Day one was the Sugarloaf. The only problem was finding the track. After half an hour of searching we found the sign measuring some 2m by 1m. This did not bode well! 2½ hours later and many bucket loads of sweat lost we emerged above the bush line and found a spot for lunch overlooking the Rock Burn and Mount Nox in glorious sunshine. At 1154m this was only slightly lower than our next pass. We descended steeply into the Rock Burn and over a fairly decent track and made reasonable time up alongside Rock Burn to the last flat before the footbridge. After a brief rain shower we pitched our tents surrounded by snow-capped peaks of the Humboldt Mts and the Mt Nox range.
Day two dawned fine so alfresco breakfast was had in eager anticipation of the day ahead. A bit of consumed food perceptibly reduced the weight of sacks filled with 7 days of provisions. Mine weighed in excess of 21kg. An hour after striking camp we were over the swing bridge and onto Theatre Flat, an idyllic piece of real estate. Immediately after the Flat the track ascended a mossy step in the valley that got the ticker going and then were found ourselves on another river flat. Here we passed a blue duck seemingly unbothered by our presence. In fact, wherever we stopped there seemed to be tame robins in attendance. Lunch was had on a rock looking up to the last steep section of the Park Pass, our high point of the day at 1176m. Park Pass is actually on the Main Divide that in this location separates Fiordland from Mt Aspiring NP’s. It is an awesome situation as it is overlooked by the bare expanse of rock that ramps up to the Park Pass glacier.
After nearly 3 hours of descending we reached the Hidden Falls creek and an hour after that our camp for the night. En route we clambered over a spectacular boulder-strewn side-creek. Our camp-site was as near-perfect as you could want-for. It was here that I realised what the freshly-dug holes in the Flat were actually craters caused by a 70T boulder that had recently fallen some 500m from the side of Poseidon Peak above. En route it had neatly mown a swathe through the mature forest, cutting trees off some 5-6m above the ground. The boulder then had bounced four times before coming to rest a few metres from our pitched tents. Not the most reassuring thought as we went to sleep in the rain at about 7.30pm.
Day three started dry but quickly turned wet. This necessitated a re-evaluation of our intentions as the forecast was bad, albeit later in the week. We decided that the best option was to retreat – the way forward was over open ground with little shelter and ever-increasing altitude. We decided to head back over the Peak Pass and aim for the rock bivvy a short distance on the south side. Thank goodness we did this, the first two side creeks were now swollen to thigh deep torrents. By the time we had got to the bush-line of the Park Pass we were wet through and over the top we soon realised that the temperature had plummeted as we reached for hats, gloves and other warm-weather gear. The rock bivvy was a very welcome sanctuary as it was completely sheltered from the gale-force north-westerly. We managed to pitch the three tents in the bivvy for warmth and retired for a cold night.
Day 4 was welcomed by snow down to the level of the bivvy at about 1050m. Just after dawn two rescue helicopters went overhead on route perhaps for the Olivine. We picked our way downhill and over the swollen glacial stream from the Park Pass. Nothing like iced water in your boots first thing in the morning! With the strong wind now on our backs we descended back down the Rock Burn and had lunch at Theatre Flat looking at the partly shrouded peaks now covered with fresh snow. We camped for the night just before the start of the Sugarloaf with rain falling. Beth and I spotted a curious kea in the late afternoon.
Our last day of this curtailed trip was a difficult 5 hour tramp to the Rockburn Hut. Climbing 650m en route the track was made especially difficult after the turn-off for the Sugarloaf by a large number of fallen trees and rain sodden undergrowth. We were just about exhausted by the time we got to the site of the old hut that has now been removed. Helen mysteriously decided to investigate the river-bank and to everyone’s amazement found some 30 kayakers having lunch. Not only that but we were offered the leftovers – fresh salad, cheese and rolls, quiche, coffee and pineapple. Not that there’s anything wrong with dehydrated meals but……. For others intending to repeat the route a shelter has just been finished here where the Rock Burn meets the Dart. Whilst open sided, it does offer some shelter, albeit sharing with a few thousand sand-flies that seemed to be mostly absent from the rest of our trip.
The last three hours back to Lake Sylvan was something of an anticlimax but we did at least warm up a little.
So the Five Passes trip has been left for another time. But at least we are here to tell the tale. It was a memorable trip, frequently wet and cold after the first two days of near-perfect weather. Thank you to my tramping companions!