The Tramping Report

Woolshed Creek Hut in winter

Tramping to Woolshed Creek Hut is a very different experience in winter

The weather forecast was for snow right out onto the plains on Saturday night and Sunday. That limited the options for tramping to the front of the foothills. The Mount Somers area fits that requirement. And I hadn't been to Woolshed Creek Hut for two years so it was easily decided.

Besides, I was keen to see how the new hut was settling in, and also it's always an attraction to me to be in the hills during a big snowfall.

We headed out of Christchurch Saturday afternoon for the drive down and arrived at the Woolshed Creek carpark about 4.00 pm. The final few kms was through snow.

Honora headed off as soon as she was ready to go. I was almost ready to follow when a car came along the track. It was a young couple just coming in for a look. It was as well I was still there as they weren't able to turn their car around with its town tyres. After helping them I was half an hour behind Honora. But that was ok as we'd walked to this hut many times before, and in the dark.

Snow in the trees on the track to Woolshed Creek

The snow was a few centimetres deep on the ground. In places the trees also were still laden with snow from the last fall. Branches hung interlaced from each side and I took care not to dislodge snow onto me as I crouched by underneath. It was chilly already and I didn't want to add to it.

Above the bushline the snow was deeper, as much as half way to my knees. But I was wearing my plastic climbing boots so my feet kept toasty warm.

The last light, and only halfway to Woolshed Creek Hut

The last light faded at 5.30 pm. I was still 30-40 minutes from the hut. The snow made for slower travel than usual. I did have two torches and spare batteries so it wasn't an issue. But I diverted from the walking track to the 4x4 'Burma Road' for the easier and more direct travel.

I arrived at the hut just after 6.00 pm. Honora had expected me to catch her along the way so she was concerned at my non-appearance. I hadn't thought to switch on my UHF radio when I crested the last hill before the hut and let her know I was on my way. It was something to learn from.

Woolshed Creek is a very large hut. It has 26 mattresses on platform bunks, in two separate bunkrooms. The common room is cavernous compared to most tramping huts. In fact it's so large it doen't feel like a hut at all to me. But on the plus side it is very well insulated and double-glazed so once the fire was lit it warmed up quickly. And it was great having the hut to ourselves.

In the morning it was snowing gently with no wind, and it didn't even seem very cold. We didn't have anything planned for the day other than the easy walk out so we just had a lazy morning around the hut.

Woolshed Creek Hut and resident snowman

The Mount Somers Walkway Society deserve far more recognition for the work they've put in over many years to develop the tramping facilities around this mountain. This hut may have been built by DoC but it would never have happened if it wasn't for their efforts.

I probably won't get to stay in it very often but I do look forward to more weekends, in winter or when the weather's so bad as to keep the crowds away

We headed off at 11.30 and were out at the car park by 1.30 pm. The snow that was falling when we left the hut turned to rain before we were out. The ground was awash with snow-melt water and the streams were rising rapidly

It was an ideal way to spend the weekend with such an unpromising forecast

 

Mount Oxford overnight tramp

Camping along the Wharfedale Track

Camping in beech forest along the Wharfedale Track makes a much better start to a day tramp on Mount Oxford.

We took the hour's drive from Christchurch and parked at Coopers Creek carpark late in the day.

Saturday's day trampers were just heading home.

It looked like they hadn't had good views from the summit as the upper part of the mountain was in cloud. But we were optimistic as our favourite weather website, Snow-forecast.com, had told us to expect clear skies on Sunday.

The DoC information board at the car park said it was a three hour walk to get to the Wharfedale Track. But we only had two hours before darkness and we did't expect it to take any longer than that.

We started off at a good pace and settled into our usual groove. The track was good under-foot and had a consistent easy grade all the way. And it worked out just five minutes under two hours when we reached the Wharfedale, and found a good camp site too. This was just before the Mt Oxford track junction.

As it darkened, a Morepork perched in a tree close by sounded out its onomatopoeic call ("moore-poork, moore-poork") and replies from other Moreporks echoed back from all directions. They continued for another hour while we had tea and settled down for the night. The last of our serenading owls eventually fell quiet in the distance and we slept on a soft carpet of moss.

