198505
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198505 [2014/10/10 22:17] – [CONGRATULATIONS] simon | 198505 [2014/12/06 19:32] – [A VALLEY IN MIND.] simon | ||
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by Stuart Maxwell. | by Stuart Maxwell. | ||
- | __THE PARTY:__ Don Finch (leader), Jennie Brown, Wendy Allan, Matthew Walton, Virgil Stephens and Stuart Maxwell. | + | __THE PARTY:__ Don Finch (leader), Jennie Brown, Wendy Aliano, Matthew Walton, Virgil Stephens and Stuart Maxwell. |
Last year's great Deua walk got forty starters. We were only three real bush walkers, two innocent prospectives and me. Why? Was it the 3,000 metres odd of climbing? (Or three other good Easter trips. Ed.) | Last year's great Deua walk got forty starters. We were only three real bush walkers, two innocent prospectives and me. Why? Was it the 3,000 metres odd of climbing? (Or three other good Easter trips. Ed.) | ||
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Morning tea on the Deua; this gentle, clear, permanent stream, dancing in the strong sunlight under tall river oaks was very different from last year's swollen river. A terrible cry announced Matthew' | Morning tea on the Deua; this gentle, clear, permanent stream, dancing in the strong sunlight under tall river oaks was very different from last year's swollen river. A terrible cry announced Matthew' | ||
- | All day we ascended the Deua and Woolla Creek. Suddenly at five, Don announced camp and before the tents were up or the fire lit, the heavens opened. A chillng | + | All day we ascended the Deua and Woolla Creek. Suddenly at five, Don announced camp and before the tents were up or the fire lit, the heavens opened. A chilling |
__Saturday: | __Saturday: | ||
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This time it was not so heavy and the fire was lit for dinner. Matthew, full of go, wanted us to stay up, recite and sing, but by nine he was alone at the fire, and we were contesting sleeping bags and tents with leeches. Feeling one inside my shirt, but too tired to bother, I tried to sleep but it kept tickling my armpit. | This time it was not so heavy and the fire was lit for dinner. Matthew, full of go, wanted us to stay up, recite and sing, but by nine he was alone at the fire, and we were contesting sleeping bags and tents with leeches. Feeling one inside my shirt, but too tired to bother, I tried to sleep but it kept tickling my armpit. | ||
- | Down Donovan and up Burra Creeks in the mOrning; beautiful mountain streams, clear, fast running and not too deep for creek-walking this time though | + | Down Donovan and up Burra Creeks in the morning; beautiful mountain streams, clear, fast running and not too deep for creek-walking this time though |
- | As an appetiser for lunch we climbed 600 metres to an unnamed point on the Merricumbene fire trail. Since we "could not get lost" the " | + | As an appetiser for lunch we climbed 600 metres to an unnamed point on the Merricumbene fire trail. Since we "could not get lost" the " |
Fortunately Matthew had been sent ahead. He roared down the mountain like a wild goat, chased by a kangaroo-hopping Don trying to prove something - a limp next day? He went on to the Deua and when the rest of us arrived after dark he welcomed us with a magnificent fire. Swims in the dark for enthusiasts, | Fortunately Matthew had been sent ahead. He roared down the mountain like a wild goat, chased by a kangaroo-hopping Don trying to prove something - a limp next day? He went on to the Deua and when the rest of us arrived after dark he welcomed us with a magnificent fire. Swims in the dark for enthusiasts, | ||
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All morning we reverse-tracked two horses on an Easter safari from Moruya: 150 miles! At Woolla three motorcross kids and six four-wheel drives in convoy overtook us; they had been fishing up river. As Vernon Davies, who settled the property in 1932, said, "The place is opening up." More's the pity. | All morning we reverse-tracked two horses on an Easter safari from Moruya: 150 miles! At Woolla three motorcross kids and six four-wheel drives in convoy overtook us; they had been fishing up river. As Vernon Davies, who settled the property in 1932, said, "The place is opening up." More's the pity. | ||
- | Back to the cars just in time to avoid another thunder storm, dine and catch the traffic' | + | Back to the cars just in time to avoid another thunder storm, dine and catch the traffic jam about 10 km from Marulan. A great weekend and a lovely bit of bush. |
===== A VALLEY IN MIND. ===== | ===== A VALLEY IN MIND. ===== | ||
- | by Bin gaible. | + | by Bill Gamble. |
- | On a fine, clear day in January, 1981, the Air New Zealand flight | + | On a fine, clear day in January, 1981, the Air New Zealand flight |
- | Travers Valley clearly amid the mountains and lakes. And on that summer afternoon memories of walking in the area flo(Jded | + | |
- | The New Zealand mountains, particularly | + | The New Zealand mountains, particularly |
- | The Travers is not isolated. In fact it must be one of the most accessible valleys in any of that country' | + | The Travers is not isolated. In fact it must be one of the most accessible valleys in any of that country' |
__Beeches and Snow Grass.__ \\ | __Beeches and Snow Grass.__ \\ | ||
- | To me, the Travers is an encapmilation | + | To me, the Travers is an encapsulation |
