Old Man

The Old Man Range runs east from the summit of Mt Taylor. At the end of the ridge is Old Man Peak (K35 784 422). It's not easy to get to but at 2221 metres it deserves a prominent position on the list of Canterbury's foothills.

The original plan for the weekend was to climb Mt Harper, up the Waimak in Arthurs Pass NP. A forecast nor'wester had Richard looking for an alternative further east. I suggested Old Man.

I've been there before but I have a very strong need to go back.

A good team had signed up for Harper and we only lost one in the switch to Old Man. We were: Richard Wills, Emma Richardson, Lukas Frei, Gareth Rapley, Andrew Tromans, Jonathan Carr, Max De Lacy, Honora and me.

We drove down to Mt Somers and parked at the Woolshed Creek carpark. The weather was cool and overcast for the walk in to the old Mt Somers Hut.

I hadn't thought I'd get to see the old musterers/trampers hut again. It's being replaced by a 26 bunk tourist quality facility, to be put in this summer.

After a lengthy snack break at the hut we pushed on. The pace increased a bit, following the flat stream bed to the head of Woolshed Creek. The tussock slopes there slowed us down again and we arrived on Peache Saddle all together. The Old Man Range loomed a long way across the valley.

On the ridge Honora and I pointed out the route down and across the Three Creek basin to the hut. There was no holding them back now. Everyone took off....

The party of nine split, taking 4 or 5 different lines sidling the hill and then descending different spurs. For a while it seemed much of a muchness which group was in front. However Honora, who for a while seemed to be trailing the field, used her route-finding know-how to get the jump on everyone and suddenly appeared far ahead in the distance. She was already crossing the plateau while everyone else was still descending the hill. Max took off like a scalded cat, in pursuit. He only managed to catch her 100 metres short of the hut. I got there third and the rest straggled in. Richard led from the rear, coming in 20 minutes behind the 2nd last to the hut. It was classic CTC stuff.

Three Creeks Hut is a basic tidy musterers hut. It doesn't really look that old however its true age is shown by the pages of a 1922 English Daily Mirror  newspaper stuck to its walls.

We settled in for a pleasant evening of the usual domesticity and chat.

The morning plan was to get up at 6.00 am. I was impressed that by 5 past everyone was up and dressed.

Outside, the dawn sky was an ominous dirty pink to the east and the nor'wester swished about the hut.

There were discussions about what time people needed to be away home. This led to 10.00 am being set as the turnaround time.

A bit after 7.00 we headed off. The route crosses the stream from the hut and follows and old 4x4 track. The track zig-zags all over the place and isn't marked on the map. Honora and I knew it well so we were able to take a short cut from the back of the bunch to way out in front. It must have been quite distressing for Max.

He stuck with us until the road stretched away straight and direct up the hill.

The nor'wester gusted increasing strongly as we climbed. My legs were suffering. I've had too many weekends away from the hills in recent weeks. I didn't want to give up on Old Man for myself but started recognising that I wasn't going to be part of any desperation push for the summit.

The whole team bunched up and discussed the options. I said nothing. The majority decided the approaching turn-around time meant the summit was off, today.

Our high point was 1410 metres.

I'm sure some were disappointed.

It was a learning point. I guess we all wished we'd pushed for the summit bid on Saturday. I still have to exorcise the mountain for myself. I'll go back and some of the others might want to finish it off for themselves too.

We walked to a knob at the end of a spur jutting out from the side of the mountain (K36 802 402). It gave us a good look up at Old Man, and the long way back.

We turned for home.

It's different when Honora and I are out by ourselves. Then we continuously adjust our plans and so not getting where we originally set out for is not often an issue. But I get a bit sad when others are along and we don't achieve our goal.

We got a good scree run down from the knob and that perked me up. Lunch was back at the hut.

On our way out, rather than crossing Peache Saddle, we crossed the range further east and found an excellent scree back down into Woolshed Creek. That's definitely got to be the standard return route.

On the way home we stopped at the Railway Tavern in Rakaia for a meal. I'd reccommend that to anyone. It was friendly, a good price, comfortable surroundings and a good basic fare menu that's ideal for the end of a trip in the hills.