It was a fabulous spring day today - 18 degrees and fine. To nice to spend indoors. So I abandoned my indoor chores, packed a lunch and headed down the highway toward Springs Junction to climb Mount Haast. Mount Haast is a prominent triangular peak clearly visible from the highway about 20 minutes from Reefton. The summit is 1,587 metres above sea level. It is a steep but manageable climb. The track winds up a mixed beech forest for about an hour. The vegetation then gradually changes and thins out for 15 minutes until you emerge above the tree line. From here the peak is deceptively close, but still another good hour away. I was grateful to have my trekking poles. The snow was melting in the spring sunshine making it very unstable to walk on.
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