LURE OF THE WILD

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 7, 9 January 1932, Page 11

LURE OF THE WILD

AROUND MOUNT COOK

DTKE HEART OF THE ALPS

yiEW FEOM COOK EIVER

By E. E. Muir. Each lost in each, that marvellous array Of temple, palace, citadel, and huge Fantastic pomp of structure without name. —Wordsworth. In making the round trip from Waiho Gorge to the Hermitage, via Graham's Saddle, and back, via the Copland Pass, which involves a double crossing of the Main' Divide of ithe Southern Alps and a complete encirclement of its mightiest monarchs, one might be pardoned for imagining, on emerging from the wonderful Copland Valley, that there is little more of exceptional grandeur left to see. But, if he is lucky in the weather, a pleasant surprise awaits him—a surprise due to the fact that Nature does not often reveal the whole of her scenic glories to the mortal gaze of man, and'that of those who have been so privileged in their crossing of Cook Biver and Hat few .have written of what they have seen. The writer had motored over the 22----mile stage between Waiho and. the Cook River previously under cloudy conditions, and had traversed the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers, but, in completing the superb trip round, the heart of the Southern Alps on this occasion, he did not expect in the last 30 miles, from the Karangarua Biver to Waiho, to ba provided with. such, a fitting climax. It was worth waiting fully a week for to be furnished with such a magnificent day as we,were fortunate enough to experience, and to see from sea-level, close at hand, such scenes of extraordinary beauty fully exposed to view. - " , SUPEEB VIEW FEOM COOK EIVEE. Having enjoyed the hospitality of Kr. and Mrs. Scott at their farmhouse on the .banks of the Karangarua Eiver, after having crossed the Copland Pass fiom the Hermitage and emerged from tie Copland Valley, we,set out on the 30-mile ride to Waiho; 17 miles of which, from Weheka is ordinarily done by service car, but which we were obliged to do on horseback on account ,of the Toadway between Weheka and Waiho having been washed awayv in many places by the floods of three ' days before. It was a gorgeous summer 's day. The sun was shining brilliantly out of a beautiful sapphire sky, relieved by occasional white fleecy clouds which floated slowly across; |he air was fresh, and clear, and there was not a breath of wind. A six-mile ride close np to the forest-clad foothills brought us out on to Cook Flat, practically at sea-level, where, without any warning, much the finest scene in New Zealand, and comparable to any other anywhere in the world, burst fully into view. . . '. Fourteen miles and less as the crow flies, running lengthways on, across- the flat, beyond abruptly rising terraces of foothills clothed in dark green forest, immense snow and ice-fields and a score and more of the mightiest peaks of.the Southern Alps soared up into the blue vault of leaven, a startling* yet wonderfully blending contrast of radiant blue, glittering, flashing white, and the softest green and. purple, the whole bathed in the brilliant glare of the sun. . . . Dominating this towering wall of scintillating, ice-clad mountains, stretched out for 20 miles and more, were the great dome '"of Tasman (11,475 ft), the huge mass of Cook (12,349 ft),' like the nave of a colossal church surmounted by a small, snowy spire, and the sharp peak of La Perouse (10,lQlft), each of them sharply defined and clear, and, with, the exception of Tasman, visible for most ofi their heights.

MAJESTIC OF THEM ALL."

Cook, as thus seen, was the most majestic of them all, a range in himself, sparkling with jewels as the. sun's rays melted his icy 'walls. Immediately on his left rose the dwarfed peak of Dampier (11,323 ft), the third highest mountain in New Zealand; while 2000 ft below Cook's white summit and i.n front of it, end on, stood the most ■beautiful and terrible creation of St. David's Dome (10,'4l0ft)—beautiful in its glittering icy robes, terrible in its sheer precipices of many thousands of feet. . . .To the north beyond Tasman, high up on the shoulder of the Main Divide, lay the greatest snowfiejds of the Southern Alps, forming the neve of the famous' Fox Glacier, a great river of white ice, which could be seen pouring down between Chancellor Eidge and the Fox TJange. These snowfields were bounded in the north by the Kaiser Fritz Kange on which tho snow-bound Newton Pass, between Mount Halcombe (8743 ft) and Westoe Peak (8642 ft), was plainly visible, giving access to tho almost equally great snowfields of the Franz Josef Glacier on tho other side. On the far rim of this great flashing neve of. the Fox Glacier appeared the singularly fine assemblage of Glacier Peak (10,017 ft) Douglas Peak (10,107 ft), Mount Haidinger (10,059 ft), Mount Haast (10,294 ft), and Mount Lendenfeldt (10,456 ft) "The Cathedral of the--Alps," how sharply the triple black spire's of Haast rose into the sky, and how deep, fine, and bold wers its bays! Mount Torres (10,376 ft), Mount Teichelmann (10,370 ft), ,and a score of lesser peaks could all be picked out, yet were lost in the ■whole of which they made their part. "PINEST VIEW IN THE WORLD."

