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John Leathwick

~ Images of New Zealand's natural world

John Leathwick

Tag Archives: Aspiring National Park

Walking the Five Passes (part two)

05 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by John Leathwick in Photographic forays

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Aspiring National Park, Fiery Col, Five Passes, Hidden Falls Creek, Lake Nerine, New Zealand, North Col, Olivine Ledge, Park Pass, Rock Burn, Route Burn North Branch, Sony A7RII

In my last post, I described the first part of a tramp around the Five Passes route, an epic off-track route in New Zealand’s Mount Aspiring Park; while the first three days had delivered patchy weather, we had spent the fourth day hunkered down in a small bivvy under a house-sized boulder while the rain hammered down and previously dry water-courses on the nearby mountain slopes thundered with water. Fortunately, as the fourth night progressed the sounds of water dripping around the edges of our little shelter gradually diminished, and when I poked my head out at 6.30 in the morning, the first signs of clearing weather could be seen blowing in from the south. Impatiently I roused the others out of their sleeping bags and we began to ready ourselves for the day. Breakfasts were downed, damp gear was sorted and bundled into packs, and the route was sorted for the day – along the Olivine Ledge, over Fiery Col with its dramatic ultramafic rocks, around the boggy wetlands of Cow Saddle, and down into the head of Hidden Falls Creek where we would find our next campsite.

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The Young-Wilkin Circuit…

20 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by John Leathwick in Photographic forays, Uncategorized

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Aspiring National Park, Gillespies Stream, Lake Crucible, Makarora, New Zealand, Siberia Stream, Young-Wilkin Circuit

Makarora to Gillespies Pass

The Young-Wilkin circuit in Aspiring National Park has to be one of the most spectacular multi-day walks I’ve ever done. Dianne and I did this in February 2012 and although it stretched us at times to the limit, we wouldn’t have missed it for anything. We left from Makarora after being dropped off by the bus at the DOC visitor centre. The first day’s walk up the Young River valley started off very kindly, but once past the forks, it climbed steeply, and by 5 pm we were very happy to drop our packs on a grassy river flat and pitch our tent for the night.

Young River basin

Young River basin looking towards Mt Horrible – the track climbs the slopes to the left, 1km or so away


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Recent posts

  • Tracking the night sky…
  • Climbing Kinabalu
  • Walking the Five Passes (part two)
  • Walking the Five Passes (part one)…
  • Sony and the star-eater algorithm

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