I've lived in Mid Canterbury now for 14 years, in that time I have been a member of the Methven and Districts Tramping Club for all but one year. Rabbit Hill and Trig M has appeared on the trip scheduled at least once every year, and so far either I have not been available to do the trip or it has been cancelled due to weather or lack of numbers.
This time it was plan b to the intended trip to Mt Bruce, which will have to wait until warmer weather.
We departed Ashburton at 7am on Saturday morning, it was clear and crisp with a little frost about. We headed towards Springfield where we were meeting up with the others in the group at 8.30am. Once we were all sorted, it was a quick 15 minute drive down the road to the Coach Stream parking area and the start of the track. The intention was to make it a circuit but heading up via the high route (virtually running parallel to the main highway) and returning via the Coach Stream Route.
There was very little snow on the ground, and what was there was firmly frozen in place. It is a steady grind from the car park to the highway at about 900m, from there the track head inland and climbs steeply to PT 1075. Once at this point the views open up towards Foggy Peak, Castle Hill Peak and inland towards Arthurs Pass. The going gets easier and there is a brief descent to the track that climbs up from the highway (halfway between Porters Pass and Lake Lyndon).
We were now on the section of track that resembles a walkers highway, being the more popular and quicker route to Trig M. It doesn't take long to reach the junction with the Coach Stream Route, then no more than an hour later we reach Trig M at 1251m.
We don't linger long here as the wind is cold and we still want to reach Rabbit Hill for lunch.
Continuing on from Trig M, there is no longer a marked track and route finding is necessary beyond the worn path that finishes a few hundred metres away. With one more bump in the way at 1189m, it is another decent then the final climb to Rabbit Hill at 1198m.
This is a great spot for lunch with great views towards Lake Coleridge and the mighty Rakaia River beyond. The return journey is much the same until reaching the junction once again with the Coach Stream Route. This route follows the ridgeline for a couple of km before descending steeply to the creek below and finally the car park.
This is a great circuit taking about 6.5 hours and covering nearly 17 km.
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