We were up with first light at 7.00 a.m. All the bellbirds in the forest started tuning up their notes together and practiced their clear little tune ad libitum. The wind softly sounded its own song in the tops of the trees.

We climbed the Mt Oxford track. I had a case of the 'eagers'. I was eager to see what was ahead, and the  climb seemed effortless, though my heart was pounding in my ears. I was glad to have the cool morning air stopping me overheating too much.

It was 9.30 when I reached the track junction at the 1130 m mark.

Branches brought down by heavy wet spring snow fall

All around here a large amount of fallen tree branches littered the ground. These had been brought down in a heavy wet snow fall late last winter.

The forest had been healthy here before now but that might start to change over the next few years.

When a lot of beech forest gets damaged like that it can cause a massive infestation of pinhole beetles (platypus species). Their population explodes from feeding on all the dying timber. Then as the next generation of beetles emerges they start attacking living trees.

The old NZ Forest Service recorded this process developing over many years following snow damage to beech forests. It's part of the natural cycle. It'll be interesting to see how the early phase develops here.

Honora caught me up and I left my pondering behind. A short distance later we emerged above the tree-line into sparkling sunshine.

Looking north east to the Lees Valley from the the track up the western ridge of Mt Oxford

There was such a contrast of space and light after the confines and gloom of the forest. And the sunshine added warmth even though the air was still cool.

We walked on up and reached the broad flat top of the range.

Below and to the east, the Canterbury plains were covered in a thin blanket of low cloud. I could see the cloud moving steadily inland, just like a wave of water flowing across the land. As it reached a point just short of the beginning of the hills it was evaporating along a continuous line.

Further inland, the high ranges stood up like a long straight wall. That's where our eyes turned.

And as usual I started noting and naming-off all the peaks and passes to myself. But there was more to it than just putting names on them. As I recognised each feature it also brought back memories of the times I'd walked those mountains and ridges and valleys. The whole landscape seemed to come to life in front of me.

I walked on with a most sublime feeling of contentment.  And the pleasant walk along the easy kilometre to the high point of Mt Oxford helped too.

The Mt Oxford summit has a large wooden trig point frame marking it. Nearby is a low rock wall that people have created as a wind break. We didn't need the wind break as it was now warm and calm, and we sat out on some comfortable rock seats to eat our lunch. It was only 11.15 a.m.

I'd been expecting there would be people about, day trippers from town. But no-one came. It didn't make sense, as we could see Christchurch was having one of its classic gloomy grey days, hidden under the low cloud flowing in from the sea. Maybe people didn't realise the hills would be above it.

It being so early, we decided to go for the 'grand traverse' of the whole Mt Oxford range. This would be a new red line for both of us ('red line' is the way some people have their maps covered in red lines showing the routes they've covered).

It was flat and easy walking when we continued. A short distance further along the range we came to a wide area of golden tussocks. In the middle of these was a very pretty pool of water surrounded by bright green cushion plants. Not only beautiful but useful to know for a refill too.

Onward toward Oxford Hill the tussocks were a bit taller, and meant we needed to give more attention to where we put our feet instead of just gazing at the views as we walked.

View of the Ashley Gorge valley and the narrow gravel road winding through it to Lees Valley

Another kilometre and the view ahead looked down into the valley of the Ashley Gorge.

This marked the end of the range proper and the terrain turned downwards. 300 metres further below we came to Ashley Saddle.

We climbed the ridge up the other side and our route turned south. From our new vantage point we could see lush bush again, in the southern faces and gullies of Mt Oxford.

4x4 track on tussock slopes of Mt Oxford far above the intensely farmed Canterbury Plains

An old 4x4 track sidling just below the ridge tempted us with easier walking. But just around the corner it dropped away to Big Ben Saddle, which was not the way we wanted to go.

Our route continued to the end of the 900m high ridge and then turned downwards, following a fence-line on the crest of a spur as it dropped another six hundred metres to the Coopers Creek road end.

The final section twisted and turned through native shrubs, gorse, patches of beech forest and pine plantations, to emerge at the Payton Lodge scouts camp.

