Mts Luna & Patriarch - Organiser: Ian Pavitt
One would have to search for many years to find a better bunch of legs than those which assembled at the Wangapeka Rolling River carpark this cold winter’s morning, and if all went to plan we would need those strong limbs. Too cold to hang around, so after brief intros everyone made their own way to Stone Hut. 20 minutes from the start down came the rain which persisted with some heavy falls until we had reached Kings Hut. From here the rain eased and all reached Stone Hut by mid afternoon. The fire lit and dinners consumed, we all glowed in the tropical conditions inside the hut and had an enjoyable night.
Sunday morning we awoke to strong cold southerlies bringing us snow flurries around the hut, with low cloud. Discussions within the confines of the warm hut ranged from carrying on with the original plan to going home. As this was a very democratic trip, the majority ruled and we opted for a day walk up to Mt Luna. The group headed up the Mt Luna route through snow-covered beech forest before breaking out into the tussock basin. At least in summer you could see the tussock, today however we were greeted with a snow-filled expanse, with snow up to our knees. The sky had cleared somewhat as we made a slow ascent to the main ridge where we were greeted by the strong cold southerly winds and more snow flurries. We sheltered in the lee of the ridge and found only Roger McMichael and Mike Drake willing to carry on to the top of Mt Luna, which they successfully achieved. The rest of us headed back to the warmth of Stone Hut for a late lunch. In the afternoon a small group of us made a trip up to the Wangapeka Saddle and passed the time constructing a very good-looking snowman before returning to another tropical night in Stone Hut, where we had a total of 13 people in the hut for the night.
As often happens, the final day dawned clear, fine, and with no wind. So once again we re-traced our steps of Saturday back to the cars at the Rolling River carpark. Unfortunately the trip did not pan out as planned but my thanks to those winter wanderers who attempted this trip: Arthur Jonas, Grahame Harris, Mike Drake, Roger McMichael, Kath Ballantine, Carole Crocker, Roger Bruce, Bob Janssen, Brian McLean, and visitor Mike Marren.