Have you ever driven through Springfield heading towards Arthur’s Pass, looked at the skyline ridge of Castle Hill Peak, seen a gap that looks like a missing tooth and wondered what it was? Well that my friends is The Torlesse Gap.
Another unfinished business trip to be added to the completed list, and once again it has been a few years since the first attempt.
This was the third time I had ventured up the Kowhai River, first as far as Kowhai Hut, second attempting The Gap but running out of time, and finally a successful ascent of The Gap.
There are a couple of ways to get to The Gap, the traditional route is from the main highway following the Kowhai River, the alternative is to ascend Foggy Peak and follow the ridge to Castle Hill Peak before dropping to sidle around to The Gap.
This trip followed the traditional route. We left the vehicles in the layby on the main highway to Arthurs Pass and began walking at 8.30am, the first hour follows farm 4wd tracks and river bed to the Kowhai Hut, it’s relatively easy and fast going along this section. We had a brief stop at the hut as a few in the group hadn’t been up this valley before.
From the hut we continued along river terraces for a while before dropping in to the river and zig zagging our way upwards. The heavy rains and flooding from earlier in the year had resulted in some erosion and exposing large rocks and boulders. While the travel wasn’t technical, it did get slow in places.
Eventually we reached the upper river and took a side stream and scrub spur upwards towards The Gap. It was considerably steeper as we gained elevation, we stayed on the rocky ridge line rather than sidling below and were rewarded with ever expansive views of our destination.
The final push to The Gap involves a rocky screw scramble, challenging going up but quick to come down.
We enjoyed lunch at the top with views to the east taking in the Canterbury Plains, to the west the mighty peaks of the Southern Alps running through the heart of Arthur’s Pass.
We returned virtually the same way, bypassing the hut and making a direct line for the vehicles.
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