It was 3.00 pm when we reached the car park. That's very early for us. We still had time to for a refreshing afternoon tea in the garden at Oxford's Cafe 51 before heading home.

The Ben More Range - a big hill

There are some good things to be said about a walk on the Big Ben Range.

One is that there's an 800 metre climb to get onto it, and once up there the ridges are long so you need to walk briskly to complete any circuit.  You're guaranteed to get some exercise.

Also there are good views from the top of the range. The views are all of things a long way off and you'll need a telephoto lens and probably a tripod to impress people back home. But when you're up there, there's a sense of wide openness that's hard to fit in a camera.

Another is that when the higher mountains are stormy with nor'westerlies, the Ben More Range is usually clear. It might be windy, even windy enough to fling stones at you but probably not rain on you too.

But none of these were part of our decision to go there.

Honora wanted to do a day trip with the Peninsula Tramping Club. And as it is with clubs, their calendar said they would run a trip to the Ben More Range today. So that's where we went.

Three carloads of us headed off, over Porters Pass, and turned off onto a gravel road to the south. We travelled past Lake Lyndon and parked by a dis-used airstrip, marked on the map.

This was a handy place for our circuit. Our route was up onto the end of one spur, along to the main range, over the Ben More formal summit, then back along another spur and down to the cars again.

It was a congenial group. People could wander along in their own thoughts, without intrusion. And that suited me today. Previously I'd only done trips on this side of the range with the CTC. I remembered the style of those trips, and I enjoyed being with a group without the unpleasant competitiveness and point-scoring that the Christchurch Tramping Club is notorious for.

 

A new Mt Somers Hut

The old Mt Somers Hut was a classic musterers hut

Mt Somers is a favourite tramping area for Honora and me. It's not usually our first choice though. We usually save it for when the Nor'wester brings heavy rain in the main ranges.

And because the Nor'wester is a fairly regular occurrence in Canterbury, it's just as well the Mt Somers area can take a lot of exploring.

To give us more time we prefer to drive down from Christchurch on the Friday night and walk straight in to the hut. It only takes us an hour to walk in there in the dark.

The anticipation of lighting the open fire and bunking down in the old musterer's hut was always a big part of the attraction.

Sadly we won't have this to look forward to now. DoC have just completed construction of a large new building to replace the lovely historic old hut.

The new Woolshed Creek Hut alongside the old Mt Somers Hut

I have to admit, even though I'd seen the plans, I was surprised by the scale of the new building when we went in and saw the reality of it. It will sure take me some getting used to.

And new trampers may never know the historic experience they've missed.

 

(I previously had a link here to an article in the Ashburton Guardian but they have taken it down)

Broken Hill

A walk over Broken Hill is straight-forward open country tramping with the pluses of easy access, moderate height gain and great views. However it has a couple of optional extras that make it into a superlative day trip that should satisfy the most discerning keen tramper.

Drive west out of Christchurch on SH73 over Porters Pass, and park just before the turnoff to Craigieburn ski field.

Post-glacial landscapes toned in shades of blue and gold

Walk up easy slopes with regenerating native shrublands. Then cross an undulating plateau before tackling the 300m grind to the ridge and Trig G.

Be prepared to be gob-smacked by the view out over lakes Pearson and Grasmere to the north. They're worth the walk by themselves.

The ridge travels on around in a great flat arc to the summit of Broken Hill.

Bryce Williamson was the leader of this Christchurch Tramping Club trip. He suggested nestling down in the big tussocks, out of the breeze, to have our lunch.

We were a friendly chatty group of eight.

Bryce, Joanne, Honora, Adrian, Stephen, Caroline & Bruce

The whole team decided to take the extra 1.5km walk along the ridge to check the view from the nameless 1578m summit. Bryce had reccomended it and he was absolutely right.

It's true if you've climbed Broken Hill but haven't gone on to 1578, you've missed half the benefit.

The views from 1578 are a genuine 360 degree panorama. You can even plainly see the Broken River Hut way below, and the historic old coal mining relic area down in the Broken River gorge.

