Young - Wilkin - East Matukituki via Gillespie and Rabbit Passes
Day 2 - Gillespie Pass
All images © David Noble. No image can be used for any purpose without permission.
This was a wet, cold and windy day. The forecast was for the weather to
get worse during the day - so we left the hut around 7:30am and walked
up the valley.
Above - Chuin Nee and John just above the bushline
Above - looking up the valley
Above - further upstream
Above - walking up the valley
Above - heading up the spur to Gillespie Pass. We stopped at the bottom
and put on extra clothes - overpants, gloves and beanies.
Above - I could work my camera wearing gloves - but it was a real chore
to unzip the top of my parka, get the camera out and stop and take
photos. The wind was very strong and you really needed your hands being
available to grab things to hold onto during the strong gusts. Here we
are
a fair way up the ridge to the pass
Above - Just above the pass. A walker from another party - Hamish,
looks back towards his two other party members - just visible in the
middle of the photo. Rob is behind me and John and Chuin Nee are hidden
in a depression below the second orange standard (route marker). This
section was the hardest part of the day - as it was very cold and very
windy. You really had to be careful not get blown right off the ridge.
Three parties made it over the pass that day - out party of 4, Hamish's
party of 3 and a solo walker. The other parties that had set out for
the pass had (wisely) turned back. After this point - it was much less
windy.
Above - lower down from the pass - Gillespie Stream
Above - On the way down to Siberia Stream
Above - Chuin Nee emerges from the beech forest onto the flats of Siberia Stream
Above - Rob heading down to the hut, an hour or so down the valley.
Above - Chuin Nee on the flats
Above - we reach the comfortable Siberia Hut
Above - Looking back up the valley
Continue to Day 3 - a day we spent at Siberia Hut
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