I spent a nice weekend hiking up the West Matukituki Valley to do a classic tramp to Cascade Saddle, a trip I have wanted to do for ages. The trip made for a long weekend with the short days, but was still manageable. Apart from marshy paddock lands, with a little care the whole trip could be done with dry boots, which I thought was quite gentlemanly. The route is a couple hours walk up the river flats of the Matukituki valley before turning to steeply ascend the side of the glacial valley, occasionally clinging to tree roots and then tussock. Eventually bushline is reached which is really just over halfway in terms of elevation. This route climbs 1400m vertically in less than 3km to panoramic views over valley, saddle, glacier and mountain. Getting to the saddle then requires crossing an interesting glacial hanging valley and beautiful hummocky glacial topography dented with frozen tarns. En route we followed a stream to where it leaps hundreds of meters off the cliff and found an amazing hanging ledge with cliffs all around and spectacular views. Just before dusk we reached the saddle and found a great campsite sheltered from the wind only about 10m from the edge of the cliff with a convenient half-frozen tarn nearby. It was a beautifully sunny weekend, but weather ill-suited for photography.
Cascade Saddle, Dart Glacier & Mt. Aspiring
Probably one of the most unusual views of Mt. Aspiring
1 comment:
lovely photographs, as always.
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