THE SOUTHERN ALPS

Hokitika Guardian, 25 March 1924, Page 4

THE SOUTHERN ALPS

FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER TO MOUNT COOK. A BOTANIST’S EXPEDITION. (By Professor Arnold Wall, in the “Lyttelton Times”). In January of this year, 1924, I set out upon a collecting expedition to tho West Coast of tho South Island and the Mount Cook district by way of Hokitika, Ross, Waiho and tho Franz Josef Glacier, tho Fox Glacier, tho Copeland Pass, and thenco into tho heart of tho Alpine Wondorlaud of Now Zealand—a noble programme, and on the whole successfully carried out. I visited Ross independently and from that place onwards travelled in company with Professor Hugh .Stewart and Dr K. V. Bevan-Brown. The wet West Coast is a very chancy placo to holiday; in, and during December and tho first j half of January it not only kept up its reputation, but even surpassed itself and disgusted even its own old and loyal Inhabitants. From January 15 mi, however, our party experienced the most heavenly woather with hardly a break until the end of tho trip. I allowed myself two days to collect and observe filmy ferns at Ross and to visit the summit of Mount Greenland (2970 ft). Here 1 followed in tho footseps of Dr Holloway, whose admirable paper on these ferns and their allies had reached me just in time to serve as my guidebook. The sombre forests of Westland, with their deep umbrageous valleys and excessive rainfall, make the finest locality possible for these beautiful creatures and they may he studied and collected hero under ideal conditions.

FOLLOWING ANCIENT TRACKS. The fates gave me one fine day, during which l followed the old goldliiiilers' track to the top of my mountain, descended to the old mine workings on the far side, penetrated into some typically dusky and noisy creeks, and returned along the now deserted track along the southern face of tho mountain—a memorable day, with pleasant glimpses, from the security of the track, away down into the enchanted valleys of virgin forest, and views of distant giant mountains and great far-away rivers. This trade is very long, but makes excellent going ; great ferns here and plants of St. John’s Wort there meet across it; vast pines and ratas and kamahis over shadow it; and from every eminence ono looks upon the scene of the heroic days of the old prospectors and marvels at the courage and endurance of tliose wonderful men who dared tbo solitude and the impenetrable Jiorest, and the precipitous bush-bound' gullies and the eternal rains with their slender equipment and resources. Upon this track or among the Quintinias and Asearinas of its margin, 1 found all I. wanted and more, but would have been glad of a week in this glorious place Instead of a poor twelve-hour day. The rata was in full bloom, and after the torrential down pourings of tho preceding weeks the “rain-forest” of Westland was looking at its verybest.

The glory of Ross herself has departed with the gold mining. Yet there are, let us hope, brighter days in store for her and for the Most- Coast in general. There is still plenty of gold to be won; my good friend Mr Osmers pointed out to mo a little steep bit of road at the end of the township, leading (very appropriately) to the church, where, after heavy rams, specks of gold are to be seen washed out by Nature’s own process; and having regard to the wonderful successes of the American company at Rimu, one supposes that any thing may happen in the near future, even if the completion of the tunnel does not bring immediate agricultural and commercial prosperity- to “the Coast.” January 4 and C> were spent at Ross, and on the (Jth l joined my mates in tho cars for Waiho where wc arrived that night quite proud of having pulled other people out of creeks and stuck in none ourselves. The day was fine and the bush scenery was stupendous. THE FRANZ JOSE GLACIER. Our design was to go at once to the Cape Defiance Hut, climb Mount Moltke and -Mount Boon (both about 80110 HA, and possibly Bismarck, on the Franz Josef Glacier, from there, and then go over Graham's Saddle (8739 ft) down to the Tasman Glacier and The Hermitage. The 7th was wet and all the botanist could do was to prowl about tho Waiho riverbed between showers and collect a little bit. Latei on we three walked up to tbo glacier and spent an hour or two upon it inspecting our future route.

The Fran?. Josef Glacier is famous for its beauty and its almost unique position. Its terminal face is only a few hundred feet above the sea, which is about ten miles distant. It thus comes right down to the bush, which rises above its lower portions in a vei\ impressive and astonishing manner. There is virtually no terminal moraine; a few minutes scrambling up ice slopes covered with rubble and untidy debris brings one right up on to the fair ice. It is quite good going for a utile or so and guided parties daily visit it in the season and are skilfully piloted through some of its dangers and terrors with very little exertion. A steep fall comes just above this smooth portion and the pinnacles, knife-edges and semes become quite terrifying. Above this fall, it is smooth again as far as the Great feefall (above the Cape Defiance Hut). Beyond this again are the great snowfiehls over which lies the way to Graham’s Saddle, and tributary glaciers come in on both sides. There is much very interesting vegetation in the vicinity of the terminal face and some useful collecting was done here. January S was too wet for our enterprise, but two of us in the afternoon visited the Gorge of the Tatare River and explored the wet hush there and a little lake hidden in its recesses. Our adventures began in earnest on the Oth when wo decided to go to the hut, flic weather being fine for the • time. To reach this hut you go up on to the glacier, leave it (if you can) on the northern side, go up that sido for a mile or so by a bush track, descend to it again at “Roberts’ Rock,” get on to it again (if you can) and' cross it to the hut, which is oil the southern, side at a height of 2657 ft. We had clear instructions how to get off and, having two ice axes with us, anticipated no trouble, but after many attempts to find the easy way we were ‘ told of through the maze of terrific crevasses and pinnacles which confronted us, to were obliged to await the usual guided party and accept help. * Before the skilled ice axe of Peter - Graham all difficulties at once vanish- ‘ ed. and in a few minutes we and a party of youths and maidens were all 1 treading securely in his steps through J the places which had seemed so ter- 1 rible and all walked off the glacier on * to the rocks with case. Receiving fur--0 ther instructions and encouragements, - wo went on by ourselves, reached Roberts’ Rock, and after some casting 1 about and trying impossible ways and blunderiug into impasses, we actually

