"Job done" as my late dad would proudly and succinctly say. So "Job done" it was indeed, job done for my dad. Thanks Pop
Mt Snowdon dominates the skyline with its massive domed peak, it's been on my wish list for some time after many trips in and around the tops in the Cobb Valley.
It’s a little visited peak and there is next to no information available, even Climb NZ acknowledges this and notes a G1 route from kakapo and nil else. We did get a snippet from an old timer that "The ridge runs and camping NE at PT 1720 was doable".
That triad of info was enough - fabulous. We were off, just hitting a weather window and maximizing the long daylight days.
So here is the lowdown for any more intrepid trampers.
With high expectations of the bods performing, we left a bike at Sylvester, leaving the option of coming back via the Lockett range tops.
So a late start in beautiful weather, we danced with heavy packs and high spirits to Fenella, arriving 3pm. A couple returning from Lonely lake seemed surprised we were heading out to Kakapo and beyond , the guide time being 3.5 hours to the summit alone. All part of the game plan, we knew it was going to be a late one. We were going to take a steady pace, didn't want any wounded warriors.
The ridge to Kakapo is easy to follow, not technical, a long sidle before you attain the beautiful ridge. Mainly open with a small patch of woodland en route. Kakapo is an easy climb, heading up directly before the scree transverse en route to Lonely lake. From there the real adventure began, so much fun working together to plan micro routes. Not a single cain and nor did we create any, just nature as nature intended.
We climbed down the flank of Kakapo, easy enough, no exposure here. Ahead were multitudes of Gendarmes - Rocky pinnacles on a ridge. We elected to avoid the first few and dropped to the scree on the south side of the ridge and headed up to a notch to have a good gander. From there we crossed over and onto the ridge and were able to mainly sidle North of Point 1720 and across to the tarn. The main hazard being speargrass as this was the vege side.
The marked tarn is in a basin and 150m down, with multiple smaller tarns dotted around. We suspected it to be pretty boggy down there and instead found a very sweet tarn with flat camping sites around PT E 1563449 N 5458904. Setting up camp in the beautiful sunset, as it has taken another 2.5 hours from Kakapo to camp.
An early 7am start, with two of us expecting to be back just after lunch, left lunch at basecamp. What hardy fools! It would be another 12 hours before we saw the camp again.
Thank goodness we had Mike's homemade delish muesli bars to keep us sustained (Recipe on NTC website!).
The Snowden range was excellent to traverse, a mainly jagged ridge peppered with Gendarmes, until you meet the main summit ridge then its medium size scree and an even gradient. Coming to each Gendarme, we had growing confidence that the ridge did indeed "run" as we climbed up and over, or high sidled around, the peak of the Gendarme.
Exposure was to be expected but plenty of micro routes lessened this. Rock was not to be trusted and at times we created a small rockfall for ease of safe passage. For those geologists who read this, the oldest rocks – the Cambian Haupiri Group – form a central belt that takes in much of the Haupiri, Anatoki, Douglas, Snowden, and Lockett Ranges and continues, displaced by faults, through the Cobb Reservoir area to the Wangapeka. For us, it simply was "2025 crumbly sharp rock".
Many decisions were made as we mused our micro routes, at one juncture we made a decision to bypass a gendarme altogether and head down a scree slope and up through the trees back onto the ridge.
The plan worked in principle but once back on the ridge and getting the visuals back, we reckoned that we could have indeed continued on. We tested this out on our return and to our delight Yeah, the ridge ran. So, this was how we spent a delightful day on the Snowden range, eventually topping out 6.5 hours after leaving camp.
The weather a gem, no wind, sun then afternoon high cloud. Spotting our tents in the distance, we were all astonished they seemed far higher than we had expected. Tired eyes now for sure.
Sleep came easy. Rain came easy. Rain stopped. We awoke to poor visibility.
Day three started more adventurous than anticipated with poor visibility adding an exciting dimension.
We attained the ridge much earlier than our inbound route, finding ourselves on the high point 1720 we had so diligently avoided en route to camp. It was "interesting" coming off this and formulating a plan with such little visibility, however we managed to climb down and in between the next high Impassable Gendarme onto the vege side. Well, it was either dodgy rock or battle with the Spaniards, the Spaniards won on both counts according to my legs. By the time we had gotten back to Kakapo, vis was clearing and got increasingly better.
Our loosish plans to come back via the Lockett Range put on hold, we were totally satisfied with the adventures of Snowden and the tarn above Fenella called and extremely welcomed. Clothes abandoned and sore bodies bathed in delightful cool water.
A third long day, arriving home not much shy of the Witching hour.
A big thank you for the easy companionship of Mike, Penny and Chris.
Snowden: Tick
Lockett Range: Pending
Participants: Andrea (leader & scribe), Mike, Penny and Chris.