We had planned to do the full circuit around Mt Somers in a day, knowing full well it was going to be 26km and take us anywhere between 10 and 12 hours. Well we got half of it done, and it was more a case of the weather beating us down than our inability to complete the task.
In typical Mid Canterbury fashion it was norwest season, and as you can probably imagine when the wind picks up and blows it can be both physically draining and challenging.
Our day began early from the Sharplin Falls carpark, where we made good time up Dukes Knob for an early morning tea stop, then carried on to Pinnacles Hut for a real morning tea stop. The day was clear and the wind was there but hadn't really started to build.
We hadn't come across anyone else along the track until we reached the hut, where there was a young family just packing up and heading down to the car park.
After our break we carried on and began the climb above Pinnacles Hut to the Mt Somers Saddle. This part of the track has recently undergone some realignment, due to erosion caused by some pretty big weather events over the past few years.
The next section of realigned track is above Maiden's Relief (feel free to ask about this if you're not familiar). I remember taking this track and it was quite a climb heading straight up the ridge, now it's a really pleasant zig zag that requires no effort at all.
Once we reached the saddle we were in the full force of the wind, and we were already discussing how it would be once we reached the South Face. Anyway, we put that to the back of our mind and followed the old 4WD track down hill, we came across a family group that had spent the previous night at Woolshed Creek Hut and were heading to Pinnacles Hut for their second night. They certainly picked the right direction to walk in as the wind was at their backs and pushing them up the hill.
Once we reached Woolshed Creek Hut we had a decent stop for lunch and discuss the next leg of our trip, we decided to carry on and see how bad the wind was at the Bus Stop, and if need be we could always bail out and head down the Rhyolite Ridge Track.
We left the hut and began the climb up to the Bus Stop, once we we out of Tri Falls Stream we were in the wind again, it wasn't continuously strong but when the gusts came we had to stop often so we wouldn't get blown over. We had a rest at the Bus Stop before carrying on. Not far from the Rhyolite Ridge track junction we made the decision to call it a day as the wind wasn't getting any better and there would be no further options to bail out.
Heading down the Rhyolite Ridge Track the wind was extremely strong and it was virtually impossible to stand fully upright.
I even managed to have my sunglasses blown right off my face! I wasn't tempted to go to retrieve them, it was had enough to stand let alone walk.
We eventually made it down to the bushline where we were protected from the wind.
Overall it was a great day out, and we will have to return this coming summer to complete this bit of unfinished business.
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