After a long spell spent fully taking in the views all round we returned back along the ridge to Broken Hill. Bryce talked about options for a more interesting return journey. 

We followed the crest of a spur due west from the summit of Broken Hill. At the end it dropped steeply and Bryce explored for the start of a scree that would let us into the valley below.

It was a steep and dusty scree-run down off Broken Hill

The scree was a bit steepish at first, and some of the team were new to the experience so we all started down cautiously.

However once we could see all the way to the stream, most couldn't resist the chance for a good scree run and bounded down in clouds of dust.

The usual course from here is to travel down stream a short distance and climb to a low saddle to rejoin the route of the morning back to the cars. However we decided on another add-on.

We continued on down the picturesque stream. It twisted and turned as it ran through a deep cut gorgy valley clothed in shading beech forest.

The forest finally ended and as we emerged we had our first casualty. Bryce had paused to check everyone was together, and unfortunately just happened to stop right next to a wasp nest. The first he knew was when a squadron of wasps launched a simultaneous attack. The restrained gentlemanly cry of alarm he uttered was most commendable, considering he received 8-10 stings before getting clear.

From here we only had a pleasant flat 3 km walk along the farm track through attractive regenerating native vegetation. The highlight of the scene was above us on our left, a long hill rimmed with a continuous  craggy cliff of Tertiary limestone. What a spectacular scene that makes.

When we arrived at the road we only had left a short walk of a few hundred metres to the cars.

What a great day.

Mt Richardson

Mt Richardson is an Easy day's tramp under anyone's grading system. It sounded ideal when Honora suggested we tag along on this club trip. Other times I might prefer something more adventurous. However I'd been just a bit frazzled by the past few weeks build up to Graduation, so I needed a nice mellow leg stretch with some friendly easy going people.

Just two car loads headed off from the meeting place at the Carlton Service Station. Alice Yung came along with us. I'd known Alice for quite a while but we hadn't been along on the same tramp before now. The other car had Andrew and Stephen Nichols, John Shrewsbury and Andrew McCain. Jeff Rogers met us at the Glentui carpark.

The day was sunny but a bit cool. That worked out ideal for the stroll up through beech forest on Mt Richardson.

I walked with the two Andrews and Stephen. They were keen to get to the view so we got there 10 minutes ahead of the others.

Honora walked up with Alice, John & Jeff and we all met at the trig just on lunch time.

There was a cool breeze blowing from the west. So shelter was preferred over view for our lunch spot. We stopped and nestled down in the tussock at the bush edge just 50 m beyond the trig.

After lunch Jeff headed back down the way we'd come up.

We carried on along the ridge to complete the loop via the bypass track.

This is the best part of the tramp as the vegetation changes and the views open out, with the snowy ranges to the west and the green plains in the east.

The beech trees along the ridge are gnarled and wizened and the ground is dry and dusty shattered rock with little soil.

Further on there are only old whitened trunks of long dead beech trees standing here and there among low scrub and short tussock grasses.

This was area was ompletely covered in forest until thirty years ago when a fire unleashed by carelessness swept through, destroying it all.

Sadly, with beech's slow recovery from firer it'll likely be several hundred years before it's entirely covered in beech forest again.

A little further along we turned off the ridge and the track brought us back into the forest again. The air was warm and sweet with the smell of honeydew as we descended to the valley.

We were back at the cars at 2.30 pm.

Someone suggested driving into Oxford for afternoon tea. We found a cafe there with outdoor tables.

That made for a very pleasant finish to a really enjoyable day. It was a good walk with continuous friendly conversation right through.

John Hayward Hut and back

I love the walk up the Kowai to John Hayward hut, nestled on its terrace at the foot of Mt Torlesse.

On 19 Oct 1991 I'd biked out from town and walked up to visit the hut. I was just into cycling then but that walk rekindled my love for tramping

Today we only had Sunday morning to spare as we wanted to be back in town to inspect an 'open home' at 2.oo pm. Tagging along for part of Erik's trip seemed much more friendly that just going off somewhere by ourselves.

Our arrival made Erik's team up to twelve. Erik, Jolanda, Joy and Alastair I'd tramped with before, but Helen, Colleen, Tim, Andrew, Brent and Ken were new tramping buddies for me.

