Friday, February 1 - We attempt to climb Mount Owen

    The ranger at the information center told us that there were two ways up Mount Owen, a mountain make of marble and covered with interesting chasms and crevices and caves which was used as a location in the LOTR film.  The usual route is from the north and takes three days, with a stop at a mountain hut for the two nights on the tramp.  Sounded great, but we only had one day.  The southern route is very rarely used, very steep, and requires a good map and some skills with a compass.  But it was shorter.  We didn't plan to actually summit the peak, but hoped to get up on the shoulder of the mountain where filming was done.  And we felt a little cocky after successfully climbing Mount Ngaruhoe.

A fine day for a hike

     We'd planned to leave at 6:30 am, but someone's alarm either didn't go off, or couldn't be heard above the sound of the nearby river (cough cough Kevin).  So it was almost 8 before we left.  Then we had a half hour drive up a gravel road to reach the beginning of the trail.
      Still, it was a lovely day and forecast to stay that way for the whole day, and in these southern summer latitudes we'd have light until after 9 pm.

The journey began well enough.  You can see the
mountain we were aiming for in the background.  Our
only complaint, our shoes and pants bottoms
were getting damp from the dewy grass.  That would change.

Soon enough the Fellowship hits its first obstacle.
The trail along the side of the hill had been washed
out, and required a little tricky maneuvering.

The rock was wet, slippery, and a little crumbly ...

... but no big problem for the intrepid crew.

     I had bought a topo map of the area, and it showed the trail crossing the river five times before we would climb out of the valley.  In my experience that meant finding a series of dry rocks to make your crossing, although one of Kristy's Kiwi friends had warned us that tramping in NZ meant getting your shoes thoroughly soaked.  We should have listened.  Soon we came to the first crossing, and it was obvious that there would be no magic dry path to follow.  Only Diana among us chose to remove her shoes each time she crossed.  She risked cutting her feet, and it did slow us down a bit, but in the end she had dry feet and shoes, while the rest of us slogged in damp footwear for the 10 hours of our journey.

Diana picking her way across Owen River on one of our 10 crossings

     Once we'd made our fifth crossing we began the ascent of the forested ridge leading to more open ground and a views of the mountains.  Our target was Sunset Ridge, a climb of about 3300 feet.  Since we'd accomplished that much on Mount Doom we thought we'd certainly make it, especially since we wouldn't be climbing on gravel.  I wanted to complete the whole trip by 6:30 pm, giving us plenty of leeway if something happened.  There are a lot of hikers tramping all over New Zealand, but we were the only ones on this route today, and our cell phone wouldn't get a signal in the wilderness.  The campground owners knew we were making the climb, so at least someone was aware of our plans. And there were five of us, so we'd have plenty of backup if one of us got hurt. I thought five hours would be enough to reach the Ridge.
     I hadn't counted on the time negotiating neglected trails and finding our way across the river.  It had taken us nearly two hours before we even began the ascent.  Then, the trail up the mountainside was very steep, maybe steeper than our last mountain, in places.  It was pretty safe, since trees and shrubs lined the way, and we weren't at any altitude to speak of, the top at only about 5000 feet above sea level.  But it was a tough climb, especially for Diana and me.  We all stuck together for about an hour and a half, then decided to let the kids 'sprint' ahead to give them a chance to make it to the Ridge, with the promise that they go no further than would allow them to be back at the van by 6:30 pm.

The trail up was an seemingly unending series of giant steps, repeating false
summits, and for some of us (cough cough Kevin) a long breathless grind.

       Diana thankfully stayed with me as I worked my way up.   Just about the time I thought it was necessary for Diana and me to turn around to make it back by 6:30, and doubtful that we'd get climb high enough to get out of the trees and actually get a good view, we actually heard the kid's voices above us.  They encouraged us to continue, because they'd reached a fairly open area.  We trudged on, and after ten minutes or so found them having a picnic on the tussocky open slope.

This is where we had lunch.  The kids had headed on further up, but it was
the end of our climb.  We hadn't gotten as high as I'd hoped, but we did have
good views.

The view to our right ...

... and straight out.  Somewhere down at the edge of that open area our
van awaits.

     We headed down the mountain at 2:30pm.  This time gravity made it a lot easier on the lungs, but our knees and hips and ankles felt the steep descent.  Two hours later we reached the valley floor, and only had the five river crossings and a several kilometers of forest to walk through.  The kids hadn't caught up with us, which concerned me only a little. It's reassuring knowing how much wilderness and mountain experience Kristy has gotten over the years, and Kelly isn't exactly a novice when it comes to the outdoors.  And with the marathon training Dan has had over the past few years he's in great condition, even if some of the rock climbing and creek wading is a little new to him.  But when we heard them coming up behind us just as we reached the last crossing, I was still a relieved.

The sun has already moved behind the mountain as we walked the last
kilometer to the van, even though it would be two more hours before
the actual sun set.

A last look back at the mountain we didn't conquer.

Mount Owen is only partly visible on the left.  We didn't make it to the top,
but it was a great adventure nonetheless.  Perhaps when Kristy and Diana and I
drive through the area after dropping Kelly and Dan off in Christchurch we'll
attempt it from the north side and give ourselves three days.

     It was nice to get back to the van, almost exactly at 6:30.  We peeled off our wet and stinky shoes and socks, and drove back to the campground, a little sore, and glad to have dinner and go to bed.