Leader: Mike Drake
After sailing around D’Urville Island, what’s better than a moonlit walk into Angelus Hut? During my trip around D’Urville the numbers for this trip had reached a possible six, then reduced to two (flu season). Approaching Top House, the moonlit night was looking doubtful as low cloud hugged Robert Ridge. From the beach at St Arnaud and decided to give ourselves turn-back options; one was to stay over at Bushline Hut.
At the Bushline Hut turnoff, we decided to continue. The sky appeared to be clearing, but the moon was always visible. A stop at Relax Shelter saw us changing our wardrobes a number of times to match the conditions.
Visions of walking along the ridge with crampons squeaking in the hard snow were quickly dispelled. Fortunately, other people had passed our way so we capitalised on their hard work. Stops were made to eat, while Steve attempted to capture the mood by camera. There were no stops to apply sunscreen, no hot dazzling sun, just the moon and a slight breeze. After leaving Mt Robert carpark at 22:14, we arrived at Angelus Hut 6am (7 hours and 45 minutes.)
After hot drinks, we were in bed by 7am. We heard someone stomping around in the warden’s quarters. We later found out he was a little surprised to hear people arriving at 6am.
Around 11am we were both up. With breakfast out of the way, we slotted into a hut day. Steve, however, felt the yearning of the peaks and decided to climb Cedric. Between cups of tea and reading, I boiled water for a steady stream of arrivals.
A number of cycles of reading and tea drinking. Making myself comfortable in front of the fire was a non-trivial task in the new Angelus Hut, but it was time to check on Brian’s party. Shortly before I intended heading out, four people were seen on the skyline. They had made good time, despite Brian teaching them snow skills along the way. They were the fourth party in the hut, making a total of twelve. At 06am, we decided that conditions were not ideal for a summit attempt, so we retraced our route along the ridge for further snow skills training. Mt Robert carpark was reached by later afternoon. Hot drinks and cakes at the Alpine Lodge ended a very pleasant weekend.
The Moonlighters were Steve McGlone and Mike Drake (scribe).
