“On a Mish” #24 A Little Bit Different (Part Two). Mt Cuba(1449m). Fiordland National Park. 14.1.2019. The popularity of a picturesque place is proven by the presence of many people. The Key Summit Track is an excellent example of this. It might be located deep in Fiordland National Parks boundaries, but it still sees thousands of people every year. The views are hard to beat, however to me being somewhere were there are lots of humans isn’t my cup of outdoor tea. I like to go somewhere a little bit different, but still get the epic views. While on a mish with my fellow Fiordland Navigator crewmate Dylan we had pushed passed the masses on the Key Summit Track and now had I sights set on the rolling hills of the Ailsa Range above McKellar Saddle…
By 2019 my days guiding on the Routeburn and Greenstone tracks were well over. With that said I had still visited the area around Key Summit a few times, but on this mish, I returned to a spot I hadn’t been to for years. As Dylan and I enjoyed a feed at the Greenstone / Caples Track junction many memories came flooding back from my guiding days. The beauty of this place was a huge thing that kept me working as a guide for so long.
After we replenished our fuel, we carried on up the track to McKellar Saddle. Not long ago this section was rejigged, and I can say from experience that the new track is much better than the steep, tree root scramble that was the old way to get up to McKellar Saddle. In what seemed like no time we were up on the saddle, and more importantly, above the treeline. Already the views were much better than expected and we hadn’t even got up to where we planned to camp.
A few years before this mish I had camped on the saddle while en route to McKellar Lodge and the start of a lodge manager role. It was an incredible and unique way to get to work. On this adventure I had climbed above the saddle and seen the hills above. Time meant I couldn’t go any further then, so I had always wanted to return to tackle the tops and camp higher up than where I was previously. The time was now, and I was very excited!
The section of track over McKellar Saddle is a boardwalk on wetlands. We didn’t want to disturb the delicate ground, so we looked for the best place to leave the track. After carefully leaving no trace of our off-track deviation we began to climb into the tussock of the highlands, and it was time to start scouting for a campsite.
We didn’t need much of an area as Dylan’s tent isn’t very big, and I was going to spend the night out under the stars in my bivvy bag. So, after finding a group of tarns (small lakes) for our cooking water, we were set. It was now time to turn our attention to the looming lump in the Ailsa Range that stood high above our camp. On the trip in we had been listening to the hit song by Dragon ‘Take Me to The April Sun… in Cuba… whoa ooh ooh’. So, before we began our climb, we decided to name the unnamed peak Mt Cuba in honour of the classic Dragon jam. The looming lump was now known as Mt Cuba (to us), and it was time to go into the sun, even though it wasn’t April yet!
