We started with the French Ridge trip which led us through a very steep forrest track where we were climbing up holding on to branches and roots. Above the bush line, the track became more gentle and it was a nice walk to French Ridge Hut. It was early and the weather looked nice, so we dumped our stuff at the hut and continued further up the ridge, which was completely covered in snow from now on. We saw some avalanches going off on the opposite mountain range and generally had some awesome views of the valley and of the majestic Mount Barff (a pity it has such a stupid name). The map showed that it was theoretically possible to reach a nice plateau on 2300 meters, called “The Quarterdeck”, with great views of Mount Aspiring and the Bonar glacier. However, the terrain seemed to be more tricky up there and clouds were closing in, so we turned around at approximately 1800 meters and head back to the hut.
On the next morning heavy rain was falling, so we stayed in the hut until lunch and then reluctantly began the descent back down to Aspiring hut. In the afternoon, the sky cleared and we even went for a swim in a side stream of the Matukitkuki river. We camped again near Aspiring hut.
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| Von French Ridge |
We got up at 4:30 am the next day because there was snow on Cascade Saddle and we wanted it to be hard and crisp. If the snow is soft, it becomes very slippery and especially because it lies on top of the even more slippery snow grass this can be quite dangerous. The beginning of the track was again through the forrest which was less steep than the French Ridge track. After a bit more than two hours, we got out of the bush and got impressive views of Mount Aspiring and the Matukitkuki valley. From here on, the track became relentlessly steep and we had to scramble up rocks on all fours. At least rocks aren't slippery. This went on for a while and finally we reached snow fields we had to traverse. Crampons weren't necessary as we could easily kick steps into the snow. Just a few meters below the top of the saddle we had to use our ice axes to make steps. At the top, we enjoyed the 360° panorama and then went down into a small valley and on to Cascade Saddle. After exploring the area, we decided to camp on the saddle rather than pushing on to Dart Hut. We spent the afternoon lying in the sun reading. When we went to sleep, a pack of keas came to explore our tent. First, they tried to steal one of Clemens' shoes and after we had put everything inside our packs and into the tent, they picked a hole in our tent floor :-(
The next morning we got up early again because the forecast predicted rain for the afternoon. Getting down went quite fast, so we reached Aspiring hut at noon, had lunch there and went out to the car park. The weather still looked fine, so we went swimming in the river and camped close to it.
The next plan is to do the Wilkin Young Circuit but the weather for the next few days looks pretty bad.
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| Von Cascade Saddle |
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