got ourselves on to the middle of the ice where tho going is like a city street, and thence with no difficulty “oft” at the Cape Defiance Hut, a place we are all likely to remember very clearly all our lives. That evening two of us explored the track up “Woodham’s Ridge” toward Mount Moltke and a little collecting was dono.

Tho Capo Defiance Hut, which was to bo our borne for several days, is perched upon an eminence high above the glacier among small bush or scrub. It is well built and excellently supplied and comfortable. To the right, as one faces the glacier, is the great Unser Fritz waterfall; higher up is the great iccfall where the glacier descends in a scries of deeply; broken and fissured irregular terraces shot through with live beautiful blue of the puro ice. The left side as you go up is comparatively easy and smooth as far as the Aimer Glacier, which comes in at about 5000 ft; above this is the Bivouac used by those who cross to the eastern side by Graham’s Saddle. Above tho Aimer there is a steep grass solpe, and be-, vend that nothing but virgin fields of snow, fold upon fold. The skyline is adorned with grotesque‘and sliapelycut pinnacles and figures of all shapes and sizes, being the top of the icefall itself. A few isolated rocks, all named, appear above the snow hero ami there. This fascinating journey wc were fated not to take after all. Immediately in front of the hut, across the glacier, is the steep ridge called the Goatpath—the old route to Graham’s Saddle—and from tliis rowdy stones were perpetually rumbling down on to the glaciei through steep couloirs, every one of which became, during heavy rain, . a streak of silvery waterfall, with a voice of its own.

Our imprisonment in this romanticspot began on .January 9. The tenth was so hopelessly wet that nobody ventured out at all. Cards, books and competitions were the order of the day diversified with meals and snoozes and reminiscences and stories and studies in the visitors’ hook, which disclosed the fact that everybody we ever know lias visited this hut at one time or another. An hour or two of comparatively line weather allowed us, on the lltli, to'get to the foot of the Fuser Fritz Falls, and a little colleetin"- was even possible upon the stoop loose screes of its creek, hut we wore very soon driven back to the cards and the games and the visitors’ hook and the hilly and the blankets. An exceptionally fine show of the richly scented and beautiful Mvosotis macrantha, a

common plant ol the Alps, was oh served here.

ALPINE flora in bloom

About midnight the drumming of the rain on the roof ceased; and at the dawn of our third day wc rose and in spite of heavy mist overhead and the same old cloud-laden nor’-wester blowing, we got oft by six and ascended the AYomllmm ridge toward Mount Moltke. Climbing along the rough track through bush and scrub was quite an experience after all that rain. We plunged through thickets of ’-.Mount Cook lilies,” every leaf of which, as large as a soup-plate, was tilled with delicious cold water. Bv nine wc had passed the scrub and nearly reached the limit ol vegetation, at about GoOO loot, but our case was quite hopeless; the mist drooped lower and lower and tho same old rain began again. Wc gave tho hush a miss and returned by way of the steep creek which joins tho ("user Fritz Falls lower down, reaching homo by mid-day. The show of Alpine flowers was very fine here and in the short time vouchsafed us some very useful collecting was rapidly done. Finest of all, after the “Mount Cook lilies,” was the noble Ranunculus Godleyanus and then tho smaller, but equally beautiful, Ranunculus soricophyllus, which occurs throughout Canterbury anywhere near tho snow line. A line large sweetscented white forget-me-not, only recently described, was in full flower also. We had the good luck, too, to see a rock-wren, now said to be a veryrare bird. At the hut we came hack to the crowd, the games, tho tinned goods, tho billy, blankets and badinage, only a little refreshed by our brief outing. Queer days, these dark days of imprisonment in the Defiance Hut. tor hours together the mist would wall us in so that even tiie ice at our feet was invisible and ghostly rumblings and roarings reached us in a muffled fashion from over tho way. At other times the whole of the glacier and tho high snow-fields above would be clearly visible through the drifting rain, and from a rock a few chains away, tho low country and the sea could he soon. Boredom seldom got us down ; wo wore a cheery crew, and wo always had a koa or two to keep us company and amuse us. One of those was particularly tame ; ho took bread with us, and when we were in our bunks would toddle in and walk about on the benches and the table. Men got to know "one another under these conditions, unexpected strengths (and weaknesses) reveal themselves; unsuspected resources are opened up and friendships cemented. ,