IN THE HIGH COUNTRY

Hokitika Guardian, 11 March 1927, Page 1

IN THE HIGH COUNTRY

IWAVLKMNG THE ill VIDE. During the Christinas holidays party of young moil from Canterhui i raversed a long length of the 111011 tain divide between Canterbury ai M estiand. They entered the big regions by way of the AYaiinakariri froi the Healey and reaching the divit worked south to Brownings Pas, whence they came into Westland, very interesting account of their moui tain trip and experiences appeared i the Christchurch “Press,” lately an we venture to reprint some of th later stages of the trip, affording a the account does, interesting exper cnees and some idea of the presen condition of the route by way e Brou nings Pass, which was considcre the most satisfactory way to carrv th railway between the two Coasts. Inci dentally the account gives particular of the former mining ventures, in tha region, ventures which may yet who the appetite of future prospectors ti try their fortune in the search for gob in the matrix. The account of tin modern explorers who spared them selves not at all proceeds:— )\ e pitched camp beside the roarin' Cronin at an altitude of 1000 feet. 1 was our highest bivouac on the oniy level .six feet ol ground within sight Even then wo slept over ridges aiv valleys of rock, the melancholy kco-ali kce-ali, ol a couple of inquisitive keas sounding above the rear of the erect

intensifying the, impression of wildnesi and grandeur. One, venturing ten close, paid the price of his curiosity with his life, lie fell victim to a stone. We left at 7.110 next morning, which dawned splendidly line. The clear lights ol the sunrise broke the ridges and precipices above into relief of light and shadow. Once beyond the gorge, which we surmounted with comparative ease on the right hank, the line of peaks on the far side of the Wilbeitorro stood out sharply, within the. early sunlight reflected from their dazzling hand of snow. Allot her half-mile saw n.s in the \\ ilherlorce Valley—old country for three of us. Carrington has described the Browning’s Pass route on a previous occasion in "The Press,” so a brief description must sullice. By 12 a.m., we were at the head of the 1-100 feet ol scree which now forms the, only practical route over the Pass. The lilies on this slope were magnificent—a white and green cloud falling awav steeply beneath us as we rose. In the isolated valley of the Cronin, which is seldom entered by deer, virtually never by man, they were also very large and numerous. It mav he of use to future travellers over Browning’s Pass to know that the old zig-zag can be followed with hut lew breaks right on to the lop. We were forced by snow to ascend the rocks on the right at the head of the scree slope. Mere we lound the old track still cut there up o the gelignite hut on the top. The rack round the precipices above Hall ■reek is quite impracticable on account >f many years’ snow. The hut below he Pass, which stood for many years is a relic of the days when miners ame there for gold, has also been cariod away by an avalanche. The MOO feel of scree almost equalled lie ascent to White Horse Pass for tiff grind. At the too we were rearded by a sight unusual at that time f year. Lake Browning lay on the j ass immediately below ns, lnilf-eov-red in snow and ice to a deptli of ■om six to ten feet. The fake, which - thirty-eight acres in area, lies at ( height of 117)0 feet right on the

saddle which forms the Pass. Tlk Illicit covering of snow on the height: aho re, and oven down to (lie lake it self, was worth a long journey to see, Westward heneatli the Twin Peaks, Emily and Augusta, lay the long depression of the Hall Valley leading up to a snowy col. Eastward were the slopes of Alt. Harman, toward which we set out after lunch. Clouds on the summit prevented progress very far. We obtained a view of Pope’s Pass at the head of the Wilherforee, which branches away north east. From our position oil Alt’. Harman the whole mountain seemed in the process of slipping away into the stream below. Steep slopes, almost precipices of scree dropped abruptly from the snow. Alt. Hannan, which looks wild and untouched by man, was once the scene of mining operations. Wilson’s Iteward Reef, 5370 feet above sea-level, was discovered in 1882. In 1885 a company was formed and a 1000 feet tunnel driven in toward the gold cjuart-z. Soon after the company fulfilled the destiny

of most gold-mining companies and

went into liquidation. A new lease of life in 1901 proved of short duration. The authentic witnesses to this past history lie scattered by the Browning’s Pass track, picks and shovel innumeragle. still recognisable beneath their rusty disfigurement. Spongy plugs of

what -«as once gelignite hear them company in the old hut on the Pass. A series of glissades from the slopes of ATt. Harman down to the lake, and some short voyages on drifting ice floes on Fake Browning accounted for the

rest of the afternoon. The novelty of sailing on ice floes in the middle of n New Zealand summer held us fascin-

ated for a good half-hour. But for the warmth, we might have imagined our-

selves in the Antarctic. Not long after we were again on the West Coast

following the track from the Pass down the Aralnira Valley to the Pyramids Hut, where we spent the niglit. Here again we heard repeated cries of kce-ali and saw numbers of the beautiful ken parrots. From the Pyramids onwards all is plain sailing—a track all the way ovei Hie Styx saddle and down the Styx Valley to Kokatahi and Koiternngi. where wo spent a few days before going on to Lake Kanieri. Jt is interesting to learn that at one time when Browning’s Pass was a regular cattle route to the Coast a waggon road was projected up the Styx Valley and canto to nothing. The old track is now very rough, hut none the loss beautiful. Each hundred feet we dropped, the mountain flora gave way more and more to the luxuriant West Coast hush with its “ winding mossy ways.” We had been five days travelling from Arthur’s Pass by a route, as far as we know, untried before through a magnificent variety of scenery, mountain. and and hush, and lake.