Mount Aspiring Adventure

Forest and Bird, Issue 294, 1 November 1999, Page 42

Mount Aspiring Adventure

Upper Clutha

branch.

—Bill Hislop,

Requests for field trips involving extended tramping, led Upper Clutha Forest and Bird into the spectacular Wilkin Valley of Mount Aspiring National Park. Bad weather at the departure for the three-day trip resulted in a one-day delay and a reduction in party size from a dozen to five people. The first day involved a fixed wing flight from Makarora to Jumboland Flat which placed us within one and a half hours walk

of the Upper Forks Hut. Day two was spent walking up the North Branch of the Makarora visiting Lakes Diana, Lucidus and nearby Castalia, then returning to the hut. The third day was taken up with the seven-hour walk down the valley to Kerrin Forks, from where we jet boated out to Makarora. This trip provided a variety of beech forest walking, open river flats, the adventure of river crossings and subalpine tussock grass-

lands. There were three beautiful lakes, each one different in its setting, dominated by the main divide peaks of Castor, Pollux, Mercury, Perseus and others named for great mythological characters. We were able to observe the planet Venus and a late moon side-by-side, dipping behind the skyline of Mount Pollux. All this was enhanced by the ‘fresh after the storm’ clarity of the mountain air. There was little evidence of possum and deer in the upper valley. The forest edges, grass flats and boggy areas show some improvement since cattle were removed about 1995.