Continuing up-river on Day 2, we met a couple of American girls who had been inspired by Otago University Tramping Club to go to "The Gardens" via Perth Col. They'd turned back from a deep river crossing in the Frances River. We tucked them under our wings for the day, allowing them to continue onto their goal (big smiles all round). There's a good campsite, tucked out of the wind, in the rocks above the Frances Lake outlet. Complete with a wee dining amphitheatre, our second evening was spent chatting beneath sheer rock walls. A balmy night, sleeping out was definitely an option.
Next day, it was on up the Frances moraine, and not too long after lunch, we were onto snow and ice - the Frances Glacier. Yippee!! I love donning crampons and crunching steps. The route onto the neve was straightforward, well to the true left. A colourful lot we eleven were, meandering across the Frances Neve. The standard route up onto to Lambert Col looked very icy, and I reckon most of us were quite happy to have a route up an obvious looking gully checked out. Geoff and Jane scrambled up, and it wasn't too long before we had a thumbs up, with a possible campsite offering as well. Perfect! Another early finish, with a good gravel campsite tucked inon the east side of Lambert Col, with running water and sheltered from the westerlies which were picking up. Good thing it proved as the site was to become our home for three nights.
Day 4 was completely clagged in; pit bound, and showers. For some, morose, unwell, full of doubt about the future of the trip. For others, well, an opportunity to practise some French language skills, of course. By evening the sky cleared, allowing stunning sunset views beyond the Col, across the Lambert Neve to Mt Lambert, Satan Col, Newton, Tindall, with Stoddart to the north. Magnifique! What a day tomorrow promised to be!
Unfortunately, Day 5 was a repeat of Day 4. C'est la vie. Thank you so much to Callum and Gary for braving the elements to cook dinner on these days, and to Tony for tent delivery service. Trips need people like you :). Route discussions, indistinctly heard from neighbouring tents, indicated that we would no longer be able to complete our planned route around the flanks of Mt Stoddart to the Lord Range and the Wanganui River for a West Coast exit. Nobody complained about the alternative: - a traverse the Garden of Allah, cross the Garden of Eden and exit via Perth Col, coming back out east.
There was great excitement and gratitude that Day 6 dawned beautifully clear. Sun's up, let's GO. A fluey bug meant a couple of the party were low on energy, but with some gentle shunting of gear we were all on Satan Col by lunchtime. Low, swirling cloud provided mystical mountain scenes, but thank heavens it burned off again to give uninterrupted views for the rest of the day. We floated down the Garden of Allah, craning in awe at the high peaks to either side, especially the Tears of Allah rock route, climbed a few years back. Wow. Downed packs for an hour on the western side of Adams Col in order to pop across to Icefall. Outlook for expansive views to the Beelzebub, Arethusa and Angel glaciers and the precipitous drop down into the Adams River. This is impressive country, on such a grand scale. There is a massive difference between the ice on the map and the reality, with a large amount of glacial recession. The last scramble of the day led us up to our camp at Adams Col. This time sunset views were down the length of the Garden of Eden.
