GHT Day 5 - Ida Railway Hut to Kirtle Burn Hut
Lewis Knauf
20 months ago
happiness
difficulty
Today's plan was to get wet and high, twice.
So I headed out from Ida Railway Hut along Walking Spur and down the Johnstones Creek track. The views from the top over the Ida Valley were good but not amazing due to the high cloud.
I headed for the Omarama Saddle up the Manuherikia River West branch track. The water crossing at the end of Home Hills Runs Rd was just about too deep, and the first few crossings up the west valley were also a bit deeper than was comfortable but I made it through all fine.
At the saddle, I headed up the ridge along a 4wd track to Mt St Bathans, where you spend about 5km riding above 2000m. And it was cold and windy. The cloud was making the views a bit gloomy, but it'd be amazing on a clear day. I meet a couple 4wds that had driven up a track from Top Hut, so will have to check it out next time.
Heading back to Omamara Saddle, and it was down the North side and through Lindis Pass. I had a bit of a gravel sightseeing detour around Tarras, then along Lake Dunstan to Cromwell for the umpteenth meatpie lunch of the trip.
The weather forecast was for light rain late afternoon, with this is mind I headed up the Pisa Range through Lowburn Station in sunshine. I was amazed again at how the temperature dropped as I climbed up to 1980m. And I had a good hour and half of exploring the tracks before the cloud closed in to give limited visibility. So I pulled up at Kirtle Burn Hut, at 1670m, as the rain set in for the night.
So I headed out from Ida Railway Hut along Walking Spur and down the Johnstones Creek track. The views from the top over the Ida Valley were good but not amazing due to the high cloud.
I headed for the Omarama Saddle up the Manuherikia River West branch track. The water crossing at the end of Home Hills Runs Rd was just about too deep, and the first few crossings up the west valley were also a bit deeper than was comfortable but I made it through all fine.
At the saddle, I headed up the ridge along a 4wd track to Mt St Bathans, where you spend about 5km riding above 2000m. And it was cold and windy. The cloud was making the views a bit gloomy, but it'd be amazing on a clear day. I meet a couple 4wds that had driven up a track from Top Hut, so will have to check it out next time.
Heading back to Omamara Saddle, and it was down the North side and through Lindis Pass. I had a bit of a gravel sightseeing detour around Tarras, then along Lake Dunstan to Cromwell for the umpteenth meatpie lunch of the trip.
The weather forecast was for light rain late afternoon, with this is mind I headed up the Pisa Range through Lowburn Station in sunshine. I was amazed again at how the temperature dropped as I climbed up to 1980m. And I had a good hour and half of exploring the tracks before the cloud closed in to give limited visibility. So I pulled up at Kirtle Burn Hut, at 1670m, as the rain set in for the night.