Aspiring Hut

Mt. Aspiring National Park

Mount Aspiring National Park attracts both climbers and serious trampers. This is definitely a place where I would spend more time if I ever return to New Zealand. The options are practically endless, and the park does not attract the enormous crowds seen at the Milford or Routeburn tracks. This may be due in part to the relative difficulty of many of the Mt. Aspiring walks. Some of them are definitely not for beginners. Some are marked only by poles, and can have very steep, exposed climbs and possibly dangerous river crossings.

I planned to spend only a night in the park, staying at Aspiring Hut, a ratheer homey hut with a big fireplace and lots of windows, on Christmas Eve. My plans were ambitious: to visit Rob Roy Glacier up a side valley on the way in, and then to get up early and climb to Cascade Saddle, a place noted for superb mountain views, accessible only by a very steep climb up an exposed tussock slope and over rock outcroppings.

In fact, the weather was rather uncooperative, and had been so for days. The walk to see Rob Roy Glacier was nice, though only the lower parts were visible. The walk up the main valley to the hut is quite flat and easy, following the West Branch of the Matukituki River through sheep pastures. Aspiring Hut was crowded with people whose plans had been delayed by the weather. Some of the rivers were swollen, and the steep tussock slopes on the way to Cascade Saddle become dangerously slippery when wet. Several people drowned trying to cross the Dart River while I was in the park.

On Christmas, I attempted the Cascade Saddle route in spite of the cloudy weather. It was certainly the most difficult route I attempted in New Zealand, and the only one where I had to turn back. I eventually came to a point where I felt that, while I may be able to climb up, the safety of climbing back down would be questionable. It is no accident that most people walking this route do not return the same way, but cross over and come out the Dart valley. Added incentive to turn back came from the fact that it was obvious the clouds would not lift, and that it was starting to snow.

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Journal: December 24