We drove out through Springfield and parked at the Lone Pine carpark at the bottom of Porters Pass.

The sun was blazing strongly in a warm and windless day as we set off up the Kowai.

Ahead of us, the looming shingle pile of Torlesse shimmered hazy blue at the head of the valley. Only a thin line of winter snow remained on the lee edge of its summit ridge.

An initial walk across grassy flats with scattered patches of matagouri scrub brought us to the stony Kowai river bed. I usually prefer to walk on the higher terrace track but it made more sense on such a warm day to cool the feet criss-crossing in the sparkling stream.

It only took an hour and a bit to get to the hut. We sprawled there on the grass for a chatty snack.

That was as far as Honora and I were going. Erik planned taking the team up onto the Bob's Knob ridge. We left them to it and turned for home.

On the way out we met a young Danish man walking in to climb Torlesse.

It was a shame to have return to town early when it was such a perfect day. However Honora and I had made a decision that promised other exiting possibilities for us, and the mountains would still be here next weekend.

Old Man Peak, not quite

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.

Walking in to the old Mt Somers Hut en route to Old Man Peak

Richard Wills originally was to lead a trip to climb Mt Harper, up the Waimakariri in Arthurs Pass NP. A forecast nor'wester had him looking for an alternative further east. I suggested Old Man Peak.

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, and I'm sure some were disappointed.

Emma Richardson takes in the view from 1410 m

But it was something to learn from. I guess everyone wished they'd pushed to go for the summit on the Saturday.

But I still have to exorcise a memory from this mountain, so I'll be back. And I guess some others might want to go back and 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.

Over Lyndon Saddle

We settled for just a Sunday day trip this weekend. In the morning Honora checked John O'Malley's Castle Hill Village webcam. It showed a classic snowy Christmas card scene. The sun was glinting on the new snow and it was fine in Christchurch too.

Sixteen assembled at the Christchurch Tramping Club meeting place. That's quite a number for the CTC these days.

However once we were out of town we could see that the fine weather promise wasn't going to deliver. The Torlesse range was hidden under dark billowing clouds. At the Broken River shelter deep slushy snow covered everything and low cloud made for a bleaker scene than we'd seen on the webcam at dawn.

The shelter was occupied by a disgruntled group of overseas rock-climbers huddling around the fire.

But we were here for a tramp and so off we went. Or rather off they went. I was waiting in the public shelter, packed and ready to go, when the others took off. When I noticed they'd gone I took off in pursuit. I caught up with Honora, Craig, Emma and leader Pam. The other eleven were fast disappearing ahead.

Honora and Craig slowed and dropped off the back. I stayed with Emma and Pam for a while as they chased the main bunch. But I started overheating so stopped to remove a thermal layer. I'd put on an extra layer of clothes than I usually do as I'd expected this Easy graded trip would go at a slower pace.

After adjusting my clothing I was in a quandary. I know the CTC's motto is 'Keep Up or Die', so I was fairly reluctant to be left behind. But at the same time I had my Mr Responsibility tut-tutting in my ear that I should be helping leader Pam keep the group together. Against that was my real preference to just drop back and wander along with Honora in our usual style of stopping whenever we wanted to look at anything that interested us.

I just split the difference and ended up plodding up the track by myself.

In due course the whole group reunited on Lyndon Saddle. However those who'd arrived first were keen to get moving as they'd been standing around getting cold while they waited.

It's classic CTC that people don't dress warmer to fit in with the pace of slower ones.

The walk to the Craigieburn huts was much the same, with the party widely split into three or four separate groups. We all bunched up again for lunch, squeezing under stairways and balconies on one of the lodges.

However it was a quick lunch for the latecomers as the front-runners were getting cold again and headed off.

We all walked down the ski-field access road with the snowfall getting heavier. Most of the group walked out to the main road and back around to the Broken River access road. A few walked back to the shelter over Lyndon saddle.

Pam had thought ahead and brought spare gloves as backup for anyone who needed them, and they were. And she worked hard too at tryng to keep the group in contact in the cold conditions.

