EGMONT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1402, 30 March 1912, Page 20

EGMONT.

THE ICE-MOUNTAIN.

A. PEHFECT CONE. Natur« bw been most lavish in the bestowal of its blessings on Tnranaki. It lias endowed it with a fertilo region, which Jlr. 1 ; . A. Carringlon described ns | "The Garden of tho Island"; it Ims enriched it with vast and apparently inexhaustible mineral ro=ouice=. There is said lo be no mountain in the world like Kftmont, although I'llsiynnia, in Japan, l«ar.s, Miy llic travellers, some ro.'emblanco to it. Ivgmout is a true volcanic c.nnc, rntind, tho crater, on the lap being ■■ filled Trith. «vorlaatios mow. In mum

of brightness to the landscape. To the southward may bo seen Cook Strait, reduced to a narrow stream, and- farther off, tho snowy Southern Alps and Kaikouras, and the mountains around Nelson. Northward may bo seen the rivers and bays to Kaipara, and all around also a great area of the Auckland and Wellington provinces. ■Egmont is easily' accessible. '■;It is 8260 feet in height, and in the Bunimer time children of • tender years, and. also old people, have ascended to its summit. To the ordinary'able-bodied man or woman, sound in wind and limb, tho journey is ono of no difficulty. Tho trip is one of Taranaki's great attractions and should not bo missed by any traveller or tourist to the district. From New Plymouth, the ascent may be :unde and back on a summer's day, or to tho Mountain House (3200 feet) _ on tho northern face of the mountain and back again on a summer afternoon. Tourists may be driven by conveyances or in motor-cars, and at most reasonable rates. A drive of about fifteen miles by tho Junction and Egmont Koads takes one through Egmont village to tho boundary of the Forest Deserve, IGGS feet above the sea-level. Four miles farther on is the Mountain House. Tho road which _is gravelled all the way has been cut with admirable taste through the forest, which lias been disturbed as littlo ns possible. The grade is an easy one, but as it is a steady pull up to the House, time is given ono to sop and admire the magnificent scenery through which i!*e road winds like a white ribbon in a sen of green. The view is especUKy lino in mid-summer, when the rata trees uo in full blossom, brightening the usu.il a.nnbre tints with a brilliant scarlet delightful to tho eye. The Mountain House is maintained by a committee of the northern division cf tho Egmont National Park and it is open for tho accommodation of visitors all tho year round. A tolephono office named Tahurangi, tho : mythical personage- who was supposed to have burnt a fire on tho top of tho mountain, has been opened at the House and 16 :t great service to tourists and iravellwrv who visit tho place to the number- sjf between GOOO and 7000 during a »i\iion. Egmont may also be ascended from the Stratford side, or from Tlawcra, or Eltham via Manilla or Kapunga and Dawsen's Falls.