Keen to get into the hills, a trip to Mt French seemed the best of several proposed options. Mt French sits just across the Bonar Glacier from Mt Aspiring and I had heard the views were well worth the effort to climb it. Avalanche and snow conditions were supposedly good and the weather would supposedly holdout for the weekend. The problem was I had done 70% of the hike multiple times before including a several hour slog up the West Matukituki River Valley, mostly on flattish four wheel drive tracks. This was remedied by bringing mountain bikes which would drastically cut the hiking time and make the trip far more enjoyable.A late night drive got us to Raspberry Flat about midnight. We set off on a cloudy but warm morning. After crossing the first couple fences, I instantly appreciated riding a bike. We made great time up the valley. At Aspiring Hut we were virtually assaulted by a rude hut warden. A most unpleasant person, she seemed to get great joy out of telling us now worsening weather forecast, taking down any personal information she could get her hands on and generally telling us how she required things to be done.
We both left Aspiring Hut as soon as possible, feeling like out wilderness experience was vastly degraded by this vile woman. At least it gave us something to talk about for the next hour or so of walking? We had lunch on Shovel Flat and a brief rest after crossing the icy cold Matukituki River just above Gloomy Gorge.
We then climbed the steep but good trail up French Ridge, as views of Liverpool Hut, Mt Barff, the Maud Francis Glacier and the head of the West Matukituki valley gradually improved. We arrived at the hut by mid afternoon. Quickly we found out snow conditions were on the mushy side of unpleasant and did not see much point continuing up the hill for the day. Several hours were spent relaxing in the sun sheltered from the wind behind rocks, amused by the antics of a cheeky kea determined to make off with shiny mountaineering gear. It particularly liked to watch activities at the hut from a tall rock cairn nearby- an appropriate perch for the bird. On a snowy slope near the hut we spent a bit of time practicing self-arrests and inevitably sliding.
We awoke early to high winds and developing weather. We both agreed Mt French was not a great option so went back to sleep for a couple hours. Everyone else in the hut was also making a mass exodus down the valley due to the forecast. The entire hike down the valley felt like we were imminently being chased by angry black clouds, but they mostly stayed near the divide. The bike ride back to the car turned out to be the highlight of the trip for me. Between the almost gale tailwind and slight downhill, we made it back to the car in about a half hour without really trying that hard.
With a bit of the day left after our aborted plans, we biked some of the mountain bike trails near Wanaka and went for a short walk along the Clutha River near Alexandra. Thanks to Lara.
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