Roger Parsons / Photos Karen Manning
By midday on the third day, those of us in David’s party had climbed the 700 metres from the valley floor to the David Saddle.
What a view for the lunchbreak: the East Matakitaki Valley running for kilometres to the south, and the D’Urville Valley to the north. Plus snow down a shute to our right.
We had spent the previous two days coming up the D’Urville Valley in ideal tramping conditions, but now how could we get down the very steep drop-off?
David tried the snow. No go. So off we went, scrambling down the rock. About halfway down we were on snow grass. First Karen slipped a few metres, then David did a grand slide, perforating his shorts and his posterior. Awch.
We continued very cautiously. By three o’clock we’d made it to the valley floor. Now we only had six kilometres to go. There was no track and a lot of windfall. We climbed over tree trunks, crossed and recrossed the river, bush-crashed … until, finally, at seven pm we arrived in the late-afternoon sun at the empty East Matakitaki Hut.
Next day we got away before eight am, as usual. John and Karen had their first experience of crossing a three-wire bridge. Easy-peasy, no trouble at all. We spent all day climbing up the West Matakitaki Valley, stopping for lunch at Bob’s Hut. By five o’clock we’d had enough, so we camped on a small shelf right by the noisy river.
On day five we headed up over the rocks—by the river, in the river, across the river. The day was overcast, but the conditions were great for tramping.
The valley narrowed and got steeper. Then we emerged into an alpine basin surrounded by snowy peaks and the three tarns; no one was brave enough for a swim.
We lined up the three tarns and climbed up a steep scree slope to the Three Tarn Pass. What a view down to the St James walkway and the Lewis Pass beyond.
The scamble down the rocks and snow was straightforward, and David’s navigational skills ensured that we made good progress along the valley. The final sting in the tail was a sharp climb to avoid small rapids, and then a bush-crash down to the bottom of the valley. We made it to Ada Hut by five o’clock, just as the rain set in. Once again we had a hut to ourselves.
On the sixth and final day we had a leisurely 4-hour stroll to Lewis Pass and our waiting minibus.