- | For the headwaters of the Travers River it is necessary to scramble up a rock-strewn gully into a cirque of peaks and sharp ridges around twin tarns. The tarns may be gained from Travers Saddle but that is not quite the same as following the river to its source. The place is seldom visited and if the snow is deep and the day fine and calm, one should find a :peacefulness and solitude well worth the seeking. | + | For the headwaters of the Travers River it is necessary to scramble up a rock-strewn gully into a cirque of peaks and sharp ridges around twin tarns. The tarns may be gained from Travers Saddle but that is not quite the same as following the river to its source. The place is seldom visited and if the snow is deep and the day fine and calm, one should find a peacefulness and solitude well worth the seeking. |
__Up to the Tarns.__ \\ | __Up to the Tarns.__ \\ | ||
- | In 1979, in fine weather and fresh snow, I found just that and wrote: "My intention was to spend the morning wandering around the head of the valley - an amphitheatre of srLow-covered peaks with-steep slopes of rock and snow grass - before returning to the Upper Travers Hut some time after | + | In 1979, in fine weather and fresh snow, I found just that and wrote: "My intention was to spend the morning wandering around the head of the valley - an amphitheatre of snow-covered peaks with-steep slopes of rock and snow grass - before returning to the Upper Travers Hut some time after lunch. In the crisp, still and brilliantly clear weather, I sat on the large boulder alongside the park sign which points to the saddle and thought a little more about what I was going to do this morning. It would have been easy to have found a slab of rock, stretched out in the sun and alternated between looking at the mountains and dozing. My inclination was to keep moving so I walked across the slope towards the head of the valley, more or less keeping parallel to the stream which was the beginning of the Travers River. |
- | lunch. In the drisp, still and brilliantly clear weather, I sat on the large boulder alongside the park sign which points to the saddle and thought a little more about what I was going to do this morning. It would have been easy to have found a slab of rock, stretched out in the sun and alternated between looking at the mountains and dozing. My inclination was to keep moving so I walked across the slope towards the head of the valley, more or less keeping parallel to the stream which was the beginning of the Travers River. | + | |
- | "In front of me the slope steepened to about 450 and ,I lapsed into the steady rhythm of plodding uphill towards the gully out of which tumbled the stream. I made good time to reach the base of the gully, as there were few things in my pack to slow progress - from memory, a lunch snack, parka and first-aid kit. A light pack takes much of the heat out of going uphill. | + | "In front of me the slope steepened to about 45 degrees |
- | "I had not intended to go any higher but the morning was still early and it seemed a good idea to scramble up the gully a little farther to see if the source of the river could be reached. The gully was filled with mostly large rocks and some snow, and picking my way upwards using hands and feet, I soon stood at the head of the gully. Ahead of me was a snow-filled notch and beneath water gurgled. There was a narrow rock ledge on the true left and it came out on a ridge about 30' above. From there on it was an easy walk across rock and snow to the small snow- filled basin and ice-covered tarns which are the headwaters of the Travers River. Rainbow Saddle lay beyond. The snow was fresh from a storm which had cleared two days before, and it crunched underfoot as I wandered quietly around the basin. It was the only sound. When I stopped the silence was complete." | + | "I had not intended to go any higher but the morning was still early and it seemed a good idea to scramble up the gully a little farther to see if the source of the river could be reached. The gully was filled with mostly large rocks and some snow, and picking my way upwards using hands and feet, I soon stood at the head of the gully. Ahead of me was a snow-filled notch and beneath water gurgled. There was a narrow rock ledge on the true left and it came out on a ridge about 30' above. From there on it was an easy walk across rock and snow to the small snow filled basin and ice-covered tarns which are the headwaters of the Travers River. Rainbow Saddle lay beyond. The snow was fresh from a storm which had cleared two days before, and it crunched underfoot as I wandered quietly around the basin. It was the only sound. When I stopped the silence was complete." |
- | The Travers will draw me back one day, as it has done before, probably in the autumn when it is quiet and there are few people about. I like it that way. It will be a time to again walk the length of the valley following the river from the lake's edge to the twin tarns below Rainbow Saddle, and to scramble to the tops along its serrated flanks. And there willbe | + | The Travers will draw me back one day, as it has done before, probably in the autumn when it is quiet and there are few people about. I like it that way. It will be a time to again walk the length of the valley following the river from the lake's edge to the twin tarns below Rainbow Saddle, and to scramble to the tops along its serrated flanks. And there will be fresh opportunities to go farther into side valleys such as the Arnst and up into the Cupola Basin. |
When it is time to go "up the Travers" | When it is time to go "up the Travers" |
198505.txt · Last modified: 2014/12/06 19:42 by simon