However leading CTC trips is a bit like herding cats. The club's had a reputation for not looking after each other for at least 40 years. It would be nice to think one day they'll realise how quickly things can turn to serious custard when someone becomes unwell or has an accident.

The day finished up with snacks at the Kowai tearooms at Springfield, and Pam was still smiling. Thanks Pam.

Canyoning in Woolshed Creek

Woolshed Creek, at Mt Somers, has a deep narrow canyon that can be traversed through. However it has waterfalls and deep pools in it. There are a couple of bits that usually need abseiling and, even on a hot day, you'll only be really comfortable if you're wearing a wetsuit.

The combination of skills and gear needed for this trip make it not really standard fare for any of the regular outdoor clubs, be they climbing, tramping, caving or whatever. Consequently the trip is rarely seen on the programme of any type of club.

However there are some individuals that have sufficiently eclectic outdoor interests to to give them just the right mix of expertise needed for this route. A small number of them have been organising their own 'shoulder-tap' trips through the Woolshed Creek canyon.

Jonathan Carr is one of these. Jonathan's connections with watersporters, cavers, university and social trampers and climbers are the perfect mix for a trip like this.

Jonathan got a group together in January, but I was helping on a leadership workshop for the Christchurch Tramping club that weekend so I missed out. But there were others too who were still keen to go so Jonathan scheduled another mission.

This time it was the Main/Shanks and three youngsters family, UK couple Andy & Kirsty, Aroha, Tim, Brent, Kerrie, Ian and me on Jonathan's list. I can't imagine any other trip that could pull together a group of such disparate interests.

It was a hot walk over the hill, past the old coal mining relics, to the Mt Somers hut. It took us nearly twice as long as the hour it usually takes Honora and me. But of course some were carrying full wet-suits, ropes and harnesses, etc.

I was glad to see the old hut one more time. I probably won't get there again before DoC replaces it with the new 'Super Sized' tourist quality model.

After lunch we headed down into the creek at the top of the gorge and prepared for getting wet.

There was quite a range of gear being pulled on. Most had either full wet suits, or springers with half length arms and legs. The UK cavers had matching caving overalls. The two trampers had polypro tops and bare legs. I feel the cold, and I didn't want to be typecast as a tramper out to prove how tough I was, so I pulled on long-johns and overtrous, two thermal layers and parka, with a beanie under my helmet. Then I got very hot waiting for the off. But maybe those in full wetsuits did too.

Of course we all had harnesses, and there was every possible type of mechanical descending device.

Then commenced the long wait. It took about an hour for everyone to abseil down into the gorge.

That was fun. The abseil took us down into Morgan Stream and over a small waterfall into a large deep pool. Most finished their abseil in the pool.

I stayed on the rope, climbed out and dropped over a second waterfall into the main Woolshed Creek canyon. Most downclimbed this shortish steep piece past the second waterfall. However Kerrie slipped and fell, hurting her tailbone.

Next was another long wait, especially for those first down. Those who weren't heavily insulated found it quite a cold wait too.

The first section of the canyon was only a metre or so wide. But after 20 metres it widened out to 3-4 metres. From there it became mostly just a walk. In some sections pools required a swim or pack-float.

After a couple of hundred metres there's another short waterfall. This is only about two metres high and most just jumped into the pool below it. However there's a rock a metre below the surface of the pool so care was needed. If people didn't want to jump here there's an anchor to abseil from.

Beyond this it just becomes an easier and easier walk down a bouldery stream bed. There are a few pools to jump into. That became the goal of the more fun-oriented, seeking out everything that could be leapt into, swum, splashed or floated in. Others just walked on.

Quite a long way down we arrived at a large pool deep-set below a broad rock shelf. This was a perfect place to stop for food in the sun. Almost everyone joined in there, leaping into the pool and then shooting down the hydro-slide below it.

After this it was just a long tramp down a stream bed. With all the heavy wet gear and wet suits, I think most were glad to get out onto the track and back to the car park.

The day was a lot of fun and a good chance to mix with a bunch of outdoors people who don't see themselves first as trampers. Also I think it was good for the pure trampers to see how much fun can be had on a water trip.