“On a Mish” #352 Grandeur on Steroids (Part Three). Upper Rakaia River (Evans Hut). Canterbury. Aotearoa. 8.10.2022. With blind determination you can block out the bad and get yourself to some amazing locations. This was how I would guide my focus when going on tough missions before hurting my bad and hip. Imagining the feeling of success is a powerful driving force, just like the ‘little but big’ truck we were traveling in. We wanted more grandeur on steroids and using a tonne of blind determination would be the way I would survive a wild adventure up the Rakaia River, with my equally determined cousin Adam in his wild Suzuki Jimny…
Totara Stream had gouged out a deep trench in the rock ground which nearly put an end to our quest to Evans Hut. We had no track to show us the best way through, and this meant we had to work out where to go ourselves. Once again, I was walking while Adam bounced, stopped, moved rocks, repeat. I don’t think the powers that be at Suzuki had this sort of mish in mind when they designed the Jimny! After putting the truck’s modifications to the test, we managed to get to the other side. Here we found an old track which led to our last challenge, Cattle Stream.
Cattle Stream wasn’t as difficult as Totara and we knew that on the other side was the end of our day. Finally, we crept onto the grass flats where the hut lives, and day one came to an end. What a day it was, and I felt like I used to after climbing many vertical metres to a summit back before my injury. Knowing we were the only vehicle to get here in a very long time made us proud of what we had achieved. I got the same feeling I used to get when standing on the top of a steep and challenging peak. I also felt as tired! So after setting up our camp (yes, we got all the way to Evans Hut and still camped instead of using the hut!), it was time for a feed and then sleep.
Early-ish the next morning we were up preparing breakfast when we noticed a streak across the sky. To our surprise we got to witness a meteor blaze a trail amongst the stars to the east of where we had camped. It was like the world was rewarding us for what we had achieved the day before, and motivating us to push on further to the last hut up the valley before getting to the massive glaciers of the Main Divide, and Reischek Hut.
Packing up and leaving the Evans Hut area was tough. The view across the valley of the Arrowsmith Range was incredible. I had seen the mountains many times before, but always from the eastern side. Looking at them from this angle gave another glorious perspective of their grandeur, and with a light dusting of snow the peaks looked better than ever. What an incredible place to build a hut!
We didn’t have very far to travel as Reischek Hut is only around 6 kilometres or so across and then up the valley. Not far, but it is on the other side of the Rakaia River, and from what we learnt the day before nothing is easy is this incredible part of Aotearoa New Zealand…
