“On a Mish” #31 Crawling in the Wind (Part One). Erewhon Peak(2068m). Hakatere Conservation Park. 5.5.2014. To look at a storm face to face is a truly humbling experience and one that reminds us that Mother Nature is boss in the outdoors. The brute power of the wind’s fury is impressive when it really gets going, to say the least. And when facing one of her wild outbursts you need to be very careful that you don’t blow away like a loose piece of snow tussock…
The Erewhon Park / Mt Potts Area is lumpy land near the famous ‘Lord of the Rings’ location of Mt Sunday, and was once a small commercial ski-field. I stumbled across the area by chance and have returned time and again to test my skills on the many mountains in the area. The place is only a short drive from Lake Clearwater Village, so every now and then I pushed on in questionable weather knowing an easy escape was available.
Nowadays, Mt Potts High Country Station takes people into the area for heli-skiing during the winter for a unique skiing experience, and there is also a new hut under construction for those not wanting to spend coin on a helicopter. I am one of the people who normally walks over flying into the area, but one day I’d love to see the area from the sky. On this mish it was a walk up the bulldozed track, and in no way is that a bad thing!
After a night’s stay at the cozy crib in Lake Clearwater Village my girlfriend and I rose from our slumber early-ish to see a dark grey sky which didn’t look very inviting. But I’ll take a day in Hakatere over most things, no matter what the weather is doing. The forecast told us that rain was going to pay the area a visit later in the day, so the idea was, if we move quickly, we can beat the storm. Little did we know that in a few hours we would be crawling in the wind!
We left the warmth of the crib and as we drove west, we could see lenticular clouds starting to push over the Main Divide. There was an eerie calm as we readied our gear and then began the hike up the old ski field road towards our target. We could see nasty looking black storm clouds looming on the horizon. Some might see this as a good reason to retreat to the warmth, but we were here to climb a mountain and on this outing a mix of confidence and speed would be key to success. ‘We can beat the storm’ kept us moving at a good pace.
The gentle gradient of the road / track makes for an easy walk in, and at times the gradual climb on a zigzagging track is barely noticeable mostly thanks to the incredible views of the vast Rangitata Valley. At the top of the zigzags the track enters a narrow corridor, and it is thanks to the skinny valley’s aspects you don’t get a good sense of what the wind is doing. Above us the clouds were whistling by but down in Erewhon Park we were wandering upwards with only a slight breeze blowing…
