“On a Mish” #140 Forces of Nature (Part One). Birdwood Range. Wilberforce Valley. 5.6.2020. Sometimes when you explain a mish to someone it can make that fact that you are doing it for pleasure sound a little bit crazy. Wild weather, rough tracks, and parts of the plan going off course like a ship on the rocks. A big part of going on a mission is the satisfaction of finishing and remembering the battle you had to get to the success of surviving. Fighting the forces of nature can feel awesome afterwards, but before the celebration comes the hardship of the hunt…
Nowadays I feel like I am on probation and when my hip and back were at their worst I was in ‘injury prison’, with plenty of solitary confinement. Not only had I lost the ability to work in the wilderness, but I was also a grounded mountaineer. My days of perching myself on top of a peak seemed like a distant dream, and even just being out in nature had disappeared from my life. I was down in the dumps and needed to be lifted out of my slump. Luckily my cousin Adam showed up in his little white truck.
Immediately after covid lockdown (round one) my cousin and I took on the Havelock Valley in his Suzuki Jimny. Back then I wasn’t aware that his little truck (plus his company) would re-introduce me to the outdoor world I so desperately needed. As 2020 rolled on we began to lock up some rather epic missions, and one of the early adventures was up the Wilberforce Valley.
A recce up the Rangitata and then on and up the Havelock had lit the fuse, and not long after that mish we were loading the Jimny and taking on another massive Canterbury Riverbed. The Wilberforce River is north of the Rangitata and near the impressive Lake Coleridge. Our challenge wasn’t just going to be the many boulders of the riverbed, but we also had to survive a fight during the night that we weren’t prepared for.
To get the most out of the weekend our mish started late Friday afternoon. Adam had just finished work and after loading the Jimny we headed west towards the setting sun. By the time we hit the dust of Lake Coleridge Road the daylight was at an end. The sun might have been going down, but our enthusiasm was only just starting to ramp up.
The concrete became gravel and then the gravel turned to track and then, in the darkness, we rolled out onto the wide expanses of the Wilberforce Riverbed. Finding a flat spot was a piece of cake and, in no time, we had camp one established and the BBQ fired up. There was an eerie peace in the air, and being in a wide space but not knowing what your surroundings look like can feel very odd.
We powered down a magnificent feed as per usual and then after checking the campsite was all good very retreated to our riverbed bedrooms. Adam was hunkering down in the Jimny and I was safe and sound in my Marmot Tent. As I began to drift off to sleep there was a little flutter of the tent’s fabric. What started as a breath of wind soon turned into an incredible force of nature. This mish was only a few hours old and already our love for the outdoors was about to be put to the test in a very windy way…
