Mt Oakden (Version 1)

Sunday 9th November

Twelve people registered to go on this trip and with the weather man (or woman) in a good mood all was set for a great day of sun, sweat and stings (yes, there were plenty of Spaniards up there). It was a two- hour drive to the head of Lake Coleridge the last part being a long very dusty shingle road.

The farmer agreed for us to take the northern ridge route. We crossed the canal and parked the cars and immediately ran into a deer fence with a high locked gate and electric wire along the top. Fortunately, we were able to scale a wooden panel next to the fence to then work our way through a paddock and follow a fence line to the base of the ridge. This was rather steep with a scramble amongst the rocks, scree and matagouri. The Wilderness magazine write up of the trip noted that the lower reaches are “problematic” but that the going gets easier as you get higher. This was certainly the case, although the scree and rock higher up was still a slog. About lunch time the north-wester started kicking in and made climbing a little less pleasant than in the still morning air. Having lunch on the leeward side of the hill in the sun, however, was delightfully warm. Most of the group made it to the summit and returned to the cars about 4:45pm. 

 On the trip were: Graeme Nicholas (Leader), Dorota G, Andy M, Kevin H, Derek G, Chris L, Vesna M, Millomir M, Bill T, John R, Wang, and Kerry M. GN   (Photos by GN)