Date: November 3, 2024
Location: Takitimu Mountains, Southland, New Zealand
Total Trip Distance: 10.53 mi / 16.94 km
Total Elevation Gain: 5,233 ft / 1,595 m
Trip Duration: 7 hours 37 min
Team: Solo
Field Notes: Climb to Princhester saddle and find a rough climbers trail behind a fallen log. Navigate through bush, doing your best to follow the rough trail that breaks above the bush line at 1,000 meters. Head straight uphill to Point 1221. From here, take the obvious ridge up and over Point 1424 then on to the summit of Clare Peak. There is good camping in the basins below Clare Peak.
Rating: Tramping, off trail
It is ten thirty by the time I start the day. It is amazing how fast the seasons change. Now there is so much light. I thought time would slow down when I took a long sabbatical from work. It hasn’t.
It’s a beautiful spring day. The sun is shining and the sand flies are hiding. Young lambs follow their mothers through the Southland pastures and flowers burst into bloom.
I take the rugged trail north towards Princhester Saddle. A never ending process of up and down, roots and rocks, and other obstacles keeps travel slow. These types of tracks always cause internal friction because the climber wants to move fluidly but the terrain says otherwise. So there is a feeling of force rather than flow.
At Princhester Saddle I head West following somewhat of a trail. In a section of thick ferns I lose it and curse out loud repeatedly as I smash through snow covered bush. The wind is up, earlier than forecasted, and it is blowing like it is trying to prove a point. It is a cold spring day and my lower body is soaked from the snow covered forest.
Above bush line I immediately thrown on mittens and a down jacket. I am very cold and I eat on the move. Thinking I am through the worst, I am proven wrong. Steep scree slopes for three hundred meters lead up to the ridge.
On the tops now, the wind doesn’t allow me to think and I keep moving. I can see the summit of Clare Peak and it looks painfully far away. The last time I was in the Takitimus was much more relaxing. Some days in the hills are romantic. Today, the Takitimus seem bleak and uninspiring. Multiple times I consider turning around.
I follow the ridge, post holing at times or navigating icy rocks. At Point 1424 I take out my ice axe. Down climbing ice covered rock is not on the menu today so I decide to bypass them. I drop down five meters and climb across the side of the mountain, stabbing my ice axe into the tussock while kicking steps into the snow. A slip here would be very bad.
Safely across I am on my way now and I smile for the first time since leaving the car. It is a strangely quiet scene. The wind comes in blasts and then goes silent. There are no birds, no wildlife. There is no one around. The surrounding mountains look wind battered. Four hours since leaving the car I stand on the summit and sit down. Besides putting on my jacket, it’s the first break I’ve taken the whole day.
I look out across the mountain and feel nothing. The entire day has felt like force instead of flow, frustration instead of fun. And it is supposed to be fun - otherwise, what are you doing? This is what I love about the mountains. They are the ultimate teacher, the ultimate master of truth. It will show you exactly where you are at, among many other things.
Happy days...
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