Mt Angelus

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Three day, two night tramp complete.

Beautifully clear day makes for a hot hike in to Lake Angelus (4.5 hours) and overnight in Angelus hut surrounded by beauty and peace and exchanging tales with the random collection of hut visitors; 3 English alpine club members from the Bristol area (I have an invite to join their talks when I get back to the Avon area), a Spanish chef from Nelson, 2 retired Kiwis, 3 year-out after national service Israelis, and a small gaggle of French campers.

Day two dawned clear so headed off to the summit of Mt Angelus (6808ft / 2075m). Slow progress on the way up the slidey scree to the crubmly top (2 hours). The summit is mine and the views from the top reach out to the sounds to the north, the Kaikoura ranges to the east, multiple cloudy ranges to the west, and the snowy peaks of the Southern Alps stretching out to the south.

From the summit, three ridges drop away humbly and the southern one tempts the wanderer away for a short ridge run high above Sunset Saddle and the green valley of Hopeless hut. Back to the summit with a smile in my mind I pause to drink in the peace before descending gingerly down the crumbling slopes.

On the way back down the day is a still a wee bit young so the wanderer's feet inch their way up to the ridge about the lake. The wind batters my face as I reach the ridge. Views down to the lush Sabine valley. But the right ankle has been complaining on the way up and the trip is still in its early days so I avoid the scamper around the crumbling ridge. Back to the hut for story-swapping with the alpine club members (they did the summit today too), the spanish chef (who has been tentatively exploring the tracks around the hut), the Israelis, a pair of Aussies that have arrived, and a group of American girls who have come in with their Kiwi guide. The guide has carried up a large canister of gas, a full-sized frying pan and crockery and is cooking up a meal to put the dried tramping foods to shame. She cooks far too much and sniffs at my attempts to boil up some rice by piling pasta, vegetables, and salami onto my plate. Can't be rude, so it's quickly consumed.

Day three dawns cloudy and the wanderer is up early (not much sleep possible what with the endless noise of snoring and people clumsily trying to be quiet while they search for their goods or head for the toilets), as are the Americans and their guide. The guide has convinced the girls that the thing to do is set off before dawn to catch the sunrise on the ridge. Looking out the window, the cloud is dropping, not rising and the wind has died down completely so I don't think any sun will be visible for many an hour to come but best not to burst their bubble. The guide is a bit concerned about finding her way in the dark and then the cloud so the wanderer points out the obvious saddle and describes the obvious path along the ridge. I'll be setting off half an hour after them anyway so I tell the guide to find an excuse to stay still for a bit if she's not sure and I'll catch them up.

After the required caffeine and obligatory muesli, the wanderer heads out into the beautifully misty morning. Humidity is high so everything is wet by the time I reach the ridge but walking through the inside of a cloud is a welcome change from the heat of the past two days. The warden in the hut is recording the number of days since it last rained - 24 now.

I do eventually catch up with the guide and her clients who have had no issue finding the track and the ridge. Brief chat and goodbyes and the wanderer heads off ahead as two of the clients are going rather too slowly for his liking. 3.5 hours later and I'm back at the start. The wee crib (camper van) is still there and in one piece so the wanderer heads north to the sunny seaside of Motueka. The weekend must pass now before the wanderer begins the next big hike up Mt Owen. That should be another three day, two-night hike but gets busy at the weekend due to its proximity to Nelson and its fame via the Mines of Moria in the Peter Jackson films.

So a few day hikes along the Abel Tasman coast will no doubt fill the next few days and Monday morning will find the wanderer at a road end again.

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Comments

[Rob]

Aren't these the same...
Are you sure that you didn't just copy these from the last time :-) It's an elaborate hoax ;-)