable until you stepped on it, the pockets were very deep and formed a quicksand-like substance. One step had me in it up to my knees and would have sucked me in farther had I not gone on all fours and backtracked after extricating my legs with much trouble. Going further, I’m sure the quicksand would have been deep enough to swallow a whole person. I didn’t want to confirm this thought, so we went around. I had no intentions of surviving climbing the saddle only to drown in quicksand.
After two more hours down the river, we arrived at the Dart Hut. Very happy to be here, I began to reflect on the day. I asked the hut ranger if anyone had been over our route yet this year without all the winter mountaineering equipment. He said very seriously, “No. You are definitely the first.”
Should we have gone over that route with that much snow still there? Certainly not. Was it awesome though? Of course. Would I do it again knowing what I know now? Probably. It was scary, terrifying at moments, but it sure felt good to be alive when it was all over.

December 18, 2009

The timing of our traverse over Cascade Saddle was perfect, since today brought heavy rain to the area. We made today a rest day, and it still turned out to be an interesting and great day.
The shirtless yoga guy we met on the Caples Track just so happened to be at this hut, so we had a high level of annoyance to deal with. But after we ignored the idiotic things he said long enough, he tended to leave us alone.
The hut ranger turned out to be the coolest DoC employee I’ve ever come across. He invited a couple of us into his private warden’s quarters to see his small collection of books for the purpose of trading a few with us, but ended up sharing some of his home-brewed beer as well.
After an afternoon of lounging around the hut dry from the rain, we were invited back to the ranger’s cabin for more beer, wine, and freshly baked lemon crème pie. These are all luxuries you never would expect to find way out here in the bush, but it was a great surprise to spend the day like this. Plus, the ranger, Blair, has a wealth of knowledge of New Zealand backcountry, and I feel that my own knowledge grows greatly with everyone like him that I meet. Today will end up being one of those truly memorable days from this trip.

December 19, 2009

The track for today followed the Dart Valley downward through a wide valley filled with large grassy flats. We stayed along the true left of the river the whole way, only having to cross about a dozen side streams along the way. The grade was downhill, but gradual. Walking like this allows a person to focus less on placing each step correctly, and lets your mind wander more. It’s a nice way to walk occasionally, and it was good to enjoy the sunshine and the wind moving through the knee-high grass.
After five hours of what seemed like more of a leisurely stroll than a serious tramp, we arrived at Daley’s Flat Hut. This is the last hut on this track and tomorrow we’ll be getting out of the backcountry and temporarily back into town to re-supply for the next track. Time out here seems to be going by very quickly.

December 20, 2009

We hiked the remaining four hours down the Dart Valley to the road end where we waited for the shuttle to come at 2pm. About an hour into today’s hiking, we came across a jet boat that takes tourists for rides up the river. The driver offered to take us out, but when he said he would charge us $200 we politely declined and walked out instead.
Back in the town of Glenorchy, we still had to hitch the hour to Queenstown. It took two rides to get there. And fortunately, one of the drivers is going through to Mount Cook tomorrow (where we want to go next) and he offered to take us there when he leaves Queenstown tomorrow morning. That makes getting there pretty easy for us; hopefully he doesn’t forget about us between now and then.
In Queenstown, we went about sorting out a few things before meeting up with a couple of girls we had met on this last track, Kristina and Rotem. We’re all heading in different directions tomorrow so it will be good to spend a little more time with our tramping friends before saying goodbye.

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