Such was the wonderful scene upon which we gazed. The longer one looked the more, of course, one saw. It was fascinating, fascinating to such an ex-tent-that, notwithstanding the feast of scenic glories through which we had previously passed, one could scarcely take ono's eyes off it. ... Other .views in other countries, notably that of the Himalayas from Darinelinir (7000 ft), forty miles'and more distant and that of Mont Blanc (15,782 ft) from Chamonix (3416 ft), have severally been acclaimed as "the finest view in the world," but they can scarcely surpass that of the Southern Alps as seen from I Cook Plat, remembering that it is seen from sea-level, is fourteen miles and less distant, ana that the permanent snow-line is given as from 15,000 to 16,000 ft on the southern slopes of the Himalayas and 8000 to 9000 ft in the European Alps; while in tho Southern Alps it heß at between 5000 and 6000 ft Yet Cook Flat can be reached by anybody by motor-car, and so little is lieard of the extraordinarily fine view to be seen from there! In any other country it, too, would be claimed as "the nnest view in the world" it indeed, has a galaxy of splendours with which to support the title, and can safely be reckoned as a rival to any other. . . . Gradually small white fleecy clouds, born of tho rising valours, began to climb up over the great dome of Tasman, up the shadowy re cesses of Cook's stupendous western wall, and over La Perouse, enhancing the effect of their jewelled draperief which sparkled brilliantly in the sunshine.

PASSAGE OF THE COOK RIVER. For the passage of the dangerous Cook Biver the more so now because it was partially m flood, we were so fortunate as to have as omguide Mr. M. Carroll, Pubii c Works overseer for the district who was returning to Waiho. from his regular tour of inspection down

as far as Jackson's Bay, and who knows ihe secrets of these. West Coast rivers as well 'as, if not better than, anyone else. A mile or so out into the riverbed we followed him, crossing small channels of the river, and thenl came to the flooded channels down which muddy waters were swiftly flowing. Crossing several of these, through surging torrents often up to the horses' girths, we reached the main channel, wider and deeper still,- along which, the waters were racing at a truly terrific speed, carrying occasionally hugo logs which tumbled over and over—a formidablo sight. Up and down the river wo rode for fully an hour and a half endeavouring to find a safe ford, passing through some of tho channels and getting a short distance out into others, and hs-viug to retreat again and again until at last we found ourselves back at the point from, which we had originally started. CHANNELS ARCHED IN THE CENTRE. What murderous-looking ' channels these were, and how curiously the water flowed—not level from bank to bank as one would expect of any ordinary river, but arched in tho centre! The writer noted this repeatedly, but thought it wiser to say nothing; that, perhaps, it was an optical illusion. Finally, after riding for about half an hour into and up and down these channels, Scott's man, who was in charge of the horses, drew the writer's attention to the phenomenon. "Lodk|at the gut in the river there," he said. "That means that it is about 15 or 16 feet deep." The waters were running about two feet higher in the centre than on the banks, having scooped out a deeper channel in which to-raee. But who minded how long it took'to cross the river, especially when we were riding up it and looking into that gorgeous panorama ahead! Up the river for two miles or more no possible ford was found, so down we. turned. THE TRAIL OF THE POSTMAN. ' Soon_ we came upon horses' hoofmarks in the riverbed sand, making for Karangarua. Someone ; had crossed here recently, and he could only have been the postman carrying His Majesty's mails from Weheka to the lonely homesteads in the wild beyond. There was pathos in those hoof-prints, a Bolitary trail leading out of.the main channelj of that deep, racing river. While we were riding up towards the junction of the Cook and Fox Elvers the postman had made his lonely crossing, and, unseen by us, had passed on. Truly His Majesty is served faithfully and well in these perilous parts, and as he tells the story the writer feels that his readers, with him, will pay tribute to that postman in their' hearts. . . But where had the postman found -the passage? Up and down, mostly down, that murderous channel Mr. Carroll rode seeking the 'ford, and then, when it seemed as difficult to find as ever, his horse rose' abruptly out of the trough and, in the still swirling waters, Mr. Carroll kept him standing there to mark the spot while we followed safely after. Arrived out' on the far side of the Cook Biver, which in its numerous channels is some two miles across, we rode along the remaining five miles of Cook Flat to Weheka in the resplendent 'sunshine, admiring the still remarkable scene which lay spread out before us, and the now rapidly changing effects as the clouds mustered and ultimately obscured the whole of tho great peaks of the Divide.- It ia not often that one sees such splendours in all their varying magnificence, and we congratulated ourselves on our unexpected good fortune.

Prom Weheka we pushed on to Waiho through more gorgeous scenery, dismounting and leading our horses across the slips wherever they had occurred. The wonderful drive by -service car from Waiho to Hokitika, and from there up the- Otira Gorge to Otira, and thence by train to Christehurch, all in beautiful -Weather, provided the finishing touches to what one can truly sayis the finest trip iri New Zealand.