“On a Mish” #63 Isolation (Part Two). Sudden Valley Bivouac. Sudden Valley. Arthurs Pass National Park. 31.7.2013. While some seek the pleasure of company, others search for solace while traveling solo in the serenity of sweet scenery. Aotearoa New Zealand is a rare gem that has some of the best wild and remote locations on the planet. If you have the motivation to move and the knowledge and know-how to go where you want to, then isolation is simply a stroll away. So is a hard uphill hike. The choice is yours…
The Hawdon Valley sees many feet thanks to the modern hut found a couple of kilometres away from the Hawdon Shelter / Camping Ground. However, about twenty minutes’ walk up the Sudden Valley Track a feeling of isolation is found as the mountains close in around you. A narrow gorge needs to be negotiated before the valley ‘suddenly’ opens up again.
After crossing over the Hawdon Valley, I wandered passed an impressive rock pile / windbreak before entering the shady darkness of the Sudden Valley Gorge. A frost which must have been on the ground for at least a couple of days crunched under my feet. Out of the sun I could see my breath in the air, the change in temperature made the place feel even more remote. I was now on my own and making my way towards a tiny hut nestled in the trees of the Upper Sudden Valley.
The track crossed over Sudden Valley Stream a couple of times before getting to the aptly named Barrier Falls, and arriving at the base of a gut which needs to be climbed to access the upper or ‘sudden’ part of the valley. I remembered reading about the gut in my guidebook and I now felt what the intimidation mentioned in the book was all about. After a deep breath I began the scramble.
The climb wasn’t as bad as expected and slowly I crept upward towards the large orange triangle marking where the track entered the forest. The trail sidled above the rumble of Barrier Falls and I could see through the trees that a fall here would be the last thing you’d do alive! Once above the falls I scrambled down to the stream to get a better look at the drop, and yes, a fall wouldn’t be very good at all.
I continued above the falls and at one point came across a massive pile of avalanche debris. Seeing something like this adds to remoteness and isolation. I looked above the mass of snow, rock, and whatever else was in the way when the avalanche came tumbling down. I looked up above the debris for a while and then made the dash to the other side. My mind was still on the avalanche as I pushed onward and upward, and before I knew it, I was standing in a wide, grand valley that seemed to ‘suddenly’ come out of nowhere!
I had hiked the lower valley into the mid-valley gorge. I had climbed the steep gut to avoid Barrier Falls, and then trekked through forest and fern to get into the Upper Sudden Valley. The location of the waterfall negotiation is just perfect for the valley living up to its name, as it acts as a distraction at the top of the Sudden Valley Gorge. I went from a closed in setting to a wide, grand valley with the peaks of the Polar Range perched at its head…
