Black Hill, Rakaia
Sun 23rd August 2015
A few years back, the farmer for Black Hill had split the original station in half, named their half Black Hill Station with a new house , yards, barn, etc. Not only that; they have since carved out a new access road through their property up to the quarry road, having got the quarry going again on the western side to provide fine, pink chip. The road, fencing, etc is now fully upgraded all the way up.
This trip is usually scheduled for a 7am start, but this day was listed for 7.30am. Added to that we lost a little time finding the road access was no longer through the back of Redcliffe Station. So with not walking until 9.40am from just past the quarry, it was clear this would be an up and back directly to the top and not one of the round-trip options. The road upgrade now included a completely new section sidling Redcliffe Hill on the western face, up to the saddle.
Markus below Black Hill
The snow level was high, but not bad going with crampons from in the upper basin where we stopped early for lunch. The view from on top was as good as ever and it was tempting to continue south to the spur leading down to the old musterers’ hut. That wasn’t an option as Kevin had turned back before the top ridge. So we left the top at 2.45pm for a pleasant cruise down to meet Kevin and walk out, this time, along the old route over Redcliffe Hill, now nicely grassed.
... and we laugh at teens with their cellular toys John Robinson and Markus Kaufman on Black Hill
We were: Kevin Hughes, Markus Kaufmann, Merv Meredith and John Robinson. (MM)