Third Time Lucky Lord

8-15 February 2024

The Lord Valley and Range had been on Geoff’s radar for some time.  He sold it well—easy travel, spectacular scenery, and a bit remote.  We had viewed it from the Lambert Range in 2015, tried to get into it from the Rangitata in 2019, and been turned back from the Rakaia in 2021.  Weather had been the issue each time and this year was going to be no exception.  Multiple weather web sites were compared and assessed, and the decision made to delay the trip by four days to get a week with only two adverse weather days.

Day 1 started with Di Mellish kindly agreeing to drive us down, then return home with the van.  An exciting helicopter ride took us up the Rakaia River to Reischek Hut.  We had all boulder-bashed the Rakaia before and were happy not to repeat the experience.  The same helicopter pilot remembered the bumpy ride taking us there in 2021 and was glad conditions were much calmer.  A route choice was soon required with two options that were explored in 2021.  The St James Glacier provided more direct access from the Ramsay terminal lake, while the Cockayne Glacier would require climbing over Meins Knob to Lyell Hut.  The first choice and bad weather forecast on day three influenced the issue, with speed to the Main Divide being critical. We crossed the Rakaia on the swing bridge and camped near the Ramsay terminal lake.

Day 2 dawned misty as we headed up the St James terminal moraine.  The middle section of glacier that we had descended in snow in 2021 was bare, and dissected by crevasses above 1600m.  We exited the glacier to the south, into an upper basin that promised a more gradual ascent and magnificent views of the Ramsay neve.  We climbed out of a wide basin with potential campsites, past a waterfall, before regaining glacial ice at 1900m, followed by a short but steep ascent to the pass between points 2133 and 2170.  We had climbed 100m above the pass between the Cockayne and St James Glaciers, requiring a rocky and spectacular descent to this pass.  The pass was a potential stopping point but the forecast weather for the coming day convinced us that continuing to the Main Divide was a good idea and we had a steep zig-zag traverse above the St James Glacier to gain the upper Cockayne neve.  We threaded our way through the crevasses and finally arrived at the lowest point between the Cockayne and Radiant Glaciers to the east of point 2274 on the Main Divide.  The wind was swirling around the neve on the eastern side of the divide and howling up the western side but, miraculously, on the Divide itself, it was calm.  We pitched tents while Geoff and Raymond inspected a narrow crack that bisected the 20m bluff leading down to the upper Radiant neve.

Day 3 started with misty rain blowing up the bluff.  Geoff set up a belay and, while some down-climbed with packs, most packs were lowered and the owners belayed.  The rock was firm and grippy but the wind-chill meant a cold wait for those waiting above and below.  By the time we were all down, the rocks were rimed white with ice.  Dropping directly down from the neve was blocked by bluffs, so we traversed the width of the neve until directly below the slopes of Mt Westland.  The hard ice proved difficult to descend, so we moved onto a rock rib to drop to the upper glacier.  The mist had turned to rain and then snow, coating the rocks on the glacier with a slippery layer, making it difficult to distinguish rock from ice, so we stopped mid-afternoon, constructed platforms of gravel on the ice and retired to the tents.  Periodically brushing the underside of the tents during the night kept the tents clear of snow.

Day 4 was magnificent.  Sun in a clear blue sky sparkled off every crystal in the 10cm of snow that had fallen overnight.  There was no pressure to move as we watched the band of melting snow gradually creep up the valley, making travel practical.  After lunch we wandered down the valley for another couple of kilometers before camping on the first of the tussock flats, where the Radiant outflow joins the Swiftwater.  We had plenty of time that afternoon for a climb to the prominent ridge between the Swiftwater and the upper Lord River for impressive views of the Lord Range ramparts and the multiple hanging glaciers that seemed to defy gravity and glacial recession.

Day 5 continued the leisurely pace that our earlier push on day 2 allowed.  We dropped to the Lord River, following the true right of the Swiftwater and removed our boots to cross, continuing the luxury of dry feet for the trip.  Then came a climbing sidle following the Lord River, and a climb to point 1392, to camp by some small tarns.  The views across the valley were spectacular, with the evening sun highlighting the deeply incised gorge of the appropriately named Madwater.  Geoff described the route that he had planned for the 2019 trip, traversing the slopes of Mt Stoddart and crossing the Madwater.  I think we all looked at the route and thought one word would describe the crossing.

Day 6 continued the traverse above the Lord, on steep tussock slopes heading for False Blue Lookout.  Four chamois leaped ahead for a while, making short work of the terrain, while a cheeky kea greeted us as we arrived at the lookout, not at all concerned at our close proximity.  Lunch at the lookout provided opportunities to look across to the Lambert cliffs that we had peered over in 2019 and the peak that we had climbed on the Lambert trip in 2015.  A stiff climb was then required to 1485m over the end of the Lord Range to avoid steep bluffs dropping to Lambert Gorge.  The traverse across the end of the Lord Range threaded through a futuristic landscape of towering boulders and rock pinnacles.  Picking navigation points was difficult.  “Head for the fingers” said the guidebook, but which ones? It would be a nightmare in cloud, but at least we had good visibility.  We finally descended to the real Blue Lookout, a picturesque terrace with a miniature tarn and towering sentinels of rock behind.  There was finally enough firewood for a traditional alpine trip campfire.  Gaylene persevered with our borrowed InReach communication unit to send confirmation that we were on time for the planned road-end rendezvous.

Day 7 turned into another epic.  The original plan was to camp several hours from the road-end but the removal of the bridge at Amethyst Ravine and the expected rain convinced Geoff to continue and cross the ravine, rather than risk getting stranded.  We descended the marked track through tough Westland bush before finally reaching freshly-cut sections that had been cleared that day by a DoC crew that we met at Hunters Hut.  They appreciated comments from grateful trampers before they helicoptered out.  We set out on the track along the Wanganui River and made good time until we reached Hendes Creek where we had originally intended to camp.  The effects of a major flood then became apparent.  Whole sections of the river flats had been ripped away and finding markers where the track left the river became a memory test.  The final straw came when we reached the quarry road to find it finished in mid-air, hundreds of metres above the river.  We finally stumbled into camp, surprising a Hungarian couple at the hot pools, who had trouble understanding where we had come from.

Day 8’s morning was spent at the hot pools, before heading out to find that Bridget and Noel had arrived early and had been sitting at the road end.  We were so grateful they had taken the time to drive over to pick us up.

This was a fantastic trip to an area that we had seen from so many directions.  It gave a great sense of completion, going to many of the places that we had gazed towards on previous trips.  It felt like finding that last piece of the jigsaw that you didn’t realise you had lost.

Trampers: Raymond Ford, Sonja Risa, Geoff Spearpoint (leader), Peter Umbers, Gaylene Wilkinson and Gary Huish.    [GH]